Context
In this time of political uncertainty, many of us are striving to create infrastructure and ways of being that will generate more care, compassion and equity in the collective. However, it can be a struggle to imagine something beyond the extractive dynamics of Capitalism and the daily realities we inhabit.
Mark Fisher wrote about this phenomenon in his book Capitalist Realism, in which he claimed that it is easier for most people to imagine the end of the world, than the end of Capitalism. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the world changed overnight for many, so perhaps our ability to imagine large scale change is also in flux.
Many social change theorists argue that reclaiming and exploring the wild, creative power of our imaginations is a necessary first step in being able to vision and create more beautiful futures.
I believe that we are in an imagination battle, and almost everything about how we orient toward our bodies is shaped by fearful imaginations. Imaginations that fear Blackness, brownness, fatness, queerness, disability, difference. Our radical imagination is a tool for decolonization, for reclaiming our right to shape our lived reality ― adrienne maree brown
How can we reclaim our imagination? Cultivate it as a tool? Arguably this is a practice, not a one time event. One strategy that may be a useful starting point, is first being with any grief that gets in the way of imagining something better than this moment. Grief is not limited to the death of a loved one, we can grieve our homelands, the loss of former versions of ourselves or the pain of war and violence. Untended grief can linger, smothering our creative capacity and ability to vision, until we give it space to be acknowledged. This exercise will hopefully support you to touch into any grief that may be present when you try to imagine beautiful futures. After the practice, you can then decide how you want to be in relationship to what arises.
Tool: Audio embodiment practice and guided meditation
Duration: ~15 mins
Contributor: Camille Barton is a social imagineer who operates as a catalyst for social change, dedicated to creating networks of care and liveable futures. Camille works as an artist, facilitator, consultant and curator across the realms of embodied social justice, grief, pleasure and drug policy.
On This Page
Context
Lineage
Exercise
Lineage
This exercise is inspired by Embodied Social Change workshops that I developed using partner work and body awareness practices to explore socially engaged topics.
My approach to embodiment work is rooted in mindfulness, The Resilience Toolkit, Generative Somatics and the politicised somatics space more broadly. To access tools to process grief, or learn more about my approach to this work, you can read my book, Tending Grief: Embodied Rituals for Holding Our Sorrow and Growing Cultures of Care in Community.
Exercise
1. Find a comfortable position, such as being seated or lying down.
2. Play this audio recording (13.5 minutes).
This will guide you through an embodied resourcing practice and meditation.
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Hi, my name is Cami Sapara Barton.
I'm going to invite you to join me in a practice that I've designed, exploring how grief relates to our ability to imagine more beautiful futures. This will last for 10 minutes and there are some suggested integration exercises to engage with afterwards.
The practice will begin with some embodied resourcing, then lead into a guided meditation. During this practice, I invite you to notice and be with sensations that arise. However, if you feel intense discomfort at any time, please stop and take care of your body.
As we move through, if any images appear in your mind, that is most welcome. This is an opportunity to explore the wisdom and information that your body holds in relation to this topic. Before we get started, I will share some words from Staci Haines about being with sensations.
Since many of us have needed to turn away from our sensations because of trauma and oppression, or have been trained out of paying attention to them, here are some things you can pay attention to, to feel more of them.
Temperatures. More warm or more cool. Movement. Pulsing. Breath. In and out. Tingling, streaming, twitching, and pressure.Places you feel more contracted and places you feel more relaxed.
When you notice your sensations, try and be inside of them rather than being an outside observer.
Let's begin.
I invite you to find a comfortable position for your body. This might be sitting or lying down.
I invite you to close your eyes if that feels comfortable, or you can gently rest your gaze somewhere in your space.
I invite you to begin by noticing your body and any sensations arising for you. I invite you to notice any places where your body is supported. This might be the soles of your feet against the floor, or your back against a chair if you are sitting down .Noticing these places of support and connection for your body.
Then I invite you to scan your body, moving from your head, down the neck, through your chest, belly, pelvis, legs, to your feet. Noticing any sensations as you go. Noticing any places where there is expansion or contraction.
Once you've scanned your body, I invite you to notice the place that feels most pleasant in this moment. The place that perhaps feels better than other places in your body, without you having to do anything to it. If you're someone that experiences pain, the invitation is to find somewhere in your body that feels neutral in this moment.
Once you've found this place that feels most pleasant or neutral, the invitation is just to be with it for a few breaths. Noticing any ripples or shifts in sensation. And as you're doing this, if at any point you feel tension or discomfort, you can just stop. But if this is feeling grounding or relaxing in some way, I invite you to notice what signals is your body giving you that this feels relaxing or grounding in some way.
Just being with this for a few more moments.
You can always come back to this part of the body that feels most pleasant. If you feel that this would be beneficial to you. And if at any point you do feel discomfort, you can of course come out of the practice entirely.
We're going to move into a guided meditation now. So from this place that feels most pleasant or neutral, I invite you to imagine that you are standing outside of a closed door.
I invite you to notice what the door looks like. The door opens slowly, but you stay where you are.
Beyond the threshold of this door is a different world. A more beautiful future where care is deeply embodied into daily action and infrastructure. A world where there is more ease and joy than the world we currently live in. Where all beings live with safety, dignity and belonging.
I invite you to see what you can notice from your position. Any colours, any images or interactions. As you do this, I invite you to notice any sensations that arise in your body as you take this in. Noticing any places of expansion or contraction.
You may feel some longing to move through the door into this more beautiful future. However, there are some obstructions in your way preventing you from moving through.
I invite you to notice what is blocking you, what is in your way. There may be physical objects you can see, such as large rocks. Or it might be something more energetic.
As you breathe, I invite you to spend some time exploring these obstructions. Getting to know their shape and texture. As you explore, I invite you to notice any sensations moving in your body or your mind.
Just noticing what's arising for you. Once you have explored these obstructions, I invite you to ask them directly: how do you relate to grief I hold in my body? How do you relate to grief I hold in my body? I invite you to notice any images, thoughts or memories that arise as you hold this question in your body.
Feeling into how these obstructions relate to grief in your body. Again, noticing any sensations that arise and allowing any information that wants to come from your body to be witnessed, held lightly with curiosity and compassion. Just being with this for a few more breaths.
Okay, when you're ready, I invite you to bring some movement into your fingers and your toes. Gently open your eyes if they were closed and take any movement or stretch that feels supportive as you come out of the practice, back into your space.
As a way to close out this piece, this practice, if it feels comfortable for your body, I would invite you to place one hand on your chest, one hand on your belly.
Just noticing these places of connection and sending a little bit of gratitude to yourself. Maybe visualising some warmth or some light coming through your hands into your body. Thanking yourself for exploring and noticing sensations.
Making space to be with the information that can come from listening to the body. And when it feels right, you can let your hands go, release.
Thank you for giving that a go.
If you needed to come out of the practice for any reason, thank you for listening to your needs. And I hope that you enjoy integrating and reflecting on what came up for you.
Bye.
3. After listening to the recording you are invited to journal or draw for five minutes to reflect on anything you noticed during the practice.
Suggested prompt: What are the obstructions that get in the way of you imagining more beautiful futures?
4. You can finish by having a discussion in pairs or as a group for ten minutes, about your experience with the practice and how, if at all, grief impacts your ability to imagine more beautiful futures?
Suggested prompts: How would you feel about using grief practices to tend to the obstructions, in order to cultivate a more radical imagination? What are some of the features of the more beautiful future that you are trying to create?
Audio Transcript
Hi, my name is Cami Sapara Barton.
I'm going to invite you to join me in a practice that I've designed, exploring how grief relates to our ability to imagine more beautiful futures. This will last for 10 minutes and there are some suggested integration exercises to engage with afterwards.
The practice will begin with some embodied resourcing, then lead into a guided meditation. During this practice, I invite you to notice and be with sensations that arise. However, if you feel intense discomfort at any time, please stop and take care of your body.
As we move through, if any images appear in your mind, that is most welcome. This is an opportunity to explore the wisdom and information that your body holds in relation to this topic. Before we get started, I will share some words from Staci Haines about being with sensations.
Since many of us have needed to turn away from our sensations because of trauma and oppression, or have been trained out of paying attention to them, here are some things you can pay attention to, to feel more of them.
Temperatures. More warm or more cool. Movement. Pulsing. Breath. In and out. Tingling, streaming, twitching, and pressure.Places you feel more contracted and places you feel more relaxed.
When you notice your sensations, try and be inside of them rather than being an outside observer.
Let's begin.
I invite you to find a comfortable position for your body. This might be sitting or lying down.
I invite you to close your eyes if that feels comfortable, or you can gently rest your gaze somewhere in your space.
I invite you to begin by noticing your body and any sensations arising for you. I invite you to notice any places where your body is supported. This might be the soles of your feet against the floor, or your back against a chair if you are sitting down .Noticing these places of support and connection for your body.
Then I invite you to scan your body, moving from your head, down the neck, through your chest, belly, pelvis, legs, to your feet. Noticing any sensations as you go. Noticing any places where there is expansion or contraction.
Once you've scanned your body, I invite you to notice the place that feels most pleasant in this moment. The place that perhaps feels better than other places in your body, without you having to do anything to it. If you're someone that experiences pain, the invitation is to find somewhere in your body that feels neutral in this moment.
Once you've found this place that feels most pleasant or neutral, the invitation is just to be with it for a few breaths. Noticing any ripples or shifts in sensation. And as you're doing this, if at any point you feel tension or discomfort, you can just stop. But if this is feeling grounding or relaxing in some way, I invite you to notice what signals is your body giving you that this feels relaxing or grounding in some way.
Just being with this for a few more moments.
You can always come back to this part of the body that feels most pleasant. If you feel that this would be beneficial to you. And if at any point you do feel discomfort, you can of course come out of the practice entirely.
We're going to move into a guided meditation now. So from this place that feels most pleasant or neutral, I invite you to imagine that you are standing outside of a closed door.
I invite you to notice what the door looks like. The door opens slowly, but you stay where you are.
Beyond the threshold of this door is a different world. A more beautiful future where care is deeply embodied into daily action and infrastructure. A world where there is more ease and joy than the world we currently live in. Where all beings live with safety, dignity and belonging.
I invite you to see what you can notice from your position. Any colours, any images or interactions. As you do this, I invite you to notice any sensations that arise in your body as you take this in. Noticing any places of expansion or contraction.
You may feel some longing to move through the door into this more beautiful future. However, there are some obstructions in your way preventing you from moving through.
I invite you to notice what is blocking you, what is in your way. There may be physical objects you can see, such as large rocks. Or it might be something more energetic.
As you breathe, I invite you to spend some time exploring these obstructions. Getting to know their shape and texture. As you explore, I invite you to notice any sensations moving in your body or your mind.
Just noticing what's arising for you. Once you have explored these obstructions, I invite you to ask them directly: how do you relate to grief I hold in my body? How do you relate to grief I hold in my body? I invite you to notice any images, thoughts or memories that arise as you hold this question in your body.
Feeling into how these obstructions relate to grief in your body. Again, noticing any sensations that arise and allowing any information that wants to come from your body to be witnessed, held lightly with curiosity and compassion. Just being with this for a few more breaths.
Okay, when you're ready, I invite you to bring some movement into your fingers and your toes. Gently open your eyes if they were closed and take any movement or stretch that feels supportive as you come out of the practice, back into your space.
As a way to close out this piece, this practice, if it feels comfortable for your body, I would invite you to place one hand on your chest, one hand on your belly.
Just noticing these places of connection and sending a little bit of gratitude to yourself. Maybe visualising some warmth or some light coming through your hands into your body. Thanking yourself for exploring and noticing sensations.
Making space to be with the information that can come from listening to the body. And when it feels right, you can let your hands go, release.
Thank you for giving that a go.
If you needed to come out of the practice for any reason, thank you for listening to your needs. And I hope that you enjoy integrating and reflecting on what came up for you.
Bye.
