[00:00:00] Emily Race-Newmark: 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.

[00:00:12] Emily Race-Newmark: Thank you for being here. I am your host, Emily Race.

[00:00:15] Emily Race-Newmark: This grounding practice is an embodiment practice brought to you by Amanda Young. 

[00:00:20] Emily Race-Newmark: To listen to our interview, please check out that separate episode wherever you listen to the This Is How We Care podcast. 

[00:00:27] Emily Race-Newmark: You can also sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/thisishowwecare to check out bonus content that didn't make it into this final edit.

[00:00:35] Emily Race-Newmark: I particularly recommend that if this embodiment practice brings up any discomfort for you, which is completely normal and Amanda and I discussed that in one of the bonus clips.

[00:00:45] Emily Race-Newmark: If you're able, please get into a comfortable position and allow yourself to really receive this embodiment practice as a way to get connected to a part of yourself that may be more difficult to access when we're constantly on the go.

[00:01:01] Emily Race-Newmark: Without further ado, I'll pass the mic over to Amanda.

[00:01:06] Amanda Young: I always like to start anything I do with just grounding us into our body before we begin because so much of my work is about embodiment. 

[00:01:16] Amanda Young: So I'm going to invite all of our listeners to go ahead and close your eyes right now. And with the eyes closed, allowing your awareness to come inward and downward. And drawing your awareness to the parts of your body that are making contact with the seat beneath you. I'm assuming you're going to be sitting while you're listening to this. Even if you're driving and listening to this you can keep your eyes open, but allow your awareness to drop into that relationship between your body and the surface beneath you. 

[00:02:04] Amanda Young: There's a little dialogue energetically happening between your butt cheeks and that seat beneath you, allowing your awareness to really pervade the entire pelvic hole, the whole pelvic floor. And imagining that your awareness is like a flame or warmth that is melting the candle wax of your body. So feeling as you breathe in, your whole pelvic floor is softening. And you can imagine that your butt cheeks, the bottoms of your thighs, everything is just liquefying, softening, melting, allowing yourself to actually feel and receive that support that is beneath you. And letting that softening really penetrate into the whole pelvic floor, including your sexual organs. So you might feel a little bit of energy when I reference your sexual organs, feeling a softening all throughout this region and allowing any sensation that does arise. 

[00:03:36] Amanda Young: And now we're going to draw our awareness to the midway point between your anal opening and your vaginal opening. And this is your perineum, that midway point in the pelvic floor. Just tuning in. And imagine that you can draw a chord from this part of your body through the seat beneath you, down into the floorboards, into the basement of the building you're in, down into the foundations, and into the Earth. This chord, dropping from your perineum, continues to draw into deeper and deeper layers of Earth and soil. And imagine as it's going deeper into the Earth, we're beginning to penetrate into layers that have been untouched by human hands — mineral rich, ancient soil. And penetrating into all the different layers of the Earth's crust. Going all the way down to the very core of the Earth. Imagining this molten lava, Shakti filled core of the Earth, and you're wrapping the cord around. Now, allowing yourself to take in a deep inhalation through your nose and imagine you're drawing energy up through that cord from the core of the Earth into your pelvis. When you exhale, just feel yourself allowing that energy to settle in your body. And the next inhalation, drawing energy up through that cord, feeling your pelvis becoming enlivened by all of this life force energy. It's Earth energy that you're able to source into the Earth of your own body.

[00:06:01] Amanda Young: And just taking a few moments, breathing in your own pace, feeling that connection. And just noticing, do you feel a little more rooted? Do you feel grounded? Do you feel energy in the lower portions of your body? Do you feel lit up? And just taking a moment to thank yourself for showing up today. And when you're ready, you can open your eyes.

[00:06:39] Emily Race-Newmark: If you want to continue with us on this journey, please check out the full interview with Amanda. 

[00:06:44] Emily Race-Newmark: And as I mentioned, if you found this practice to be confronting, challenging, or uncomfortable in any way, I highly recommend that you check out the Patreon where we discuss why some of us may feel unsafe or like it's forbidden to connect with our sexual energy.

[00:06:59] Emily Race-Newmark: We'll also discuss the role that our sexual center plays in our creativity and overall vitality. Hope to see you there.