That is where my direct experience ends with my specific family ancestry. The good news for me is that I grew up with a mom who has (as long as I can recall) been interested in the early peoples of the planet and how the evolution of humanity effects family and community dynamics. Here are a couple of examples of how my mom brought the awareness of the early peoples of the planet into my consciousness. 

Scenario 1 

We are at the playground where my sisters go to school, my 3-year-old self is at the top of the climbing frame and hanging upside-down-ish from my legs and one arm

Me:  Look mom, can you see me? 

Mom:  I see you Frannie. 

Moments later I’m digging in the sand pit.

Mom:  Frannie, imagine all the early peoples of the world who climbed up high in the trees and found ways to dangle like you did on the climbing frame.

I look at my mom wondering if these people who climbed trees also played with sand? 

Scenario 2

We are in the kitchen preparing a fruit salad, little girl hands are carefully peeling oranges, scooping kiwis, and slicing apples and bananas.

Mom:  How did the early peoples of the planet know which fruits we could and could not eat? 

Big Sister 1:  Did they watch what the animals and then copy the animals?

Mom:  Perhaps.

Big Sister 2:  I think only one of them took a bite to see if it was safe to eat it. And if that person did not die the others ate it too.

Mom:  That is also possible.

I am munching on banana pieces, now imagining what the early peoples of our planet ate?

As teenagers these kinds of conversations were woven into our high school geography and biology classes. In university the same topics evolved into debates with insights gained from anthropology and psychology courses.  As adults the once family conversations began to be laced with life experience and the threads of evolving scientific understanding usually gleaned from a podcast or news article. 

These days I appreciate the ongoing word prompts that push us to consider how our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual attributes connect us to the far-reaching lineage of humanity. This is a reminder that we come from human ancestors who survived and thrived in a multitude of circumstances -- abundance and scarcity, stability and insecurity, peace, war and so much more.  I am filled with a sense of awe, humility, and ultimately courage.  From my ancestors I have direct experience with all I carry within me; it is a bone deep wisdom for self and communal preservation and celebration.

Grandma Kimmie taught me to bring my awareness to a single point of focus to calm my nervous system and induce a state of rest no matter what situation. When I was 15, she told me about a time in her life when she had faced political persecution in the name of “re-education.” The form of torture she endured for several years was hard labor and sleep deprivation. She explained how she survived.  Later, over many years she somewhat recovered from the trauma 

“Focus on your navel and breathe slowly”

At age 15 I grasped the concept, but wondered, how was it possible this simple practice could manage such trauma? At age 45 I thankfully appreciate the profound healing effect of the practice.

In my college years, Granny Franny taught me to always have a pot of gravy simmering on the stove. In her Italian American vernacular “gravy” is her homemade marinara sauce (the best marinara I’ve ever had).  Indeed, I witnessed time again that as family, friends and neighbors would stop by – there would be a bowl of pasta with gravy ready.  Folks joyfully communed around her table. 

Nowadays, my own life work calls me to continue the exploration of human movement body-mind-emotion-spirit.  I am grateful for the lessons from my grandmothers on how to heal myself and create space for others in the present. The warm yet profound feeling within me suggests that perhaps humans need to reach back in order to move forward.

This notion of reaching back to move forward shows up in my daily movement practice. Strength of the human form comes truly from what is underneath and behind. 

Picture yourself walking. What is underneath? Your feet. What is behind? The large muscle groups of your legs and hips. We are supported up from our feet to the crown of our head and we are propelled froward from our powerful base.   This same concept is seen in nature; the roots of a tree stretch deeply into the earth enabling the trunk of the tree to ascend sky ward. 

There are several yoga asasa (postures) that are part of a back-bend family; you might have heard of cobra, locust and bow.  These asanas begin with laying on your belly.  You are invited to lengthen your chest forward to lift your chest up and spread wide across your collar bone. The foundation of these postures is the base and back. Note that you are asked to reach back to go forward. Reach legs back. Reach tail bone back so you can lengthen and lift your chest forward and up.  It is that the action to grow forward and up comes from reaching back.

I find exploring this movement in my physical body does coax me to integrate something similar in mind, emotions and spirit. With “reach back to move forward” I assess situations with more clarity.  My compassion increases and my energy flows more evenly. Strength from what is behind and under me -- helps me with my work, my relationships and then whole of my being.

I still love to hang upside down on a climbing frame, each time I again realize how strong my legs (my base) must be to allow the action to climb and dangle down.  In this upside-down space I like to breathe slowly and focus on my navel.  

I know I am part of the vast human lineage past and future.

I recall ancestors known and unknown.

I breathe gratitude through every cell of my being for their wisdom, joy, and sacrifice.

I remember to root deep and to rise up.

I trust that what is underneath and behind in each person can move that person forward

I reach back to move forward in service to descendants known and unknown.

The invitation is to explore “reach-back to move-forward” in our movement and breath practice enables us to honor and be in service to the human lineage heart-mind-body-soul.

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