When Our Bodies Show the Way

by Alison Killeen

I was sick this week — the kind of sick that shows up mysteriously and knocks you off your feet. I tried to push through, but my body had strong opinions against that. In the end, there was nothing left to do but lay my body down.

Our bodies know the way. As I experienced this week, a body can hit the brakes when we've pushed our productivity too far. 

If we listen, our bodies can reveal emotions swelling up from our chest that we hadn't even recognized were there - but which desperately need expression.

And sometimes, the thing we are looking for is not in found in a word or idea - but in the hearty flavor of a home-cooked soup, the soothing sound of crickets outside the window, or the embrace of a loved one coming home - experienced only through our bodies.

Healing doesn't come through our head and heart alone. If we listen, our bodies will show us the way.

There's lots happening at Leaven right now to get your heart, head and body engaged:

Check out our Upcoming Events to learn what else is happening at Leaven — to explore with and through your one and only, precious body.

Curious to learn more about the body, trauma and healing? Check out My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem and The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk.

Building a future in Liberation and Love

Over the holidays, in the midst of a cozy week off with family, I was interrupted by a push notification: Colorado Supreme Court Disqualifies Trump from 2024 ballot.

In less than a minute flat, my mind had spun off into a dizzying spiral of potential scenarios, from what would happen if Trump is elected to what would happen if he is not elected. None of my imagined scenarios were particularly reassuring, and as I began to layer other potential concerns over our country's coming electoral quagmire, my anxiety increased:

From the weakening of democracy to the rise of fascism - from our rapidly accelerating climate crisis to the ongoing realities of racism, capitalism and neocolonialism - from the increase of state conflict worldwide to the same of state collapse - 2024 was looking kind of bleak.

The Great Unraveling

Molly Young Brown in a recent podcast interview called this phenomenon "polycrisis" - which she says originates in a our separation from each other and from the earth. And Buddhist thinker and theologian Joanna Macy calls this moment we are experiencing The Great Unraveling.

But as both Brown and Macy (and many others) point out: if our systems are grounded in a sense of separation - from each other, from the land, from our sense of the sacred - then what is there to fear, really, in their demise?

Rather than worrying about what might happen in the future, we might instead begin to dream and imagine how we can be a part of shaping our collective future - a future grounded in love and liberation for all beings on this sacred planet.

Building a Future in Love

As my own fear and anxiety itself began to unravel, I remembered that I am not alone. Among other beloveds, I have the privilege to walk alongside all of you.

And even more, I remembered that Leaven's Strategic Goals for 2024 and 2025 beckon us toward that same future rooted in love and liberation:

(1) Grounding ourselves in a radical culture of belonging, we will (2) organize for justice, considering (3) becoming a Community Resilience Hub.

Together, we'll (4) nurture our relationship to the sacred in post-religious spaces.

And we'll do all of this while tending to Leaven's (and, I hope, our wider community's) (5) financial sustainability.

When all is said and done, what we have is our relationships with each other, with the sacred, and with our precious earth. This 2024, I want to stay close to Leaven’s intentions - trusting that they will bridge us toward a future of love and liberation for all beings.

Salt & Light Service on Zoom - Sunday, Jan 14 @ 10am

Click here to join the service on Zoom 

Because of the anticipated snow and extreme cold, the CMLT has made the decision to move Salt and Light's weekly service to Zoom. Pleasestay safe and warm during this extreme weather, and join the community as we gather on Zoom!

If you're able, donate toan organization providing warm shelterin the cold weather.This wishlistfromTransition Projectsallows you to directly purchase needed items for folks living outside.  

Children's Accompaniment Circle

If possible, please make sure your youth have a separate device to Zoom on and join with both devices at 10am. They will join using the same link and be placed into a breakout room with Jane.

What to Expect: 

  • It’s a Zoom Pajama Retreat! Jane will be in her PJ’s.  We’ll be meeting each other in everyone’s houses at once! 

  • We will play our own version of CAC “Video” games as a group.

  • And of course we’ll do our Rose and Thorns for a cold snowy day.

  • If you haven't already received your Epiphany Star we'll have some for you to choose from!

  • Please bring your colored pens and some paper.