A Poetic Soul Bath

In this post, I share with you a poem called “For Now We are Free” that I wrote after the Polyvagal Institute gathering in the fall of 2022. (Learn more about the Polyvagal Institute and sign up to join me at the 2024 Gathering)

Polyvagal theory teaches us that our own personal journey of healing and embodiment is intricately connected to other people and the world around us. I invite you to sit back and receive these words.

I offer this poem from my heart and as in invitation to a sense of freedom, I hold it 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.

No Man is an Island

Polyvagal theory offers that the health of each individual is connected to our relational, social and cultural exchanges in the world. Your nervous system is an open circuit that dynamically receives and responds to the world around you. We are all wired to receive cues of threat as well as cues of safety.

Moreover, we each exist within fields of relationships–relationships to the earth, each other, as well as the global climate we share. These field are sometimes sources of regulation through experiences of relational safety or they are sources of dysregulation especially when we have experienced betrayal, maltreatment, abuse, or neglect.

In other words, we can draw upon the wise words of 17^th century theologian and poet, John Donne, who stated “no man is an island” (Donne, 1987). 

For Now We are Free

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

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 you 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.

About Dr. Arielle Schwartz

Arielle Schwartz, PhD, is a psychologist, internationally sought-out teacher, yoga instructor, and leading voice in the healing of PTSD and complex trauma. She is the author of five books, including The Complex PTSD Workbook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, and The Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook.

Dr. Schwartz is an accomplished teacher who guides therapists in the application of EMDR, somatic psychology, parts work therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions for the treatment of trauma and complex PTSD. She guides you through a personal journey of healing in her Sounds True audio program, Trauma Recovery. 

She has a depth of understanding, passion, kindness, compassion, joy, and a succinct way of speaking about very complex topics. She is the founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy in Boulder, Colorado where she maintains a private practice providing psychotherapy, supervision, and consultation. Dr. Schwartz believes that that the journey of trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart.

• The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole (Althea press, 2016)
• EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology: Interventions to Enhance Embodiment in Trauma Treatment (Norton, 2018).
• The Post-Traumatic Growth Guidebook: Practical Mind-Body Tools to Heal Trauma, Foster Resilience, and Awaken your Potential (Pesi Publications, 2020)
• A Practical Guide to Complex PTSD: Compassionate Strategies for Childhood Trauma (Rockridge Press, 2020)
• The Complex PTSD Treatment Manual: An Integrative Mind-Body Approach to Trauma Recovery (Pesi Publications, 2021)
• Trauma Recovery: A Mind-Body Approach to Becoming Whole (Sounds True, 2021)
• Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma: Applying the Principles of Polyvagal Theory for Self-Discovery, Embodied Healing, and Meaningful Change (Pesi Publications, 2022)
• Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga: Therapeutic Practices for Emotional Health (Norton, 2024)