These are wild times we’re living in, and what an opportunity to dig deep into the well of our own wisdom and into that of the collective community to which we all belong. 

In this solo episode, TaKisha shares thoughts and tools around navigating the chaos of everyday life and trying times alike. It is through our own practices, grace, and discernment that we heal and lend our whole hearts to the collective during times like today without depleting our own necessary physical and energetic resources.

Resources Mentioned:
The Art of Self Preservation 4-week program

Episode transcript:

0:00  Promo: How do we manage without numbing? How do we manage without checking out or outsourcing our power to other people? And how do we do this without harming the lineage that we come from, or harming the lineages that come from us, we can change the stories and transmute what is in us into something that will transform everything that comes from us into something powerful healing and revolutionary. And from this energy, I created the workshop series initially the art of self preservation as a seven part workshop series to span over seven months. But because life is really “LIFING,” I’ve decided to make the seven part seven month series into a four week course, that we can journey through together live, exploring every aspect of those seven parts of the art of self preservation, so that we can build those tools together, we can build those tools to preserve ourselves and to uplift our community. And in these experiential sessions, we’ll be combining yoga and somatic practices, meditation, purge, emotional writing, and so many other tools to help heal what is broken, create new stories and move forward from there. And what is self preservation? Well, it’s the basic human instinct to keep yourself from harm, emotionally, spiritually and physically. And this series and program is dedicated to your remembering. To remembering your immeasurable joy, and cultivating the most grounded focused turned on version of yourself. You’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again, no one is coming to save you or me. The level of healing that will rewrite the story of generations still vibrating in your cells begins with small steps done consistently over time. It begins with your choice, your breath, your tears, your own touch, and in a synchronized circle of energetic kin. Together, we will explore one of seven core themes in each of our sessions together, designed to expand our capacity for safety, boundaries, belonging, creativity, identity, power, love, self expression, wisdom, intuition, and our connection to the divine. So if you’re interested in learning more about this program, click the link in the bio in the show notes and get yourself on the waitlist. We’ve got some healing to do, and we can do it together. Now on to this week’s episode. Enjoy. 

3:15  Intro: Hi, this is Stay and I am your host TaKisha August. On this podcast, you’ll hear conversations and content, dedicated to trust, love, and honoring our intuition. From birth to motherhood, from work to womanhood. Collectively we will be cultivating peace, joy, confidence, and community. The foundational elements of thriving in a well lived life and sharing some laughter along the way. Here’s to new patterns, healed hearts and becoming the masters of our own self preservation. You are invited to stay with your heart, with your body and with me. Welcome.

4:13  Hi, and welcome to stay this is to Kisha. And at the time of this recording, I am to be quite honest, recording this a couple of days past the time I had scheduled in my planner to do so because like a lot of my friends and family and virtual peers. I was a little dislodged by the most recent ruling of the Supreme Court here in the United States as it relates to women’s rights to their own bodily autonomy and choice. And so, what I had intended to talk about during this time Episode. 

5:00  And I could very well just begin this episode and start talking without this preliminary talk. But I really want everyone listening, many of you at this stage of the podcast are people who know me, from a personal perspective, family, friends, loved ones, people who have been cheering me on for years. And so I wanted to be transparent and say, you know, I want to share something that is a little more off the cuff a little more vulnerable than I normally share, I tend not to share a lot of my opinions about things that can feel polarizing to some. But there are certain topics that I feel very strongly about. And bodily autonomy, especially for those inhabiting a female body, is very important to me. 

6:04  And this is one reason why I started doing the work that I do in the birth workspace as a birth doula as a postpartum doula. As a childbirth educator, as a reproductive Wellness Educator, all of these things circle back to my value and belief that women should know how their bodies work and knowledge is power. When you know how things work, especially the things that belong to you, then you have so much control over what you welcome in what you release out and what you preserve. And one of the tenants that my work has been built foundationally on for the last nine, almost 10 years now is the concept of self preservation. And this was a process or a thought that came to me as I drove up interstate 95, in the year of 2014. On the heels of what was a blow up in my relationship turned separation. 

7:22  I was praying and I was crying. And I was feeling overwhelmed by feelings of betrayal of grief of feeling like a fool, quite honestly. Because before that time, I had seen myself as someone who was incredibly discerning as it related to who I welcomed into my heart, who I welcomed into my body, who I welcomed into my physical space. And at that moment, I felt that I had let myself down. And the words that had come to me what I believe to be from on high, whether it was an ancestor or God, or my angels are all of the above was self preservation. 

8:10  And then I remembered an episode, I don’t know how many years ago when Oprah was an actual, you know, show that was still on the air. When she interviewed someone and her response to whatever they had said, I don’t remember the full conversation. But this one thing that she said stood out to me. And it was the the art of self preservation, or actually, it stood out to me, and yet I got it wrong. self preservation is the first law of nature. And what came to me when I heard that, and when I recall that was it must be important to develop the art of self preservation.

8:52  And so in living through these times, please current times in the year of 2022, where we maybe once thought that, you know, things weren’t going to go backwards 50 years and beyond, but that we would move forward, maybe take a couple steps back and then move forward and a couple steps back and move forward. But now it feels like the chasm that has been created from this monstrous step backwards, is kind of like evaluating a relationship with someone that you kind of question from the very beginning. Like, oh, I knew I knew something was gonna go left. I knew something was building. 

9:31  I knew some strategy was being formed. Right. And that’s kind of the relationship that a lot of people are processing now who live in the United States or our United States citizens or Americans. And it really feels like gosh, we felt this coming many of us who felt this coming in knew something was brewing and for some people, they were totally caught off guard they were those people that you know, you see in those relationships and you know their partner come He’s out the closet is having a whole nother family and they’re floored and they’re blown out of the water. And then you see other people like, how did you not notice? How did you not see this coming. 

10:10  So we all have our way of processing this new information and this new reality from the lens of our own set of experiences. And so I want you to consider that, as you continue, continue moving forward in this new reality, and respond in a way that feels in honor of who you truly are, from your most grounded self, and not from your below the line self. And in trauma below the line it is like a is like the space where you’re in reaction where you’re in, you’re responding to traumatic experiences, where you’re kind of dissociating, you’re acting out of yourself out of your highest self that is really operating below the line. And it can be easy in these kinds of circumstances to respond to this kind of thing. In whatever way comes up, whatever is in us sometimes comes out. 

11:12  And sometimes what comes out is what’s necessary. And then I also want you to kind of pause and say to yourself, perhaps what is the best and highest use of my purpose of my call and of my energy in this season of the history of humanity. Because I truly believe that all of us have a role to play. We’re not all just here, having things happen to us. Right? That is one thing that I’ve learned in the last decade of my life. And as I think I told you before, what I have been very deeply contemplating the last decade of my life so that as I step into another decade, I’ll be 40. And a couple of months, I’m most excited about choosing a higher vibration, choosing a higher path and taking everything that I’ve learned, good, bad or indifferent during this decade of my 30s. 

12:10  Because this was a time where I gained a lot I learned a lot from the school of life, I learned a lot from actual universities and programs and got lots of certifications and a master’s degree and, and changed industries a few times and really gained so much wisdom, cognitive wisdom, physical wisdom, spiritual wisdom. And so I believe that stepping into the next decade of my life will bring forth the harvest of the seeds and the churning in the care of that wisdom and the cultivation of that knowledge. 

12:45  And so think for yourself in this time, how can I be of great service to my sisters in this world, to my fellow humans in this world, during this time? And how can I build upon the legacy that I am leaving behind, whether it be for the people that have come from your physical body, the people that you share space with the people that you share a lineage with, you get to define what that means for you. But think from that place. Once you’ve come down from the reaction, I can’t believe I can’t believe I can’t believe it’s now time to believe this is happening. So now what?

13:38  Foundational, what is important is to care for yourself. If your body is the tool, if your body is the weapon, if your body is the space that is going to hold a lot of the wisdom, a lot of the power, a lot of the moving forward motivation, a lot of the grace, a lot of the compassion that is necessary for this next season and chapter for humanity, you must preserve yourself. And in the words of Audrey Lord, caring for myself is not self indulgence. It is self preservation. And that is an act of political warfare. So how can you choose to move forward in this time? How can you choose to own that you are far more valuable than anyone has ever told you that you are. You are purposeful in this time. And sometimes all these things that we see on social media or in the media, that can be a huge distraction to what your actual purpose and the call that you have been given. 

14:59  As far as your Mission in this lifetime in this timeline, do not take that for granted. You are not here by happenstance, you are not here by accident. Regardless of what anyone has told you, at any stage of your life, you are incredibly on purpose. And each and every one of us have a tool that can contribute to the collective elevation of all of us, even the people that we don’t particularly care for, even for the people that we are disgusted by that have these terrible things that come out of their mouths, these hearts that seem to be so evil, and twisted. 

15:43  As we elevate as we step into our greater wisdom, we must also know that that wisdom is also going to hold space for the healing of those very people that want to do us harm. I say this as a black woman in America, I say this as a mother of a little black boy who was soon to become a black man one day. I say this, as the partner of a black man, who is also a police officer living in a black body. There are so many angles that form my own viewpoints. And it can be so easy to choose one side or the other side, and choose hate and choose grief. But that quite literally gnaws away at the soulful essence, that is necessary for you to show up in your fullness in your great power, to turn the energetic tables over, upside down, tearing things in half, destroying all of the bad that we that we judge in life, right? 

17:02  Oh my gosh, this bad thing, or these terrible things that are happening. We cannot have the capacity to change things, we cannot have the capacity to rip the veil so to speak. If we are so distracted, by something happening to us, that brings us to our ego. That brings us into individuality. And as much as self preservation seems like this selfish, self focused thing. It is in fact, a gift to the community, for you to self Preserve. You are sharpening the tools and the edges that you inhabit, and that you own and that you have to contribute for the protection for the upliftment for the preserve preservation of the entire body, of which you belong. And so I want you to consider all of these things. And start with yourself. If you’re someone that writes if you if you process by writing or even by speaking aloud, if you’re a writer, spend some time in your journal and see if you can remember what it is that brings you back to yourself.

18:27  When you feel disconnected when you feel lost when you feel brokenhearted when you feel disappointed. When you feel stuck, what brings you back to yourself, write about it. Or hit record on your phone and just talk it out with yourself externally process. But whatever it is, get it out of you get those thoughts out of you by your own voice, by your words and pen and paper. Get it out of your body so that you can hear it or read it in your own penmanship and your own voice. And then look at it from the lens of your highest self, of the version of yourself that you show up as a friend, as a mother, as a lover. Look at it from that lens and not from the lens of the person who feels judged and harmed and hurt. We’ve got this one day at one time. 

19:32  There is always a solution. And if you are someone who is in fear and you live in some territories and states that have now banned abortion or plan to ban it in all or in part, educate yourself, create connections in other states the benefit of having access to the Internet and social media at this time is that we can make friends that live in all parts of this country and all parts of this world. And so, allow yourself to choose to belong to the greater, choose to belong to the community, to the sisterhood that extends beyond your household, your neighborhood, your town, your state, and even your country. We are not in this alone and there is always hope. And you are strong enough to follow through with focus, with clarity, with grace, and from your highest, most wise self, always and forever. I love you. Take care of yourself and take care of each other. Until next time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai