Introducing The Embodied Path
Grounded, Centered, Present, Aligned
Happy New Year. The beginning of a whole new opportunity to situate ourselves in the reality we live in:
to see clearly what is here, real and true
to know our role within all of it
to be as discerning and loving as possible as we navigate the wild nature of it all
To help support you in this endeavor, I have been hard at work over the past many years searching for the teachings (especially the embodied practices) that can help you to know thyself, and to heal as you otherwise grow and transform into the version of Self that gets to receive the greatest of joys and the deepest of fulfillment, just as you are able to show up for others as you shine your light and offer healing, guidance, and nurturing.
Loves, this is how we heal the great mess of things humanity has made on Planet Earth. This is how we help humanity, just as it is how we help to heal and nurture all of the wild and beautiful and diverse ecosystems that make up this Planet Earth.
It begins within. It begins with Self.
I am not talking about the small, self-centered, egoic self, but your whole Self; your true Self. This is the version of YOU that is connected: heart and soul, spirit and body, Self and nature. This is the version of you that is aligned (or, at least moving further into alignment) as all parts of Self learn to speak to one another, and to move forward in a way that is further aligned with what serves this world.
The journey is an inward one. But the key is that, in going inward, you actually get to open up and awaken to all the beautiful, powerful, and intelligent ways that you are naturally wired to be in connection to that which expands beyond self.
Isn’t this beautiful?
Us humans - we aren’t wired for isolation. We aren’t wired to disconnect our heads from our hearts, nor our minds from our bodies. We aren’t meant to put up walls and electric boundaries between one another. We aren’t meant to close off to others as we pursue egoic, self-centered interests. At least, we aren’t wired in this way when we get to the heart-centered, soul-centered, as well as biological truth of who we are.
As human beings, we are wired for connection. We are wired to know ourselves as part of a living web that pulses far beyond that which lives within our limited thoughts and beliefs.
The real problem? The one that lives at the root of all these grand problems humanity now faces?
It is the narratives that humanity has told ourselves for centuries that speak of disconnection; that speak of hierarchy: mind over matter, human over nature, me vs. you, and us vs. them.
It has destroyed us, just as it has destroyed the face of Planet Earth, herself.
Now, the most important question of all: What do we do about it? What do we do about “this great mess of things” that humanity has made on Planet Earth? What do we do with the fact that humanity has centered our lives and societies based on bullshit narratives of hierarchy, causing the great harm that lives in our bodies and our lands?
An Embodied Spiritual Path
For much of my early adulthood, I stayed far away from spirituality. I couldn’t stand the way it bypassed our very real, serious problems that plague our minds, bodies, and this Earth. My science and engineering self couldn’t stand it!
With time, I learned from great teachers about embodiment: A practice-centered space that demands that we don’t let our stories take us away into pretenses of “love and light,” but that we walk the talk: living it, breathing it, thinking it, radiating it.
Embodiment demands that our stories and teachings manifest as the change we desire. It demands it, because the result is lived within our very own bodies.
We feel it. We know it.
There is no room for bullshit here as we pursue the spiritual quests that call to us, opening up to call in that love and that light through healing and growth as well as direct experience lived now.
What this is, truly, is an invitation to be in freedom, and to express ourselves soulfully. This isn’t a path to eternal peace and bliss. This is a path working for what matters, and to experiencing the paths that are meaningful, even if they do cause pain and distress. Because these paths, they are ones that are worth it - that brings fulfillment just as they serve their higher purpose: healing, growth, joy, connection.
The problem is, the narratives that humanity tells ourselves - and that live deep within the synaptic connections of our neurons and nerves - they tell us that this soulful path can’t exist.
I am here to tell you it can. But it won’t happen without your intention, and your aligned action.
We have a long road to take to align with life in this way. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone, and you don’t have to do it all at once. Instead, we do it as we each take one step, then the next, then the next.
We do this here, as we walk The Embodied Path.
Shall we begin?
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Introducing ForestBody and The Embodied Path
For the past many months, I have been hard at work taking everything that I have taught and putting it into a structure that I hope can serve our community in better learning and embodying the teachings that can best serve.
To do this, I created a whole new website centered on mind/body/earth connection.
To bring this to life, know that I will be teaching The Embodied Path and New Earth Embodiment. We’ll talk more about the latter in posts to come. For now, let us remain focused on the core of our work together.
The Embodied Path
2026 will be devoted to teaching what I call The Embodied Path. It is a compilation of the most important spiritual and embodiment teachings that I believe can best serve us as individuals AND as a collective humanity as we set our sights on healing, and otherwise transforming, this great mess of things we humans have made on Planet Earth:
Grounding down into the truth, and the reality of who we are as human beings - living beings - connected to the great web of life here on Earth
Centering into the heart of what matters most (which means disconnecting from all the narratives that mine our attention and energy as we are pulled in misaligned directions)
Aligning our whole Selves (body and mind, heart and soul, spirit and biology, etc.), as we align to the greater web of life that we are all part of
Discerning - learning to make the most skillful decisions possible as we take action, navigating through the wild nature of it all
This, in short, is The Embodied Path - teaching Grounding, Centering, Alignment, and Discernment as a path to be walked; never reaching for perfection or idealization, but instead, rooting into what is here, now, in this moment.
It begins here, but it certainly doesn’t end here - for these four steps merely serve as a foundation: stepping stones to guide us through the practices and supporting teachings that can help us each and all move through this life with increasing skill, while holding greater and greater amounts of love.
While my central axis for these teachings will come through the ForestBody Newsletter based at ForestBody.com, know that all blog posts will come through this medium, here on Substack.
To ensure you receive all written blogs, make sure you are subscribed here on Substack at We Are The Forest.
For further offerings, consider visiting ForestBody.com and subscribing over there, as well as reading on below.
Further Offerings
1:1 Embodiment Coaching
To support your own embodiment path, I offer 1:1 Coaching so that I can meet you exactly where you are at, offering guidance and embodied practice (yoga, meditation, breath practice, etc.) that serves in your healing and expansion.
Know that this coaching comes from a wealth of study and formal training across diverse backgrounds.
You can book a free call to chat about how I can help you here.
You can learn more about exactly what this coaching offer includes here.
Membership
I created The Forest as a library of guided meditations, embodied practice, and new earth activations so that you have access to more guided practice than you could ever need!
This is a space where we get to do the important embodiment work that we are here to do, while having some fun following creative guided practice that can help you both deepen and expand your practice.
Learn more: Membership: We Are The Forest – We Are The Forest