Intergenerational Practice and Space
This week, Network Weaver is excited to share a 3-part series by Root. Rise. Pollinate! on fostering connection in virtual space. The series was originally published earlier this year at The Reverb.
How we can create beautiful connections and discoveries across generations.
Posts one and two of this series focused on setting virtual space and intentionally cultivating and sustaining the kind of energy required to be in non-physical space together. In this final post of the series, we center the “who” — the mix of people to invite into and be in space with, especially in light of the isolation that’s come with observing COVID-19 physical distancing safety measures. Here we lift up the beauty, imperative for, and power of intergenerational space.
What’s Possible When Young, Middling, and Elders Come Together?
Dominant narratives (including in organizing) often pit young versus old against each other, and render elders as spent, disposable, or out of touch. Our movements too often sideline both younger and older generations, and seldom do we meet. Yet many of us who’ve sat down for conversation or play with elders or those who are younger than us, including babies, know and relish the beautiful connections and discoveries that we can experience in encounters across generations.
We, present day dwellers of Mother Earth are here because of, and through our ancestors, just as some day our descendants will be here because of and through us.
We learn from and listen to messages from the past in order to seed the future, and we too must draw on and commune with all of us — young, old, and in-between — both human and non-human beings.
As you design your virtual space and identify different community members to share breath, ritual, and movement practices, pay attention to the mix, in terms of age, of who gets to hold space. You could pair the youngest and oldest members of your community to share old or new practices that they create together. Or perhaps you could have an intergenerational mix of people in breakout rooms together for intimate conversations and mutual learning. Importantly for learning and deepening relationship, make space for the virtual community to then share what they have heard from each other, what challenged them, what they are grateful for, and what they would like to cultivate and take beyond the virtual space with them. And remember to invite community members to acknowledge, express appreciations, and create opportunities to continue to connect with each other beyond the virtual space.
These physically distanced times have created an opportunity for us to cultivate and create sacred intergenerational relationships that we rarely get in organizing and “movement” spaces.
As we close out this series of posts, we also share with you the power and connection that comes out of being intentional in how you close your virtual space. The beginning is just as important as the end as the end is in fact another new beginning.
Just as we invited you to open and arrive with ritual and breath practice, we invite you to have in place ways in which you bring your space to close. Options include:
- Inviting community members to share short reflections, gratitude, a song, or a poem
- Physically replicate hugging and sharing an embrace with each other
- Rubbing your hands together to generate heat and move energy, then sharing that out by holding your palms out to community members on the other side of the screen, and then receiving the heat and energy to hug ourselves
We hope you enjoyed this series and would love to hear about other rituals, breath, and movement practices that you’re trying out or have found particularly potent in your own virtual gatherings.
Read post 1 HERE and post 2 HERE
Originally published April 16, 2021 at The Reverb.
Root, Rise, Pollinate! is an experiment that aims to catalyze and nurture a transnational community of feminist human rights advancers, organizers and movement builders using embodied practice for social transformation.
PLEASE DONATE to help Network Weaver continue in it’s mission to offer free support and resources to networks worldwide.
Embodied Practice
This week, Network Weaver is excited to share a 3-part series by Root. Rise. Pollinate! on fostering connection in virtual space. The series was originally published earlier this year at The Reverb.
How to bring movement practice into virtual space to foster connection with our bodies’ wisdom
In our first post we shared the importance of breath practice and ritual for deep connection in virtual space and offered rituals grounded in the elements of air, water, and fire. As we share the next practice on embodiment, we’d like to invite you to consider how all elements, air, water, fire, and earth live within each of us.
How do we embody each element at different times including times of upheaval and possibility for interdependence, deep connection, and love in a rapidly changing world like now?
Embodying The Change We Seek
Movement requires movement. The simple truth of this statement is particularly important during these times of physical separation, especially when we sequester ourselves in our homes and lie or sit in one position for long periods of time. Perhaps we are in front of screens for work or to indulge in whatever’s on offer from the multitude of streaming services that keep popping up.
While this time of COVID-19 is a particular point in our lives, around the world, over time, many of our people have become disembodied as a result of the privilege given to intellectual knowledge and grind culture over more holistic ways of knowing and being. This has led to individual and collective burnout, and even trauma. Even changemakers now ground much of our work in logic models, pages upon pages of strategy, theory, and deep analysis. We lead with our heads, not our hearts and bodies, even though we often already know in our bodies what is most important. In leading with our heads, we lose touch with our bodies sometimes to the point of breakdown and exhaustion.
When we are disembodied, it can be hard for us to tap into what the change we seek would feel like.
If we are disconnected from our bodies, how do we know how and where feelings of joy and inspiration show up in our bodies?
How do we tap into the inner wisdom that tells us when we need to pivot into something more life-giving and sustainable? How well do we connect to the hearts, minds and bodies of ourselves and fellow beings?
Therein lies the importance of body-based work so that as we reconnect with and listen to our bodies, we can draw on and be one with the delicate balance of earth, water, air, and fire that lives within us and is required for the liberated, sustainable, and thriving world that so many of us work tirelessly for.
So how might you bring movement practice into virtual space to foster connection?
You can draw on and invite your community members to share practices that they already know and engage in like somatics, tai ji, and yoga. As you practice, be sure to move with your breath, being conscious about the physical actions you take with each inhale and exhale.
Ultimately, starting virtual gatherings with practices — like (breathing through) movement — can help bring everyone’s bodies, minds, and spirits into alignment, enabling deeper conversations. Starting with and in our bodies allows us to be more present with each other and experience a sense of intimacy, even across distance, time, and experience.
An Invitation
Consider this: how might physical movement coupled with breath support you and your connection to those you care about? Who might you invite to practice with you? Next time we’ll touch on the practice and importance of fostering intergenerational space.
Thank you for continuing to journey with us.
Read post 1 HERE and post 3 HERE.
Originally published March 11, 2021 at The Reverb.
Root, Rise, Pollinate! is an experiment that aims to catalyze and nurture a transnational community of feminist human rights advancers, organizers and movement builders using embodied practice for social transformation.
PLEASE DONATE to help Network Weaver continue in it’s mission to offer free support and resources to networks worldwide.