Rising
By Lisa McCrohan

There comes a time in a woman’s life
when her body won’t be tamed,
she won’t lie down and play good,
she won’t be appropriate and nice,
she won’t sit and be quiet.

There comes a time in a woman’s life
when she won’t be dutifully still,

when her body knows it must dance
to the ancient drums of hearts beating,
calling her
to move, sway and moan –
to make sounds that the world has been trying
to keep down for centuries.

There comes a time in a woman’s life
when she taps into her wild, untamed, sensual,
powerfully feminine self-expression
that scares a world that wants her to be
apologetically appropriate.

And it may scare her, too –
at first –
because she will be called many names,
even hissed at by other women.
Yet she is beyond that now,
responding to a deeper calling.

She hears the wise women who
have come before her, whispering,
“It’s your time now to rise.”

She no longer looks for false refuge.
She aligns her path with what is holy and true.
She flows in harmony with the wildness
and unpredictability of the elements.

She intimately remembers the earth from which she came
and the clay used to make her feminine form.
Fingers spread wide, her palms touch the earth in gratitude.

She can swim in the deep waters of emotions –
from anger and grief to joy and bliss –
and she is no longer scared of feeling so deeply.
She finally lets the somatic story of her emotions be told
through her swaying, panting and shaking.
She will no longer try to control, tame or “get a hold of”
her grief, rage and ecstasy.
Hands to her heart, she thanks the ocean of her emotions.

She is not afraid of the fire burning within her.
She embraces the creative, life-giving power of Kali
to destroy, rebuild and reclaim.
Hands on her belly, she harnesses the fire within,
standing alive and ready.

She allows the winds to carry away what no longer
serves her, as she hears the grandmothers’ call
to rise –

unbounded, unapologetic –

to sweat and dance,
move and make love

to herself,
her lover,
this world.

Yes, there comes a time in a woman’s life
when she hears the familiar drums beating
and her body knows what to do.

No threat, no disappointed look, no plea to stop
can keep her feet from moving, her hips from swirling,
her heart from beating fast and wild, her lips from speaking
her truth.

Yes, today, she rises

carried by the wisdom of her body
to moan and shout, run and dance
as wildly and freely
as she knows she was born to do.

She rises.

And she knows now that her dance and poetry,
swaying and speaking, praying and praising,
will call every woman to rise and remember
her own path to respond to the wild call
within her own heart
begging her to sweat and dance,
move and embody her destiny.

This is her holy time now
of remembering and returning.

This is her homecoming.

She stands now
with fierce devotion and holy trust
in the wisdom of her body
to lay claim to her life

and rise.

Lisa McCrohan, © 2016

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There is a revolution rising from within our bodies, within our spirits.

Listen.  Can you sense it?  “The medicine is here in the body.”

Yes, that’s right – here in your body.

Trust and honor the wisdom of your body — again and again, in the smallest ways.

Our noisy, productivity-prizing culture would have us ignoring her, pushing down her impulses and wisdom.  It would have us keep going when our bodies say, “Stop.”  It would have us remain quiet when our bodies want to stand up and speak.  It would have us allow unwanted touch or comments when our bodies really want to pull back.

Our culture teaches us to, what we Somatic Experiencing Practitioners call “to override.”

Our culture promotes overriding the innate signals of the body.  As a culture, we ignore our bodies, push them, speak harshly to them, constantly correct them, ignore them, and expect too much from them.

Once I began to STOP OVERRIDING, my world changed.  I ate when I was hungry, I stopped eating when I was full.  I went to the bathroom when I needed to use the bathroom.  I slept when I needed to sleep.  I said, “No” – unapologetically and with no other explanation — when I wanted to say no.  I started to let people feel uncomfortable and not jump in to fix it for them.  I stopped sacrificing my wellbeing for everyone else’s.

A woman is a powerful force when she stops overriding the wisdom of her body.  She harnesses her power.  She is ready to rise.

Raw.  Real.  Alive.  Right here in the body.  You are being called — from beyond time and from a Sacred Place within you — to rise.

Rise in your dance.  Rise in your sensuality.  Rise in your voice and song.  Rise in your creativity.

It’s time now.

And the body holds the medicine.  Listen to her.

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If it is time for your own inner listening and rising, please, print out this poem.  Put it somewhere you’ll see it.

And if you are discerning if it’s time to have a mentor, a Personal Coach, at your side, check it out.  I also offer a complimentary 30 minute call to see if it’s right for you.  Click “Schedule a free consultation.”