Soft Focus, Hard Focus

The “Ancient Child” exercise is designed specifically to connect the “Child” and “Elder” selves. But there is greater depth to it, especially when you envision the “Child” as being at the base of the spine, and the “Elder” at the top. There are other arrangements for our visualizations/meditations, but this one has some special strengths.

Among them is that we are starting to integrate our “Belly Brain” (the cluster of survival, sex, and power centers) and our “Head Center” (intellect and spirit).

This is critical in a world that increasingly seems to encourage us to be “head cases,” constantly thinking without engaging with the core basic sensations and instincts on the animal level.

Here is a quote from the “Woman Warrior” program: “

“Six, the intellect, doesn’t act in the material world, but it SEES, and delivers the information to the power center. That center CAN act, and such actions should arise from your moral code, and your spiritual reality (“what is more important than my own life?” ) and not just your physical awareness.”

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Here is an exercise that helps you understand this connection. You should do it outdoors, in nature, preferably with your feet on the ground. If you could do it bare-footed with your toes digging into the soil or sand…that would be PERFECT. But do “connect with the Earth” by placing feet firmly on the ground, if possible.

EXERCISE: