BODY LAND - Metaphor Medicine: Recent Episodes
Liz Asch Greenhill
Body Land is a collection of guided visualizations that use the superpowers of your imagination to help you feel better. Have a dose of metaphor medicine to relax, restore, and rejuvenate.
This guided meditation helps you find your center, calm your breathing, and feel safe, as you reconnect to the natural world and your own body. Using ideas and images from Eastern medicine and the powerful magic realism tools of your mind, together we find alignment, dignity, belonging, gratitude, and rest. Listen when still and quiet, alone or in a group, and follow along in your body.
When we are overwhelmed, distraught, deeply sad, and scared, it can be very hard to stay in our bodies and think clearly. This 15 minute guided meditation helps you ground, center, and re-orient so that you recognize yourself and your surroundings. Listen when still and quiet and follow along in your body. Take care. You are loved.
Join us in this sleepy visualization as we settle into the darkness, integrating safety, cleansing the body of tension, bringing in sensations of love and acceptance, ready to welcome good dreams.
Special episode of Body Land in Spanish. Thanks to our translator and voice, Udom Linthavong! And thanks to RACC for supporting this translation project. Listen when you are still and quiet, and follow along in your body.
A special episode of Body Land in Spanish. Thanks to Udom Linthavong for being our translator and voice. Thanks for RACC for generous support. Stay tuned for more Body Land episodes in English, coming soon!
A special Body Land episode in Spanish. Stay tuned for more episodes in English coming soon!
A special Body Land episode in Spanish with guest Udom Linthavong. Stay tuned for future episodes in English again, coming very soon!
Thanks to a grant from the RACC and the beautiful voice of translator Udom Linthavong, we are bringing you 4 special guided meditations in Spanish! Stay tuned for Cuerpo Tierra! We will be back with new episodes in English very soon.
Here’s another visualization to listen to before bed. to free up and bring movement to any emotions that might be hanging around stalling our ability to rest. We use symbolism to envision the emotions as colors, which lets them be energetic, as opposed to stories tied to thoughts, which take us out of the body and into the mind. So, just let the colors fly, float, wash, and waft through you, trusting in the process, the energetic release, and your ability to embody a metaphor as a way to change the way you feel.
Tune into your nervous system, creating a sensation of resonance through your whole body, so you can rest.
Season Four is all about insomnia. Try this breathwork technique to release stored tension and enhance a sense of inner peace. We will focus on the image of ripples throughout a peaceful body of water and bring those sensations into the body.
We talk a bit about the four levels of being (and reality) and how metaphors of the earth apply to the body. We tune into four layers of the body and coax each one into a relaxed safe state. Listen before bed and let me know how it feels.
The pattern of the mycelium network is around us and within. Let it transform into a softly glowing nightlight that protects you and feel yourself soften into a resting state.
You can use your imagination to affirm and generate sensations of ease, trust, and belonging. These perceptions put you at ease and help you rest.
Welcome back to Body Land Metaphor Medicine, an archive of guided visualizations that engage the superpowers of your imagination to help you relax and restore. These salutary stories are informed by Surrealist art, Eastern Medicine, and Somatic methods for self-regulation. I’m your creator and host, Liz Asch Greenhill. I am an author and artist, and the acupuncturist at Night Sky Acupuncture and Ideaphoria.
Rest into nature and into your body through this image of a river running down your spine. This is designed to help increase qi flow in the hips and pelvis.
Let it be known I’ve been watching too many TikTok videos. Now it’s time to clear some energy and awaken to the senses. When we clear and clean our senses, we can participate in and appreciate the present moment. And that feels f-ing good.
Erase everything in the room. You get to be a cloud just like those dreams when you are flying. But this time, something special happens when you drop your baggage.
New settings on my recording device. Does it still sound like it used to? Are the settings ok?
Feeling a little lighter? Let’s amplify that sensation with this visualization that somaticizes the sensation of freedom.
This one’s like a brain massage. But anywhere you got a gland you can do this. Don’t stop here. Google glands and keep going.
Floating on a raft in a bay, we practice feeling safe and secure, and the act of letting go.
This is a 12 minute guided visualization.
Find yourself in a quiet stream in the forest where everything aligns around and within.
The heart is the empress of your body. Let your heart be the diva that she is and get her nails done (metaphorically, of course).
Your sacrum is a shovel-shaped bone between your spine and your tailbone. It is cupped like a palm. Settle in to a peaceful vacation deep in your own body.
Replenish yourself with the flavors of the earth.
Help protect and repair the planet. And maybe support your local juice joint?
Approximately 2/3 of our bodies are made up of water. In Chinese Medicine, water is the yin energy that anchors us, calms us, and replenishes our nervous system. Take a plunge into some fresh natural river imagery to bring you back to your 67%.
Feeling grateful for water? Make a donation to help clean up the Verde River in Arizona, the Lower Snake River in Washington, and support the Waterkeeper Alliance. Active links on my website at Night Sky Acupuncture.
Keeping it real, keeping it surreal, and keeping it short. Let’s do more with less with a season of extra shorty visualizations for the now. Wishing you good health, good luck, and composure for the continued intensity of 2020.
This visualization goes out to the leaders working for positive change. Thank you for your efforts, your passion, and your sacrifices.
We send ripples through the body with our breath, ignite the heart, and entrust the pelvis and the mind to support our nervous system so we can rest and recharge.
Feeling a bit drained these days? Working on your hashtag boundaries? We’ve got some six feet of separation self-care for ya. I talk super briefly about how fractal patterns of self:other are part of the body’s defenses from the perspective of Chinese Medicine and then we drop into a super soothing visualization that helps you disentangle your energy from others which ultimately benefits your immune system.
Turn the dial down on your nervous system to catch some solid sleep and bring your body into repose. When we invite the deep yin into our being, we can surrender our nervous energy and find a sense of peace.
Tune in to my first visualization for teens wherein we do several somatic exercises with visualization to move energy in the ribcage and diaphragm. Adults are welcome too! It’s really for anyone. Let me know how it goes for you. You can find me at Night Sky Acupuncture or on Instagram at Metaphor_Medicine.
Our first visualization for kids! This exercise is designed to help kids feel surrounded by safety and tenderness as an experiential antidote to anxiety, worries, and fear. I recommend that adults do the exercise alongside the kids so that they can share their experiences afterwards. Let me know how it goes!
This episode is not a guided visualization; it’s an explanation about doing this work on one’s own. To learn more about guided visualization as a practice and something you can do on your own, tune in to this episode, and let me know how it works out for you.
Using metaphor medicine we clear the lungs with a series of varied tactics and acts of tenderness.
We call on the concept of “image” in poetry to approach embodiment and bring in the Nat Geo jellyfish to feel all the feels toward: safety, breath, and inner calm.
Together we look to the movies to inspire our immune system to fight with swords. Then we clean up and take a long qi shower. We are using our imaginations to help us feel better.
Your immune system is more complex than a symphony. Let's make sure it's awake, empowered, and appreciated.
The world feels suddenly turned upside-down but we are in it together people. Let's bring it back to the body, mind and spirit, and use our knowledge and put our creative energy toward our own benefit so we can be stronger and more aligned in ourselves for ourselves and for others. This Season, some episodes will be GVs (guided visualizations) and some will be Talks (on Chinese Medicine, plant medicine, innovation, and cultural observations). There will also be an opportunity for you to call in for a customized GV which we will share on the podcast. Please consider making a donation (B0DYLAND Venmo account) to support this effort. $1/episode is a great place to start. Thank you! Liz
Dive into the deep yin of darkness to let go of static emotional states through some wild and colorful methods. There's a little explanation first and then it shifts into the meditation. Art Rx for all the Feels: Artists who paint themselves and others flying and floating: Faith Ringgold Marc Chagall Check out the cosmic connectivity of Chani Nicholas https://chaninicholas.com
Juice up your jing, which, in Chinese Medicine, is your deep essence goo, kinda like how oil is the deep essence goo of the Earth. People with BJE (Big Jing Energy) live long, love hard, and run strong.
Art Rx for your jing:
El Anatsui's shimmering stunning wall hangings made from discarded bottlecaps, metal liquor wrappings and soda tabs (most impressive clean up pollution result ever) https://www.jackshainman.com/artists/el-anatsui/ Remember this Joy Harjo poem: Remember https://poets.org/poem/remember-0 Lizzo's album "Cuz I Love You" slings straight into to your juicy jing resevoir.
In this guided visualization, let's get basic and be trees together. We'll go through the seasons and feel all the shedding and growing and windfall and snow. Get ready to get leafy and stuff.
Want to see cool stuff? Here's you Art Rx: Look up Aerial View Photography on pinterest Check out artist Nils-Udo Read about artist Agnes Denes in the New York Times
Got a sore knee, elbow, wrist, kip, ankle, shoulder, back? Let's start at the source of your pain and see if we can use your imagination to shift the way you are holding tension there.
Hey btw, FIRST-- if you don't have an image come to mind when you hear me say: atom shape -- google 'atom' first, so you can see it and have it readily accessible in your mind. :-)
Your Art (and Wildlife) Rx: Livestream honey bee hive (link on website) Artist Hilda af Kimt The poem What's Broken by Dorianne Laux
Really, it would be more accurate to call this “Let’s Get Unreal About the Diaphragm!
For real, when your diaphragm is in a pinch you can feel all kinds of crummy symptoms: anxiety, shortness of breath, heartburn, ribside pain, poor circulation, headaches, and more, but I'll stop there. Sheesh. Let's ambush the diaphragm with lots of imagery to help you release tension from this beast of a muscle.
(P.S. the diaphragm is particularly influenced by creative expression, that's why we are going this route. P.P.S. Never worry if you are visualizing something different or at another angle from what I'm trying to describe. Just let your imagination do its thing.)
Art Rx for curious people who want to look stuff up:
Images of treetops and a phenomenon called crown shyness
Listen to Chavela Vargas, one of the most expressive singers ever
Artist Hiba Schabaz imagines the self immersed in natural
We're going old school, all the way back to pre-school for this one, mixing memory into our senses and embracing wonder while we bloom bloom bloom the diaphragm.
Curious for more? This episode's Art Rx is full of delights: Agnes Pelton (1881-1961)- abstract artist with spiritual vibes http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/agnes-pelton Eiko and Koma's Delicious Movement Manifesto http://eikoandkoma.org/deliciousmanifesto Using Memory and Sound to Regrow https://www.npr.org/2019/12/01/783932607/to-help-coral-reefs-come-back-fake-it-with-sound-till-fish-make-it
Build an assemblage in your body so that you can focus your breath. This is a guided visualization based on Dutch still life painting from the 1600s and Surrealist still life painting from the 1930s.
Curious to see some examples of still life painting? Check out: Still Life with Peacock Pie, Pieter Claesz, (Dutch) 1627 (vegans avert your eyes!) And Surrealist Still Life (Pirate Souvenirs), Pierre Roy (French), 1930 and also his Andromède Prisonnière Read article: How Artists Have Kept Still Life Painting Alive Over Thousands of Years, By Kelly Richman-Abdou
Distilling the classic microcosmic orbit into a water cycle for all you nature + seltzer lovers. +++ Do you love fresh water? Me too. Do you want to help others who don’t have fresh water? Me too. Here are some organizations where you can make a donation to help give fresh clean to water to those without:
Navajo Water Project
Flint Michigan
UNICEF
Is your spine a column of bones or is it a pearl necklace? You be the judge. (Hint: it can be both!)
Curious about artists who paint the body in imagined and mystical ways? Here's your Art Rx:
Frida Kahlo (check out google's arts and culture exhibit) Wangechi Mutu (at Victoria-Miro) Frank Moore (also on google arts and culture)
It's current to be a current. Relax and restore with a fresh river guided visualization. +++ We have a lot of work ahead of us to make our rivers as clean and fresh as they are in our imaginations. If you feel called to make a donation, here are some organizations doing deep work: Native American Rights Fund Center for Biological Diversity The Ocean Clean Up
Is it new to feel this old?
This episode's Art Rx: René Magritte Angélica Dass - Humanae Project Ancient Cave Art at getty images
If you are like me, a creative thinker who is a touch high strung, then you've probably had anxiety influence your mood and your body. Have you ever invented a catastrophe and felt your stomach flip, sweat break out, or your chest get tight...or worse? All you did was invent a story…and let it play out in your mind, and your body reacted as if it had happened (at least a little bit.) Just the thought made you sick. That's how powerful the imagination is. Stories do affect our bodies. So, let's tell ourselves some stories that help us feel more safe, more creative, more calm, more grounded, and more aligned. Then we can put the imagination to use to help us feel better.
Do you ever get invaded by discomfort, constriction, or negativity? When those restricted states hit your mind they can affect your body- and vise versa. They affect the way you see others, the world, and your own experience—and they influence the level of comfort your have in your body. How different is it when you feel relieved, restored, or even exhuberant? Those feeling states can offer your body and mind a chance to push the reset button on negativity and constriction. Listen for a bit more on this topic.
Feel the vibes of outer space as a free-floating astronaut in your own cosmos.
Be a galaxy. Then nat geo the night sky with roses blooming on loop at your pain points.
Curious? Want to get inspired? Check out:
Beautiful homemade videos of flowers blooming (feel these in your body when you watch!)
Mystical feminist artist Paula Duro
Artist Vija Celmins depicts nature in her prints and drawings including the night sky.
https://fireleibaezstudio.com/gallery
http://www.artnet.com/artists/leonora-carrington/
https://www.boredpanda.com/land-art-andy-goldsworthy/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
My long term vision for this project is that I can eventually hire individuals who speak languages other than English to translate and record some of these so we can expand availability.
Special Thanks to my patients for coming in and being my canvases of ideaphoria and metaphorical painting. And thank you to helpers Leslie Huddart, Niyati Evers-King, Anusuya Starbear, Jason Powers, Breesa Culver, Sanae Yamada, Alissa Beddow, Kara Marie Dean, and Bruce Patterson.
BODY LAND is a podcast style resource for your self care. These sound bites send deep image lyric storytelling through your ears to your body. These guided visualizations are made by me, Liz Greenhill, licensed acupuncturist, artist, and writer, and they are based on the hands-on work I do with patients.
The basis for these visualizations comes from my personal experience with anxiety. When I was in my twenties, I struggled with my mental health. The EMDR therapist who helped me through that difficult time, Bruce Patterson, taught me that anxiety is the imagination gone rogue. In an anxiety state we are telling ourselves stories that aren't true, stories that are filled with hypothetical tragedy, pain, chaos, and scenarios of misfortune and failure. The idea behind Body Land is that we can repurpose our wonderfully creative imaginations for the opposite effect: to use metaphor and lyric imagery to get embodied and build sensations of safety, nurturing our cravings for belonging, awareness, intuition, and inner peace. These small experiences are not meant to be curative solutions for anxiety but rather help managing it. They offer fleeting micro-antidotes to help you remember what the opposite of anxiety feels like and to land in your body and claim it as your home.
Each visualization is designed for you to feel more safe and comfortable in your own skin. Listen to these visualizations with your eyes closed and let the imagery sink in to your bones. Let yourself space out, travel to the in-between, or even sleep. The images that appear in your mind's eye are yours to keep. Imagine them floating around inside you like holograms in outer space. You can call on them whenever you need. Your body will remember.
BODY LAND is produced by Night Sky Acupuncture + Ideaphoria.
Recording sound bites for self care for ya.