growing awareness
First layer of our Preparation Programme for Earth Medicine
“Each of us is an artist of our days; the greater our integrity and awareness, the more original and creative our time will become.”
— John O'Donohue
This layer of the programme is all about becoming aware of our needs and our relationship with our surroundings, in order to become co-creators with each moment. This will help us co-regulate as a group in ceremony, developing the simple practices we all have access to for sensing and recalibrating.
Somatic Awareness
Somatic awareness refers to the ability to tune into and understand the physical sensations and experiences of our bodies (soma = body, as felt from within). It involves paying attention to the sensations and feelings that arise in our body and being mindful of how they relate to our thoughts, emotions and behaviours.
Somatic awareness is important because it can help us better understand our own needs, drives and limits. It can also help us become more attuned to the needs and experiences of others, leading to greater empathy and connection.
When we take a moment to listen to our body and feel what is present, we are practicing somatic awareness. This means paying attention to any physical sensations, such as tension, pain, warmth or relaxation, without placing judgment or stories onto those feelings.
By doing so, we can become more aware of how our bodies are reacting to different situations and experiences, and we can learn to respond in more adaptive and effective ways. For example, if we notice that our shoulders are tense or our breath is shallow, we may recognise that we are feeling stressed or anxious and take steps to calm ourselves down (for example, with conscious breathing).
During Earth Medicine, we hold somatic and transpersonal workshops to help you understand on a deeper level how interconnected we are as beings. In a culture that separates distinctively between mind and body, somatic awareness will help you realise that there is no separation, only an illusion of such. And by recognising the stored memories in the body, we can begin to heal the patterns and traumas that are calling for your attention.
Regular check ins throughout the day will create the habit of somatic awareness. Here are some practices to get you started.
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At any moment of the day, you can pause briefly to tune into your body and see what sensations are there. If you’re able to, you can close your eyes to help awaken your inner sensing. Listen to the language your body speaks - in sensation, symptoms, pulse, breath, whether you feel centred or off-centre and so on. Take some deep breaths. You might find textures or colours associate themselves with the feeling. Try not to analyse what is there. Allow yourself to observe and experience without judgement.
That’s it - a practice of listening and reconnecting to your embodied felt sense of the world. We’ll go into this with much more depth at Earth Medicine, yet like all habits, starting small builds good foundations.
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Self massage is one of the most nourishing and immediate ways to bring more presence, awareness and regulation into your body. One of the most effective places to self-massage is the sternum and around the collar bones. This area is affective at calming the vagus nerve - our fight/flight/freeze nerve centre.
Movement of any kind, especially movement that incorporates conscious breath (Qi Gong, Yoga etc) will help you bring more presence into your body, whilst waking up the lymphatic system. This doesn’t have to be an orchestrated series of classes, any movement it good. Explore, play, stretch, dance, climb trees… try to move from a guiding presence within.
Shaking is an amazing way to release tension, get the blood flowing and to cultivate presence and energy in the body. Find an upbeat piece of music, African drumming is good, and shake for 1-5 minutes (don’t forget to breath whilst you shake!). Then stop, catch your breath, close your eyes and stay present with the sensations in your body. You might even want to go into a meditation after this.
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Somatic Awareness Practices from the Trauma Therapist Institute
Conscious Breathing
It is often emotional or mental upset that causes breathing restrictions, because our tendency is to hold our breath as a reaction to overwhelming feelings. In Chinese medicine, our lungs are said to hold our grief. We’ll explore our lungs more deeply in our somatic sessions at Earth Medicine, but for now, we recommend weaving conscious breathing into your day.
Conscious breathing is a simple yet powerful technique that can have a significant impact on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. When we consciously breathe, we are intentionally directing our attention to our breath and regulating its rhythm and depth.
One of the main benefits of conscious breathing is its ability to down-regulate the nervous system and activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the "rest and digest" response. This can help reduce the feelings of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm that are often associated with the sympathetic nervous system's "fight or flight" response.
Conscious breathing can also help calm the mind by promoting mindfulness and present-moment awareness. As we focus on our breath, we become more grounded and centered, and our thoughts become less intrusive and distracting. This can lead to greater clarity, focus, and emotional stability. Having a foundational practice of conscious breathing will lay you in good stead for your psychedelic journey as breath can help you stay present and grounded in potentially intense moments. To fully embody conscious breathing for several weeks will make this a more innate response during our ceremonies.
There are many different techniques for conscious breathing, including diaphragmatic breathing, square breathing, and alternate nostril breathing. Experimenting with different techniques can help you find the one that works best for you and your unique needs. At Earth Medicine, we will have a holotropic breathwork journey, which is a more intensive breath work that can induce a feeling of homeostasis and an expanded state of consciousness. This practice is a good way to prepare for ceremony and release emotion that may arise. Beginning to connect more consciously with your breath now will also help with that process. Here are some practices for you to try.
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Take 5 deep-belly breaths every time you think about Earth Medicine. Use these breaths to create a sense of safety in your body.
Breathing deeply and noticing your breathing brings you into the present moment and slows the busy mind. Exhaling creates a physiological response of down-regulation. The heart beat and blood pressure slightly lowers with every exhalation (they slightly raise with each inhalation, which is also necessary!). So if you are aiming to relax your system a little bit more, simply exhale slightly longer than when you inhale. Even if it’s only one count longer than your inhalation, or if you only do it a few times, the positive down-regulation effects will happen. Adding in a sigh as you exhale can also help to lengthen that breath and let out extra tension at the same time.
Humming is another way to slow your exhalation and the reverberation of your voice has a calming effect on your nervous system. Take a nice, slow hum on your exhale and allow a moment at the end of your breath to observe if anything has changed. These are subtle yet powerful ways to shift your consciousness.
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Observing Nature
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
― Wendell Berry
Here, we invite you to listen and become more aware of your environment, and especially the natural beings who inhabit it.
Observing and connecting with nature can be profoundly healing as it reminds us of our intrinsic connection with all life. Our work at Rooted Healing is to help re-establish that primordial sense of interconnectedness between humans and place at a deep level, highlighting the reciprocal relationship between our well-being and the health of the natural world.
It is through our connection with nature that we reconnect with life itself.
Nature can become our greatest teacher, healer, lover and guide. And since the very medicine we will encounter together at Earth Medicine is that of the earth, the roots, the mycelium and the ecosystem upon which we tread, we can use this preparatory time to deepen our listening and awareness of the ecology around us and how this reflects the ecology within us.
Observing nature reminds us that we are not separate from it, but rather an integral part of it. It reconnects us with the rhythms, cycles, and the beauty of existence.
Nature can serve as a source of perspective and grounding in our fast-paced modern lives. Being in nature allows us to step away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and connect with the slower pace and wisdom of the natural world. It can help us gain perspective on our own challenges, worries, and concerns, and provide a sense of grounding and stability in the face of uncertainty.
Research has shown that spending time in nature and observing its beauty can improve our mental, emotional, and physical well-being (did we need science to confirm this?), yet it is our emotional relationship with nature that will enable us to create a secure attachment with it/life/ourselves. The latest research is showing that Psilocybin induces biophilia more so than other psychedelics. So how better to prepare than to become more present with the living world around us?
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Take a full sensory walk in as wild a setting as you can access. If you cannot find a natural place to wonder through, take a walk where you can really tune into the natural things - trees on the streets, plants through the pavement cracks and so on. But the wilder the better. Bring yourself to the present moment and obverse and connect with the nature around you. Slow down to observe things more closely, touch tree trunks and smell blooming blossom and flowers. Notice the wind, the temperature changes, the patterns and the sensations as though you are woven into these landscapes. If thoughts come and pull you away from the present moment, allow them to pass away, maybe take some clearing breaths, and return to the beauty of the wild things around you.
You can also relate this to Earth Medicine - start a conversation with nature, allow yourself to feel symbiotically with the world around you, listen to the birdsong and ground yourself. The best preparation you can truly do is to ground yourself - become present to the earth, to your body and to the elements around you so that you feel a part of it and not separate.
If the climate and terrain allows, take your shoes and socks off, connect your bare feet to the earth, feel the temperature and texture of the ground. Move slowly so that you can really pay attention to the wonders around you.
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Find a ‘sit-spot’ - a place in nature whee you can take yourself to, sit in stillness, and come into a state of presence or contemplation - and regularly return.
As we move around, we sed rifles of disturbance from a diameter of roughly 20 feet, so this practice is about being still enough to stop making those ripples, which allows the world around to go about its business. This is a wonderful way to see animals more closely and attune to the flow of life of wild things, just like Wendell Berry’s poem suggests.
Further resources
To say it simply - less is more. We encourage you to simplify your input rather than overdo it. But if you do feel called to explore the world of entheogens and psychedelics or the philosophy behind our approach in literature and the media, here are our favourite recommendations. More resources can be found in our resource hut, which you may have already explored.
How to Change Your Mind - Book and documentary series by Michael Pollen
Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation - Book by Daniel J. Siegel
Fantastic Fungi is a consciousness-shifting film about fungi and all their magic and potential. It is a brilliant piece to watch to connect with the essence of Psilocybin ahead of our time together.
Our podcast offers reflective and insightful conversations that explore the themes that arise from this work.
preparation programme navigation
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Welcome Page
Explore our initial guidance and resources and watch Andrew’s talk on the importance of ceremony.
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Planting Seeds
Set or deepen your intention for your psychedelic experience. Having a clear intention will help you make the most from your experience at Earth Medicine, and will provide anchor points during the ceremonies.
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Clearing the Way
Minimise external influences so that you can be more in touch with yourself, your intention and your connection with life, enabling you to meet the entire experience with more presence and capacity for growth.