A Poem for Firelog Pose
"So much of our lives can be spent / collecting crumpled paper, twigs, and kindling / for a flame we do not ignite...." -- except from Firelog Pose by Corie Feiner
I find that poems can be like little gifts left for you like the last piece of a birthday cake set aside in the freezer or like a love note someone tucks in your bag only to be found years later.
Have you ever had that? When you lose something or forget about something it shows up again as a gift?
This poem for Firelog Pose was like that for me. When I reread it, I teared up. I needed to hear it, especially as the burning bush in my backyard begins to redden and my morning skin shivered when I stepped out into the grey autumn air.
I teared up with love and connection because I needed to hear the message of allowing myself to ignite.. to embody fire, to let myself flame up towards the heavens. To show up… I mean really show up.
I read poems out loud to myself. Not just because poetry is born of an oral tradition of incantation and prayers, but because I need to use another one of my senses to take the poem in. Listen to the rhythms and meters, feel them in my throat, my mouth, my heart.
I often say that, A Poem for Every Pose, came to me as a gift. I wrote one yogasana based poem and then another. The more I wrote, the more I said I was not going to write another one. But then I remembered seeing Arlo Guthrie in concert and he said that writing songs was more like receiving songs. They come down a river and he can either take it when he sees it or let it float on by and go to someone else… like Dylan or some other songwriter who will say yes.
A Poem for Every Pose was like that. Although I would shake my head and say, Who am I to write these? I am not a yogi like Richard Freeman or Sadhguru or Shiva Rea. But then one morning during a meditation practice I heard the answer to my question, Who I am to write these?
And the answer was, Because you are the one saying yes.
And I hope you will, too.
May this poem for Firelog Pose warm you up today wherever you are. In your body, your mind, and your heart.
Fire Log Pose
By Corie Feiner My legs stacked over each other— no longer long, no longer full of purpose and stride. They are chopped birch wood, small simple logs, a bone-dry altar upon which I ignite my prayers born of my humble life on earth and sent towards the stars. My hips and knees burn with a fire so deep my entire being ignites. So much of our lives can be spent collecting crumpled paper, twigs, and kindling for a flame we do not ignite. So many days we can say, Let go, let go, but we have to see it for what it is and burn it all. Become orange ember and wisps of smoke, a bed of dancing flames sparking towards the unknown. Sanskrit Name: Agnistambhasana
Paid subscribers can listen to me reading an audio recording of Firelog Pose here.
This is a wonderful article by
making the case for why poetry should be read aloud. So whether you upgrade to paid for access to audio recordings of me reading my poetry or not, I highly encourage you to read this poem out loud to yourself.To embody it.
To Learn More About Firelog Pose
To learn more about this challenging hip opening pose, you can read about it on Kim Luyckx’s Substack here or you can check out this fantastic video Janine Agoglia’s made for you here.
News
A huge part of my yoga journey was learning to safely reconnect with my my body. In particular, parts of my body I had disowned and long ignored. This process culminated with the creation of the Bodylove Poetry Workshop, which combines my experience of teaching poetry as a self-expression and empowerment tool and my background as a holistic health coach specializing in body-image and self-acceptance.
I am offering a free sample workshop of the Bodylove Poetry Workshop on Wednesday, October 9th at 7:30 pm and sincerely hope you can come.
If you are interested, here are the details—
Bodylove Poetry Writing Workshop
A free sample poetry workshop + Q&A live online via Zoom *
topic: learning to love your belly
Wednesday, October 9th, 2024
7:30 - 9.00 pm ET/ 6:30-8:00 pm CT (find your local time HERE)
*This free workshop is a taste of my upcoming 6-week Bodylove Poetry Writing Workshop that starts in November. Please consider joining us for just this free workshop or the full series and give voice to your body one part and one poem at a time.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting my work.!
absolutely incredible, completely pulled me in and warmed me by the fire - thank you for writing and sharing 🤍
I needed this today.