I’m currently attending the Embodiment Conference. The largest online conference in the field of body-mind connections. As someone who loves learning as much as sharing my own knowledge in the field I’m having a blast. Listening to talks in all the different channels (from anatomy to dance, yoga to relationships, from trauma work to meditation and much more), hosting and tech-hosting some talks with excellent presenters and having given my own presentation on Tuesday.
So what did I do this afternoon in between all of this and a deadline for a research project? I went out to our orchard to harvest some apples.
You might wonder why on earth am I talking about the apple harvest now? Well outside in the cool autumn air, the sun shining, smelling and tasting some juicy apples and hearing the birds sind I had something like a mini relevation: it’s a good thing to take time to harvest. Both in the literal sense and also in the figurative sense. With all of the projects running I had nearly forgotten to realize that it’s harvest season and if I want apples for winter I should better go out an get some. Harvesting what we have sown and tended for is also something we better do in other domains: taking all the learning and practise into the real world to reap the fruits of our efforts.
When I was out there in the orchard I noticed that the way I was going about picking the apples, carrying the heavy bags etc. was very much informed by my years of study of the Alexander Technique… thinking things through rather than randomly doing things the way I’ve always done them. I also noticed that despite other obligations waiting on my desk and just having had a difficult conversation about something that’s close to my heart I could be with myself and the beautiful surroundings and actually enjoy the moment. Something that some years back probably would have not seemed possible. Seems like learning and practicing all of the different somatic methods and embodiment practices is coming to fruition. If I wouldn’t have taken time out and about and rather crammed listening to another Conference talk or two or attending a movement session into the day out of a fear of missing out, I wouldn’t have had the joy of harvesting the fruits of all those years of trainings and not even of the new knowledge from the sessions.
Taking time to harvest is important, integrating what we have learned and experienced so we actually have some of the learning “stored for winter”.
I’m now refreshed and going back to some of the conference talks watching both live and recordings. Similar to sowing seeds in the garden preparing the ground and taking time and planning is important in embodied learning.
So I would recommend to take your time, if you can: buy the recordings of the Embodiment Conference (this week still at a reduced rate), rather than cramming everything in just because it’s free now. And take some times off in between watching the sessions to harvest what you’ve learned. To integrate the experience. In this way you’ll have harvests for many seasons to come.