Emily Race-Newmark: [00:00:00] Welcome to This Is How We Care, a podcast where we look at what it means to embody care, not as an individual practice, but a collective one, and to see what kind of world emerges from this place.

Thank you for being here. I am your host, Emily Race.

Today's grounding practice is brought to you by Hilary Giovale. You can listen to our full interview over at that separate episode wherever you tune into our podcast. We invite you to take the next couple of moments to get yourself into a comfortable position.

Perhaps you want to transition to a new space in your environment, shutting out any external distractions and pausing this if needed to fully arrive. With that I'll hand it over to Hilary who will lead us through this practice.

Hilary Giovale: To anyone listening, if you are in a place where you can safely close your [00:01:00] eyes, I invite you to do that. I would like to invite you to travel with me through time and space to a small stone cottage on the western coast of Ireland. Some of my ancestors once lived in cottages such as this. 

Collect yourself before the stone hearth at the center of the cottage. Rest your bare feet on the tidy earthen floor and wrap your shawl around you. Here, a fire is ritually kindled with prayers every morning and ritually smothered with prayers every evening. The prayers call on Brija, an ancient goddess of these lands, to bless and protect the household. The stones surrounding you in this cottage hold memories. Maybe even back to a long time ago when the Kaya, the primordial creatrix crone, first formed this land. [00:02:00] These stones remember the ancestors and all who have gone before. These stones know the old stories about deer, salmon, apples, hazelnuts, sovereignty and wisdom. Sitting by the warmth of this fire, you can hear the stream behind the cottage as it sings and murmurs through a grove of sacred trees, hazel oak and hawthorn. The stream flows from a spring where water bubbles up from underground. The ancestors made offerings to the she here, also known as the good people. Their offerings help to maintain peace between this world and the other world. Surrounded by water, fire, stones, trees, and stories, you rest in the truth of who you are. 

Take a breath, look around, and notice how [00:03:00] you feel. This stone cottage is a place of my ancestors. Your ancestors, no matter where they came from, were also once held by sacred relationships with their land. They knew how to tend the spirits of place and dwell within simple, beautiful homes that were designed to return to the land without a trace. They found, made, and grew everything they needed to live. The imprints of these relationships still live in your blood and bones. If you ask, they will be revealed. Take another breath, and begin to wiggle your fingers and toes. When you are ready, open your eyes and reconnect with your present time and place.

Emily Race-Newmark: Thank you for listening and for being in this experience together. We invite you to head over to our full interview with Hilary if you would like to hear some more. Hope to see you [00:04:00] there.