Speaker 1 (00:08):
This recording is an offering of Networks for Training and Development's online university.

(00:13):
(singing)

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hi, everyone. Welcome to this month's Networks Healing Circle call. My name is Jessica Stover, and I am absolutely delighted to be with everyone today. And for those who are listening in the future, welcome, and I'm glad we're gonna be able to spend this time together. We do these once a month on the first Monday of every month. Today is May the 1st. I can't believe that it's May and at the same time I'm thrilled it's May. Where I'm located, like I said, on the East Coast in Pennsylvania, the leaves are popping out, my lilies are coming up I think probably in two months. Usually around July 1st I see my first bloom. Almost like clockwork, every year, July the 1st, one of the plants springs open one of their beautiful blossoms. And the grass is out, and then it, of course, needs mowed, and we have our spring to-do list and spring-cleaning, and it's just a wonderful time for growth, renewal and just to see life popping back up again. So again, thank you for joining in. 

(01:40):
As I was thinking about today's call and what to talk about, one of the things that immediately sprung to mind was reflections on May and spring and growth and renewal but also thinking about the growth and also thinking about loss and how we work through loss in the face of growth, how we work through loss that might be looking at as change in the space of growth, how do we come to terms with that, how do we think it through, how do we make sense of it. 

(02:23):
And recently myself facing some different changes and different family changes. I was chatting with a family member the other day and they shared that, well, they're probably not gonna be using that blender again or they're not gonna be making any big Sunday dinners again or they're not gonna be doing this again or that again. And while it made me sad selfishly to hear this, I was really stunned as I kept reflecting on this and thinking about it how beautiful that was that this very beloved family member is facing these changes with such dignity and matter-of-factness and moving through and accepting everything as best as they can but then also the support that we're able to give in the face of all these very significant life changes and how they're really looking at this as an opportunity of growth, as an opportunity for moving through life and all of it beautiful and sometimes unwanted or expected changes but that, like I said, they're seeing it as opportunity and acceptance and moving forward.

(04:10):
And I thought that was just so profound when I was talking with them and how I myself, and sharing this with you all, may also look at this change that happens inevitably in our lives that we can explore it as growth, as moving on to the next but also acknowledging the loss that comes with that, with a life evolution, with a life cycle, if you will. And while things begin, things grow, things change, things die, things also rebirth and regrow. And I was just so moved as they and I talked and shared and reminisced and talked about what the future might look like together and separately and acknowledging all that goes in with that. 

(05:12):
And so I just wanna encourage you when you encounter these moments, because we all will and we all have and we all will again inevitably because that's the one constant that we can absolutely know will hold true, that everything does change and not necessarily when we want or when we expect. And when change happens, how do we adapt, accept, move forward, support each other and hold each other close as we all need in the ways that we need? And it continues, as difficult as it is, to truly be a blessing to be walking with people during these times and having people walk with me and move through life with me during these times and I with others, but to have gratitude for that as well as difficult as it is.

(06:20):
I wanted to offer everyone an opportunity to sit and be together. During this time, we can do a guided meditation. And I want to afford everyone to consider the opportunity to just reflect on growth and change and having grace for ourselves, kindness for ourselves, grace and kindness with others as we move through the cycle that is our life, however that may look for you. So wherever you may be, whether you're with us currently right now in this moment on May the 1st 2023 or maybe you're listening 5, 10, oh my goodness, 20 years into the future, however you may be, whether you're sitting, standing, leaning, laying down, get yourself comfortable and get yourself into a space, as you're able, to take a breath and stay centered and stay present during this time.

(07:42):
So before we begin, I'd like to encourage you to breathe in slowly through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Breathe in slowly through your nose and exhale through your mouth. As you're exhaling, you might wanna give an audible sigh. Sometimes that feels really good. A friend of mine called it the grandmother sigh, and that always makes me smile when I think of that. But again, in through your nose breathing in, and exhale through you mouth. Wonderful. Now, get yourself comfortable. Again, you might be sitting, you may be standing, laying down, what have you, but be sure you're in a space where you're comfortable, and let's begin.

(08:43):
So if you're comfortable, I'd like you to close your eyes or focus on something on your surrounding with your eyes open, either way is perfectly wonderful. And I'd like you to focus your attention at the top of your head. I'd like you to feel any sensations. Notice what the top of your head feels like. Slowly move your focus down to your eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, mouth, chin, and just notice different sensations you may feel. Moving a little further down, I'd like you focus your attention on your neck and the top of your shoulders. Notice any tensions you might be holding. Moving down a little lower to the top of our back, our forearms, moving down further through our arms, through our wrists and our hands, noticing any positions they're in, staying present, noticing any sensations and just acknowledging them as they are. Don't analyze, just acknowledge. 

(10:19):
moving down further, we're going to come back up a little bit, focus on our middle of our back as well as our chests, moving down across our tummy and to our torso area, any sensations you may feel, clothing that may be brushing your skin, maybe a breeze passing by. And we're gonna move down a little further. We're gonna focus now on our pelvis and our buttocks. We're gonna notice how we're sitting or what we might be feeling under us if we are sitting. And just notice the position of your body. We're gonna go a little further down now, we're gonna feel where our thighs are, where our legs are and their position. And moving down to where our knees, down to our calf, and just notice any sensation, any movement, any interesting, I don't wanna say aches or pains because it's our body just communicating, but noticing anything that we feel. And moving down further as we're focusing in on our ankles, tops of our feet, the bottoms of our feet, feeling our toes, where are, are the tip of our toes? Are they in socks? Are they in shoes? Are they out in the air? And feeling them, noticing where they are.

(12:01):
Now that we're in the state of noticing, I wanna encourage you to consider to look in, and what do you feel internally? Any sensations that you're experiencing, any emotions? And just acknowledge them. Don't judge them, just notice them. Invite them in, say, "Oh, nice to meet ya. Where'd you come from?" Because again, these emotions and feelings pass, that we invite them, we acknowledge them, and then we move forward. And as we're sitting or standing or essentially just being together, I'd like to invite you to take a walk through the woods with me. And we're just gonna move through and come back around. And maybe we're not walking, maybe we're flying through the woods or gliding or we're in a chair with wheels and we're moving around in a wheelchair, powered chair, what have you, but we're gonna move through together. 

(13:20):
We're gonna be walking up a slight hill. The grass is just starting to come up and there's a light rain here. So there's the wonderful smells of rain as it comes down and when it meets the earth. You know that smell, it's a wonderful smell. And we're walking through and there's actually some leaves crunching underneath us as, as we're moving under our feet, and these are the leaves that are giving the ground nutrition and the sustenance it needs from last fall and winter when they fell. They're still breaking down, they're still evolving and moving through. And we notice those leaves crunching and we hear the smoosh of the grass as we walk. And we come to the top of the hill and we're created by a beautiful row of oak trees, big lumbering oak trees that are just starting to pop open their leaves. And they're the most beautiful shade of bright pale green. It's [inaudible 00:14:25] green if we wanna attach a name to it. 

(14:29):
And there's a path ahead. We walk up through the path, past the oaks, and we are greeted by maple trees, poplar trees, [inaudible 00:14:41] trees. There's tulip poplars, which is a beautiful type of tree that grows massively huge and they're like friends. So there's this beautiful growth of tulip poplars and in the summer they get these massive leaves and they sway in the wind so beautifully and they're so wonderful at adapting to their surrounding. They very easily as they grow will twist and move and their branches become very elongated and sometimes people might say crooked, which sounds a negative but it's a beautiful twisting and turning that they'll make as they're adapting to their surroundings. We have a beautiful tulip poplars on property that have just adapted and accepted change in their life and moved through it so beautiful. And they're these gorgeous, gorgeous trees that continue to survive and thrive and evolve. 

(15:44):
As we continue forward, we come up to a very small pond with a spring and what? It's gracefully dabbling its water sounds over the rocks and feeding into the small pond. And there's a few frogs that have started to emerge. We call them here our spring beepers. And they're hopping into the water, poosh and poosh and poosh. And we notice the water rippling around them as they pop in and they utter their little beep, beep. Spring beepers, mm-hmm. And we walk around to the other side of the pond and a maple tree has actually fallen partially across the pond. We like to imagine that that's now a bridge for a raccoon, a possum, or fox that comes regularly into the area. We get these visitors quite frequently here, along with deer. I've named them all. I call them all Walter, but that's another story. But we imagine Walter and his friends crossing the bridge to the other side of the pond.

(17:01):
And we circle around the other side and we come back to the path. And we sit for a moment and we notice the evening sounds that are coming up, the light rain coming down on the leaves, the misting that we might be feeling on our face, and the smell around us, the earth, feeling it beneath our feet. And we move forward and come back down the path, back to the top of the hill, to the clearing. We turn and face the trees and the pond and the woods and all the creatures and we say, "Thanks for having us." And we give a little wave and we come back down into the clearing and down the hill. And we're back to where we started. 

(18:07):
As we're together, we're going to come back to the now. I'd like to encourage you to start from your feet, wiggle your toes, wiggle your ankles, extend, contract the muscles in your calf, your knees, your thighs. Wiggle your hips a little bit if you're able, just as gently as you're able, or touch them, give yourself that recognition. Your body is there, and we're back in the present. Come back up to our belly, through our chest, the back of our spine, wiggling our torso as we're able, our arms, our elbows, shoulders, our fingertips, and wrists. Moving our head as we're able, our neck, coming back to the top of our head, blinking our eyes, opening them back up, and coming back into the now.

(19:08):
Welcome back. Thanks for going for that stroll with me, I really enjoyed it. So, to wrap up, again, encourage yourself to think about and identify change and how we think about that and how we move through it and how we choose to accept, not accept, fight it, work through it, and give ourselves grace in all things and be kind and gentle with ourselves. I wanna thank you for joining me this evening. Again, if you're listening now, thank you so much. If you're listening in the future, thank you so much. Again, we do these once a month on the first Monday of every month, 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. You can get notifications and reminders through social media. We do have a Facebook page, just search for Networks for Training & Development. We also have an Instagram page. We also have a TikTok page. On the TikTok page it's pretty cool. We don't post super regularly but every now and then we'll get something up there, our Just Pause videos, mindful meditations, things of that nurture. Again, they're, of course, short in length, a minute, three minutes long. Just take a moment for yourself and center, recenter, regroup, what have you.

(20:52):
You can also go to our webpage, and that's www.networksfortraining.org. And if you click in the upper right-hand corner, you'll see a link where I believe, now this is my memory, Events, and that'll give you the events calendar. And again you'll see on the first Monday of every month. But I encourage you again on social media to like and follow Networks for Training & Development and you'll see these reminders go up the day of for the evening call, East Coast time. And also if you go to our online university. That also you can access that through our webpage. We have five, six years of recorded Healing Circle calls, generally no more than 20 minutes in length. You can subscribe to the feed. You can find us, I believe, on Google Play and other podcast outlets that you can subscribe as they're uploaded or go back to the archives, enjoy all of that that it offers you.

(21:58):
So again, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for joining and, uh, we'll see you next time. 

(22:05):
(singing)

(22:05):
Take care. Goodnight.

Speaker 1 (22:09):
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