A Slow UNRAVELING, Rev. Marta

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​Your body is a site of liberation.  It doesn’t belong to capitalism. Love your body. Rest your body.
Move your body.  Hold your body. ~ Tricia Hersey 

Are you curious about the retreat center I'm staying at? Check it out here: bluespiritcostarica.com

Costa Rica is impressive: no military, a high literacy rate [because no military- funding can spread], and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability.  

The climate is brilliant.  My curls are on ‘fire.’ My friend described the humidity as a prayer shawl wrapping around her. The humidity is a grounding into the land and among the wild. 

Admittedly, I am not so good at rest. It’s not really my jam, which is probably why I needed to spend some time on the idea. 

I like myself to a dog, mostly a black lab [because that is what I have]. They love to work, hunting with their best human pal or K9 drug detectors. I’d even be a Collie—rallying the herds or a Great Pyrenees Dog, taking care of the farm. The funny thing is, dogs don’t really have to work to live- unless you count their most important job as an emotional support companion, which is so important.  That being said, rest is not easy for me. There is so much to do. And, I like to do!

In the book, Rest is Resistance, A Manifesto, author Tricia Hersey imagined a ministry called the “Nap Ministry”. The idea originated from an experiment meant for Black Women or any melanated people as a resistance to the origins of work for capital in this country. “For Black people who are descendants of enslaved Africans via the Transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery, consider the fact that Ancestors built this entire nation for free with their stolen labor.” This is traumatic and has lasting effects on generational trauma.  As she invited people to a safe place to lie with pillows and blankets in the middle of the day, she invited them to consider ‘rest’ as the first step to allow them to dream, resist, and imagine. In doing so, perhaps a different kind of life was imagined. Not chained to their ancestors.  

In some ways, we can all empathize with generational trauma that holds us hostage or even grief that stagnates in our bodies. 

Effecting change in our lives [or even church communities] is a practice that involves a slow unraveling that will require our participation. We don’t have to come all the way to Costa Rica to rest or create change in our lives.  Hersey describes her grandmother Ora sitting on the couch and “resting her eyes” for a few moments daily. 

We practiced Buti yoga yesterday in a studio that overlooks the jungle. 

Buti is a music-driven movement methodology incorporating dynamic yoga asana with primal movement, cardio-dance bursts + deep core conditioning. It’s not traditional rest but an anointing by the collective coming together to allow rage, grief, and primal sounds to be a chorus of healing for each other. It reminds me of the Howler Monkey. I found myself resting in the emotion that was released collectively. And wondered about our collective vibrations as a community at Plymouth. 

Buti means in Marathi, the language spoken in parts of western India meaning “a secret remedy or cure.”

Much of the retreat this week is on healing…. Deep breathe in and then exhale out. I find myself sitting in the wounds of parenting for the past seven or so years and working it out through the release of stretches that are too hard, poses that last too long, or a balance that seems impossible, all wrapped in the beautiful humidity of Goddess’s love.  

What will be your slow and consistent practice filled with grace? 
What will your not-to-do list look like? 

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