I asked a tree today "How well do you know your ancestors?" And the tree responded,
"I am my ancestors."
This response got me thinking about the 'ancestral body' and how we as humans, with all the societal pressures put upon us, often reject our ancestral body. We reject the body that has been given to us that is a map of our lineage, a map of our ancestors, a map of what has come before us. We reject all that is not reflective of a magazine cover.
We strive for things that are not sustainable, are outside the framework of our ancestral body, and we do so at the expense of our own well-being. Sure we think this endless-pursuit to transform our physical-being into something entirely different than the stories we're meant to carry, will make us happier. If we can just look like how society tells us we're "suppose to look", than we'll finally Be Beautiful, finally be Worthy of Love, finally Be Sexy, finally Feel Better About Ourselves, etc.
How much energy does the world use and focus towards 'abolishing their ancestral body'?
Ancestral bodies are reflections of the wars our ancestors won, of the siblings, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents of our ancestors whose lives were lost. It’s a reflection of the victories and achievements made, a reflection of the grief carried and passed-on, the skills that were obtained and traded, the wisdom gleaned and shared…
Our ancestral bodies are the fabric and map of our lives and the lives of those who have come before us. What stories would we be sharing with the world right now, were we to redirect that same 'abolishing' energy and arrive "in-service-of" our Ancestral-map, history, and stories?
When is the last time you gave gratitude and truly looked at your body from an ancestral lens?...What is the worst thing that can happen, by 'taking the glance' and meeting your Ancestral Body, if for the first time?
What can you do in this moment in this day to honor your ancestral body now?
I spent 21 years in the acting world. A world not in total, but in many ways, is one consumed by vanity, inauthenticity, prejudice, corruption, sexual-exploitation, and tons and tons of body shame. The number of times I was asked to lose an obscene amount of weight within a very short window of time, the amount of times I was asked to do something overtly-sexual in an audition to see if I was "qualified for the part", and the amount of times I was told I wasn’t going to even get an audition because I was "too fat", was super deflating for me!
There’s so much body-shaming out there in the world through the news, through the media, through product marketing campaigns, through gym campaigns, through magazines, billboards, make-up and cosmetics,... the world at large tells us that there’s only one type of beautiful. This concept is getting better each day, thankfully, but it does feel like it's already inflicted more damage than can ever be undone in my lifetime.
I DO HOWEVER, LOVE the idea of a world awake, a world owning, honoring, and celebrating the ancestral body they were given! I love participating in the dreaming of a world where every ancestral body is recognized as beautiful, independent, whole, and gorgeous in its own right. I celebrate a world where my own ancestral body is embraced not just by others but by most importantly, myself.
I task myself, with all my courage and bravery, to truly LOOK at the body my ancestors passed down to me; to truly LOOK at the stories I hold within my very bones, my blood, my cells, and organs. I intend to 'Introduce Myself' and ask for her forgiveness for fighting to suppress, destroy and ignore her for so long. I will bow before her feet, express my sincere desire to know her, and ask:
"What can I do to most honor you in this moment?"
"What do you most need to flourish?"
"What do we truly look and feel like?"
What does my Self-reflection stir up for you? Can you relate to this? What has been your experience?
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