A visualisation practice for navigating uncertain landscapes by imagining creatures that might thrive there.
Preparation:
Have a pen and paper ready
Find a quiet place to sit or lie down
This can be done in a pair or small group
Tool: Audio embodiment practice
Duration: ~ 30 mins
Contributor: Vanessa Reid is an architect of cultural evolution who works at the intersection between systems and soul. A translocal practice leader, she co-founded the Living Wholeness Institute and The Art of Hosting -Athens and works with Trailblazery’s Hedge School that has been lauded for its ‘exploration of the possible.'
Audio Transcript
Hello and Welcome, it’s Vanessa here - you’re listening to my voice and I will be guiding you.
Find a comfortable or quiet-enough spot. This is going to work best if you have a pen and paper nearby as we will jot a few things down and put them aside.
Feel free to pause the audio and come back to it when you are ready.
Think about something that has been challenging or unknown for you in your work, in your leadership, or another context.
Something you would like to have some guidance for.
It should be a question to which you do not have the answer, or a situation that has you stuck or anxious.
A question you have, something you’re struggling with, where there is confusion, overload, conflict. Anything that is coming up for you right now.
Make a note of it. You can put it in point form. And once you’ve done that just put it aside.
Take a breath, get yourself comfortable.
Now close your eyes or shift your focus so that you are not looking outward, but your attention is inward. We will spend a moment in your interior landscape.
We are going on an exploration, what we might call an inner work journey.
So, sitting or lying down comfortably, close your eyes or shift your gaze - and open your listening.
Follow my voice.
Imagine a landscape of great uncertainty – it could be a space you know well like your office or a place on earth. It could be further in the cosmos, or from a story or myth. It is a situation of massive uncertainty, discomfort, or possibly chaos. It could be Real, or imagined…someplace where things feel very uncertain.
What does it look like? What does it feel like? What do you hear? Who else is there? What or who else is around? What is happening? Be curious –
Are there colours, and if so what are they…if there are sounds, what sounds are here… get a really good feeling for this landscape. And notice how does your body feel?
Now, imagine, Who or what would be at home there?
For who or what would this be the perfect environment?
What would thrive in this forest fire, this void, this space of uncertainty?
What comes to mind right away? A mythic creature? A character from a story? Someone you deeply admire or fear? A part of nature?
Imagine how this space existed just for them!
Take a moment and really see that creature, see its details. If it moves notice how it moves, if it has a texture or colour, what is its texture, if it has a sound hear that sound, you could even make that sound.
And now think about why it thrives there?
How does it get to thrive in that environment?
What gifts or skills does it have that allow it to thrive there?
Go into the details of how that object, thing, creature or person gets to thrive in that level of uncertainty.
Write down the qualities of how does it get to succeed in this, your Uncertainty Landscape?
Make a gesture or posture that represents that thriving thing….
Get to know it in your body, find its posture or make a gesture or facial expression, or all of the above! Really embody that gesture. Become it.
Let it alter you a bit. How does that feel?
Now ask:
What is the wisdom of that thing?
How can I see that quality in myself?
Can you feel how you could become more like that in your life?
In becoming more like that, notice what you become free of, what you get to let go of?
And in becoming that, what do you get to become more of?
Can you feel what you can let go of in becoming more like that?
As you experience that - go back to that earliest question, see what tip it brings to you.
How does this experience answer or offer something to that question?
How does it offer you something about navigating uncertainty?
Make some notes…
Give your creature a name.
Make a gesture to remind you of this capacity you have.
What is one quality that you want to nurture and give attention to to help you navigate uncertainty?
What could be a next step for you – the very smallest thing?
If you are in a Dyad/ Pair, come together to hear from each other and further embody your uncertainty ally through sharing and witnessing:
Show your gesture or form, and describe its qualities to your partners.
Share with your partners the tip it gave you and how this might help you navigate the uncertainty landscape(s) in which you are living or working.
What are you now curious about?
