Practicing Being Spirit Led
In these times of turmoil it can feel so challenging to dream up the world we strive for. The world we know we deserve that sometimes feels so far into the future. In early May we had the opportunity to convene with our coaching cohort from the Coaching for Healing Justice & Liberation during ReUnion, where we also got to connect with people from all the additional cohorts that now exist. It was our second reunion, and I remember the first one at the end of 2023 feeling like magic. This time was no different.
At one point we reflected on how it felt like we were living into the future we dream for. We were living into the possibility that everyone is welcome, with everything you have and everything you are. A space where we can show up and bring our full selves, without pretense and without having to leave certain parts at home or tucked in deep inside. We can’t pinpoint what it is that helps us create this container but we think that’s part of the magic. We are co-creating the container together. We opened up the space with a reverent welcome, we each got to embody something we wanted to bring more fully into the space to be witnessed by everyone and welcomed. We all brought something different to the Welcome Table, and it was all welcomed all the same. “I felt it inside me to bring my full silly and joyous self to our time together so I skipped around and rolled on the floor. It’s not every space that gets to see me in my fullness, but CHJL is one.” - Najla
Adlemy
It takes me a while to “arrive” at a space. I can physically be there but my spirit will wander around the room and assess the level of safety that will inform how I show up. I’m practiced in this and I’ve learned to give myself the space and time I need to “arrive” and sometimes I wish that I could arrive sooner, that I didn’t have to assess. CHJL ReUnion shared with me all different kinds of medicine and gifts and one of them was creating the possibility for my spirit to arrive without having to wander, without having to assess: will I be safe here? During the first somatic session led by tayla shanaye we were invited to walk around the room and move our bodies in response to statements being shared. I have practiced similar activities and they tend to be challenging. I have to convince my body to get into a shape, any shape other than contraction. This time I felt different, I witnessed my own self step into expansion, into joy, into play without having to convince myself, without having to assess safety. It was during the small group reflection when someone in my group asked if we could howl and growl instead of talking, I immediately started howling and growling. I could feel a vibration moving from my gut to my throat and exiting through my lips with ease, I felt belonging. I looked around the room and saw how others were also finding belonging and I felt hope. I saw tears and embraces and I felt trust.
We had another activity where tayla shanaye helped us tap into ways of resourcing ourselves in a world of chaos. The Knafeh Queens fed our bellies and our souls with story and laughter and Palestinian resistance and joy. Sally Chang (based in Oakland, check them out) led us into Qigong and we all dropped into our bodies through movement. On the final day we visited the ocean; Color the Water grounded us in the history of surfing and what it means to be in right relationship with the water and each other.
Najla
We entered Mama Ocean for our closing ceremony, offering her flowers in gratitude. As I released my offering, the sun warmed my whole body—I felt its embrace, and with it, the presence of my mother and grandmother. Together, we held an old, inherited belief and listened to its longing. Then, we let it go. I heard, again and again: You are enough. I told my mother and grandmother with my whole being—you are enough as a mother, as a woman, you’ve done enough. In stillness and rest, without needing to prove anything, I felt my wholeness. The ocean wrapped around me, the sun traced my skin, and I became a vessel—radiating the color of sunrise, touching across time. I reached my ancestors, I reached my friends, and I whispered to each one: you are whole, you are enough. Flowers floated at my feet. The ocean held me.
What a gift to have this space, this home that was co-created to hold all of ourselves. CHJL ReUnion 2025 was about “coming home to self” and really it was a prayer that was answered. As organizers, coaches, healers we know that spaces like this one, is what makes it easier to dream and trust that we are on path. May we continue to co-create spaces and moments where we invite each other to feel liberation in our bodies and spirit.
