The Knewsletter - The Body Politic
Mwili Kisiasa
The Body Politic - Mwili Kisiasa in Swahili - is a sensory-based knewsletter exploring embodiment, power, and Black sovereignty through sight, taste, smell, sound, and touch.
Volume 3.84.26.1 - Volume numbers follow the rhythm of my birth year, the current year, and the seasonal cycle.
There is a moment when fire meets water
and neither wins.
Instead something else appears.
Steam.
Steam is what happens when heat is held long enough to transform.
Not burn.
Not disappear.
Transform.
This month I am thinking about that threshold.
March is my new year.
Not January.
Not the fiscal calendar.
March.
The soil loosens.
Roots remember themselves.
Water begins to move again.
And I was born inside that movement.
March 21— the equinox child.
A body made in the agreement between light and dark.
So this first volume of the year begins where I always return:
Water.
Not as softness.
Not as escape.
Water as intelligence.
Water as memory.
Water as regulation.
Fire still lives here too.
But in this space, fire answers to water.
That is what The Wataring Whole is practicing.
Not content.
Not performance.
Practice.
Inside this volume you will find small offerings across the Tings —
the sensory pathways that organize this work.
Some will be quiet.
Some will be sharp.
Some will simply sit beside you.
This month the garden is open.
In April the gates close again, not to exclude but to protect the depth of what is growing here.
For now, step inside.
Let the steam rise.
I Speak Tings is where my voice stands tall and speaks wide—be(spoke) wisdom, sharpened by lived practice.
Words cut and soothe, simultaneously fire and water in motion.
I Hear Tings is where sound becomes practice—music and non-verbal offerings for embodiment.
Music lifts the heavy, ignites insight, moves emotion like vapor rising.
The I Hear Tings playlist is a curated offering of textured instrumentals and a few vocals meant to interrupt colonial looping and soften the nervous system back into rhythm.
I Smell Tings works with scent as guidance—building discernment through the body and breath.
Aroma moves like steam — rising, softening, and carrying memory back into the body.
March scent: clove incense.
Spice that warms the room slowly, like water learning the language of fire.
HEM Clove is my chosen brand
I See Tings supports visual embodiment—how to see clearly, critically, and on your own terms.
I Eat Tings uses food as embodiment—grounding through indigenous practices, beloved recipes, and small food makers.
Temperature, taste, ritual — fire + water in every sip.
Some medicines move slowly.
This month’s tea: oat straw, mullein, and lemon balm.
Oat straw nourishes the nervous system.
Mullein clears space for deeper breath.
Lemon balm quiets the restless mind.
A warm cup for bodies learning how to soften again.
I Touch Tings centers physical sensation and energetic boundaries, including nail and hand care as embodied practice.
Skin, pulse, weight — embodiment as alchemical interface.
The hands are small altars.
Mudras are quiet gestures that move energy through the body. When my mind drifts, I let my hands find these shapes while walking or running — a soft way to ground, release, and return to breath.
I Move Tings is a movement praxis for living—cyclical, healing, and attuned to body, mind, and soul.
Body in motion like currents: flow + spark, pressure + release.
The healing journey of a body I have never fully known continues.
February asked for slower movement. After months of near-daily training since surgery, I stepped up to a 30lb (13.6kg) kettlebell. What once moved with Aries speed at 20lbs now asks for steadier breath and deeper attention.
This reset is necessary. It keeps me grounded and off the colonial treadmill.
I move at my own rhythm.
Running outside will return once I invest in better sneakers. Until then, walking will resume as the weather softens and the earth begins to thaw.
I Know Tings restores discernment—remembering that tech(know)logy lives in us, not outside us.
Conceptual + somatic knowledge, mapping tides and currents of self.
Water moves in many ways. Each current holds memory, rhythm, and devotion. Together, they guide the body, mind, and spirit toward flow, release, and regeneration.
Still Water — Regulation
Tings of pause, breath, and temperature settle the nervous system. Still Water teaches the body to receive without bracing, offering calm as the first drop lands.
Flowing Water — Movement
Tings of motion and release bring flow to the body. Flowing Water guides gentle stretches, sways, and shifts, teaching ease in movement drop by drop.
Deep Water — Memory
Tings of feeling and recall surface what’s been stored. Deep Water allows past sensations and stories to arrive slowly, honoring timing and threshold.
Turbulent Water — Conflict
Tings of truth and boundary move through disruption. Turbulent Water delivers clarity and insight without overwhelm, teaching how to navigate challenge carefully.
Tidal Water — Rhythm
Tings of pacing, timing, and return arrive with rhythm. Tidal Water reminds the body when to engage, when to retreat, and how to move with cycles instead of forcing them.
Sacred Water — Devotion
Tings of intention, prayer, and care root practice in presence. Sacred Water reminds us that care is not spectacle—it is repetition, attention, and slow remembering.
Skincare Ting keeps melanated skin out of barrier-ruining trends and rooted in oiled, indigenous care that lasts.
Skin remembers. This month, I’m tending it with slow, hydrating rituals — gentle oils and creams that soften the edges, steady the nervous system, and honor the body as temple.
this month we focus on steam and letting the pores exhale after the contriction of winter
Fill a bowl with hot water and add 2–3 drops of clove or rose essential oil. Lean over the steam, eyes closed, breathing deeply as warmth and aroma rise to soften your body. After 3–5 minutes, gently pat dry and follow with your favorite face mask or moisturizer — a quiet offering to the skin that remembers and releases.
Afro Tings offers hair care and theory that heals, grounds, and cultivates awareness in the face of colonial oppression.
Hair as crown, roots as water, strands as fire — identity sculpted in space.
On Da Left Hand Side of Mushrooms and Roses guides a plant medicine practice that nurtures embodiment and slows the pace in a fast-burning world. drive slow hom(e)ie.
Plant medicine as deep water; fire activation opens portals of insight.
The Six Water Cannabis Field Notes has finally arrived. Follow the flow as we connect plant to embodied healing and grounding.
Altard U & Astro Me blends ancestor veneration and cosmic practice, offering astrology rooted in embodiment, not tropes.
March Affirmation
I am water, I am fire, I am both — held, remembered, and rising.
Altar’d U / Astro Me Affirmation: I am water, I am fire, I am both — held, remembered, and rising.
March Micro-Practice (1 minute):
Sit or stand comfortably, hands over your heart.
Repeat the affirmation slowly, feeling each word move through your chest and belly.
Inhale deeply, imagining warm steam rising from your chest to the crown of your head. Exhale slowly, releasing tension.
Visualize the waters of your body meeting the fire within — steam rising gently, carrying memory and intention.
Press hands lightly over your heart and whisper a final thank you to yourself and your body.
Trans Learn Tings
Trans Learn Tings
Flipping binaries and shifting perspectives—trans as practice, reflection, and fluid thought.
Mind + body integration, fluidity across ancestral timelines, without binary boundary.
The body knows before the mind can name.
This month, I hold space for learning through listening, noticing, and honoring the ways we move, speak, and exist beyond imposed limits.
Mwili Kisiasa -The Body Politic Knewsletter
March Prompts for Trans Learn Tings
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Notice your posture. When you sit, walk, or stand, where does your body hold tension from expectation or judgment? Allow one breath to soften it.
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Name what you need today. Say it aloud or write it down — even if the world doesn’t hear you. Your body is listening.
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Honor small wins. Did you navigate a moment that could have been overwhelming? Celebrate it internally, with a hand on your heart.
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Check in with your sensory flow. Notice sights, sounds, smells, textures — where do you feel overstimulated or calmed? Let that guide your next move.
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Boundaries practice. Pick one small “yes” or “no” that honors your body, your energy, or your time. Let the decision ripple through your day.
A dive into books, ideas, and Afrofuturist obsessions—reading as reflection, imagination, and embodied exploration.
Describe the product here. Include important features, Books to stir memory, imagination, and embodiment — each page a step into self and future. and other relevant details.
Reading Rainbow Ting
Books are mirrors and maps.
This month, I read to meet the selves I have carried and the futures I imagine. Each page is a step into memory, curiosity, and possibility.
March Offering — Birthday Reads:
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Freshwater — Akwaeke Emezi
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The Dark Star Trilogy (Books 1 & 2) — Marlon James
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Son of the Storm — Suyi Davies Okungbowa
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An Unkindness of Ghosts — Rivers Solomon
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Dreamblood series — N.K. Jemisin (continuation from feb)
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She Who Knows series — Nnedi Okorafor (completed)
Each story flows through you like water, carrying fire and light, guiding imagination, memory, and the nervous system alike.
Jewelry as practice, protection, and presence—ritual adornment from Bead & Cowrie that grounds the body, honors ancestry, and transforms everyday movement into ritual.
Adornment is ritual in motion. Each piece touches the skin, awakens memory, and moves energy through the body. This month, I honor the ways jewelry can be both shield and signal — a quiet act of claiming space, power, and presence.
Bead & Cowrie I Adorn Tings
Bead and Cowrie Ancestral Adornment — each bead carries intention, each cowrie holds ancestral memory.
The Abstract Wata(rings) Necklace
Gold, brass, or wood circles — simple circles that ground and connect your body to ritual. Representing The Wata(ring) W(hole).
Altard'd U V 1.1 Mini Hoops
Ear cuffs or small hoops — subtle, intimate adornments that speak to self-care and identity.
Steam does not stay.
It rises, softens the air, and disappears —
but the warmth remains.
Thank you for stepping into this month’s garden of Tings. Each offering is small by design, meant to move slowly through the body and settle where it is needed most.
March is a threshold month for me — a birthday, a new year, a return to water.
Next month the garden gates close again. The deeper currents of this work will return to the membership space where we can tend them with care and pacing.
Until then, move gently.
Drink water.
Listen to your body.
And remember:
I am water, I am fire, I am both — held, remembered, and rising.
See you in the next volume.
— The Wataring Whole
Volume 3.84.26.1
