In this video, I share with you are poem that I wrote after the Polyvagal Institute gathering in the fall of 2022. Polyvagal theory teaches us that our own personal journey of healing and embodiment is intricately connected to other people and the world around us.

This poem brings is inspired by the quote by Fannie Mae Townsend Hamer who said, “Nobody is free until we are all free”

I offer this poem from my heart and as in invitation to a sense of freedom, I hold is as a beacon of hope that this freedom is possible...not just for some of us, but for all of us. I invite you to allow these words to carry you like a poetic soul bath.

Learn more about Dr. Arielle Schwartz here: https://drarielleschwartz.com/

For Now We are Free
by Arielle Schwartz

There is a pattern hidden in the tapestries of our biology that carries within it a map to our freedom. Like blueprints, there is a pathway to be discovered in the cellular matrix and connective tissues of heart and lungs, belly and brain.

Deep in the very fibers of these precious bodies we inhabit we discover portals to personal and collective liberation.

But this is not where our story begins. No, we must return to a time when we are confined by the binding forces of separation, loss, and heartache. Perhaps a time when you too have felt imprisoned by pain, constrained by your mind, or disoriented by the distress of this broken world.

To a time when you too were locked in this room with no key, no way to escape,
To a time when you too had no choice but to surrender.

Head bowed close to earth,
we are called to descend;
Descend into darkness,
cocooned within,

You settle into the marrow that
carries your existence
Pulsing through your veins
Nothing to do
but to be.

It is here that something new begins to appear;
slowly your eyes adjust,
You begin to sense space and time;
slowly your ears fine tune themselves to the subtle tones of songs sung in hushed tones passed down through generations.

And the patterns begin to reveal themselves
They arise
waiting to be discovered,
As if for the very first time.
You find them in this stillness,
Like constellations of light that stand out against the vastness of a blackened sky.
Like a North Star,
A compass in the night.

Perhaps you too have sensed how these moments resonate;
in the pit of your belly,
the catch of your throat,
the ringing in your ears,
The ache in your head,
And the cry called out from the depths of your very own heart,
as if for the very first time, you too are longing to be heard.

Your very own voice,
Your clarion call has been heard
by this benevolent universe that we share,
Love has heard the call
Love has come to guide your way
And you stand, uncertain at this new edge of life

Oh, but this love is so new, so unfamiliar.
You turn away in fear.
Once and again,
But it is time to let go of what is known for what is yet to be revealed.
And love, she is patient and persists in her quiet manner.
You sense her as the light shifts across the window sill sending a play of shimmers and shadows across this place you have learned to call home.
She returns as birdsong and honeybee,
in the distant ocean roar,
And the howl of the wolf under a NOW full moon.

Suddenly, without realizing it, you too have stepped across the threshold onto the soft green moss, where the ferns unfurl their ancient wisdom inviting you to join them in their dance toward the sun.

It is here that you discover the fibers of connection resonating in your hips as your lay your belly down on the moist earth to embody the primordial movements of salamander and snake.

It is here that you learn to crawl and walk
as if for the very first time.
For these evolutionary blueprints guide you
as they have done for countless other brave souls,
over thousands of years.
Indeed, they are here to guide a path to personal and collective liberation
as we rise up like the tree,
our roots firmly ensconced in the moist, dark earth.

It is here that you look around
as if for the very first time.
You, too, have discovered that you are not alone,
You find soft smiles,
bodies rocking,
drums beating,
dancing storytellers
spinning webs like maps
woven into ritual and song

Yes, you have arrived.
you are standing on this path,
A trail traversed by countless wisdom seekers who have come before you,
they have left you their guideposts and lanterns to illuminate your way
out of the dark woods.

To the clearing
Where WE arrive.
We join each other,
hand in hand,
heart to heart,
eye to eye,
for now we are free.