Somatic IFS Newsletter March, 2022

March 2, 2022

Where I live, in the Indiana Dunes near Lake Michigan, I hear the honking of the wild geese and Sandhill Cranes as they make their annual return to the north. As the temperature hovers on each side of freezing, the sap in the trees is starting to flow. A friend captures the sap from the maple trees and eventually boils it down over an open fire to about a gallon of syrup, as our ancestors have done for centuries. I find these annual rituals comforting in the face of so many changes.

Trees are our teachers. We are learning that, like us, trees are interdependent. They communicate and collaborate. They even know when to “socially distance” for their survival. The trees around us remind us we need to be rooted in order to reach towards the light. We take in the energy from this biofield of Self energy that is always available to us from above and below. The energy flows along our central channel of Self energy. Throughout the year, the trees continually give to all living beings, simply by being.

I interrupted this writing to go visit my friend to see where she is in the process of making syrup. She had several buckets of tapped sap boiling in two cauldrons. The rhyming couplet from Shakespeare’s “The Song of the Witches” came to me: “Fires burn and cauldrons bubble.” We watched the steaming pots and heard the cranes calling high in the sky as we talked about local politics and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps Putin is our current incarnation of Macbeth who descended into tyranny and killed everyone on his way to the crown.

One of my personal annual rituals is a trip to Costa Rica to lead a Somatic IFS Retreat. We go in the opposite direction of the birds. This winter I offered two retreats. The first one came right in the middle of the Omicron surge, causing several people to bow out at the last minute. The second one begins this Saturday, with a full group who are probably packing their suitcases with tank tops, sandals, and sunscreen.

Along with the soggy earth and rising sap, our response to this virus is opening up. Although I am still cautious about protecting myself and others from getting covid, I am eagerly launching an in-person training this summer. You can find all the information about this training on my website, including eligibility requirements. It will be held at the Ecology Retreat Centre close to Toronto where there will be plenty of trees surrounding us!

With deep gratitude for your interest in Somatic IFS,

Susan McConnell