Good morning.
Welcome to this morning's somatic practice.
You can be seated on a chair or if it feels comfortable you can sit onto the floor just allowing yourself to get a little bit settled as we begin our practice this morning.
I'm going to share with you a little reading from this book by Jeff Foster called You Were Never Broken.
And it's a simple A simple invitation.
Feel your feet on the ground.
Your belly rising and falling.
Be open and receptive.
The life all around you.
The sounds.
Smells.
Feelings rising unexpectedly.
Tingling in the belly.
Contraction in the throat.
Heaviness in the head.
An old melancholy coming to visit.
Stay curious.
As the moment dances.
Stay curious even as you lose your curiosity.
Listen with your entire body.
Hear yourself.
Hear the person you're talking to.
Let the silence linger a little while longer.
Move just a little into the discomfort.
There's no rush.
There's no better moment to get to.
Silence doesn't always need to be filled.
Feeling your body now.
Whatever position you settled into.
Feeling.
.
.
And noticing maybe that sense of downward pressure where your body your seat.
And just allowing yourself to take.
A few more conscientious breaths here so we'll see if we can almost imagine breathing down into the belly and feeling that rise and fall of your belly.
Might be really noticeable or sometimes it can help to even place a hand there.
Eyes can be open or closed at any point during this practice and see me sort of opening closing my own eyes as you watch the rise and fall.
We invite in that intention of curiosity.
Even in moments where your attention drifts.
You can become curious about that as well.
As if that was not.
Piece of distraction but as if it was a part of our practice right becoming curious And then see what it might feel like to take both of your hands out in front of you.
They could be about shoulder distance apart or a little bit closer.
See what feels right.
We're going to start to gently.
Expand the hands outwards.
Now they can go as far.
As feels interesting for you,
You might spread it really wide into maybe like 70%,
Or you might keep it in a little bit smaller,
Just going to about 50%.
We're sort of playing with.
.
.
Percentages of effort.
We just move in and out in this kind of.
.
.
Expanding and contracting pattern.
In a similar way to the way that the breath moves If it feels right,
You might explore what it might be like to.
.
.
Connects the movement with your breath.
Might be an inhale for that expanding action.
And an exhale.
As you bring the hands back together,
Contracting.
Noticing what it feels like to connect breath and movement in this way.
We'll keep going for a few more rounds if at any point you feel like,
You know what,
I'm done exploring this movement.
You just take a little pause and then gently let that go notice if your shoulders want to take a little roll one direction and then the other.
And then take the arms out to the side,
Reach them all the way up.
And again,
Just see kind of the percentage of effort you want to lift to.
So it might be just sort of like 50%,
Or maybe you're reaching a little bit higher towards 80.
Seeing what feels interesting,
What you're kind of curious about this morning,
Kind of that more.
Full extension or keeping a little bit softer,
A little bit closer in,
Noticing there's a quality difference in the sensations for the muscles as you do that.
You can let one hand float to the earth,
Doesn't matter which one,
Could be on your seat or on the ground,
Wherever you are.
As we reach over again,
Noticing Do I want to come to about 50% effort?
Maybe that feels like enough today.
Or do I want to go a little bit further,
See what that 80% feels like?
And then coming back through to the other side.
Similar kind of process,
Just becoming really curious about.
.
.
Percentages of effort.
So we can move.
Yeah,
Very quickly sometimes into places that are maybe over extensions.
The invitation is to.
.
.
Just notice.
What feels like.
The right level for you.
Do again just a few more and you're going at your own pace and rhythm.
Again,
Letting kind of curiosity guide you.
Staying with it for as long as it feels.
Interesting.
Noticing where you feel different muscle dynamics,
Stretching.
Excellent.
Engaging.
Maybe finishing on the opposite side to the one you started on.
And then coming back to center feel free to at any point move your legs as well if you feel like they get hired in one position.
Going to take a little twist now so we'll cross one arm over the top of the other doesn't matter which one And we'll take a little rotation.
To one side.
Again play with that effort let's see where muscles want to go to.
Now do you repeat it a couple of times?
I find there's more space.
You might find that actually staying within Kind of like 50% effort in my rotation feels about right for me today.
And notice.
.
.
Sometimes.
All these slower movements.
We often want to feel that silence or get to the next thing.
See what happens when you let yourself.
Not trying to fill those spaces so quickly.
So we're going to come to.
.
.
Little bit of a leg stretch now once again you could be on a chair doing this so we're going to stretch the legs forward.
And you can use a little bit of support through your hands.
And we're just going to point the toes.
And flexitopes.
Again you could do one at a time if you're on a chair perhaps.
And then maybe little rotations.
I'm gonna face towards you once again.
So we'll take hold of one foot and you can cross it over the top of the other leg.
Again,
In a chair,
This is possible again.
We're just going to take hold of the foot.
And make rotations helping the foot with the hand.
As you do so you might notice sensations through the ankles,
Through the muscles.
Also getting this little figure of four shape here with the leg.
Make sure you go a few times in the opposite direction as well.
And then we'll just let that foot rest to the inside edge of the leg Again,
You might be on a chair doing this.
Then you can walk your hands forward as if you're sort of directing your body over this front thigh,
Just to the point that feels comfortable.
So wherever you feel.
Yeah,
There's something interesting happening there I can work with,
I can breathe into.
Again,
Just watching that rise and fall of your practice.
Taking yourself all the way back up.
We'll come to the other side and stretching.
Opposite leg.
Again,
It doesn't really matter which one you start with.
Did you post?
And then taking hold of the foot.
You might also notice here as you're holding the foot.
Sort of texture of the foot,
The temperature,
Does it feel cool today?
Does it feel warm to the touch?
So the foot sort of receiving that touch.
A few turns in the opposite direction as well.
And then placing that foot to the inside edge.
Of that opposite leg.
Then slowly working your way forward so looking for percentages.
Does that feel like a 50%?
Does it feel like 70?
What feels like the right percentage?
You might find.
.
.
As you're in it for a little bit,
You can move a little bit.
More into the percentage or you might realize actually Where I need to be at is a little bit.
Less of a percentage today.
And then we gently come back up.
We're going to make our way over onto our hands and knees.
If you feel like you need a little bit of extra support under your knees you can always bring a little blanket under your knees just for that little bit of extra cushioning so from our hands and knees We're going to take a little side stretch,
So dropping.
The right hip over.
To the right Again,
Tune into what percentage feels right.
Back through center,
Over to the left.
Back through center.
Over to the right.
I'm just kind of working away.
Through.
One side and the other.
The pace and rhythm that feels interesting.
Nice,
And then finish off in the center.
So we're going to bring our foot forward,
One of the feet,
Right or left.
And you step it as wide as feels supportive for you.
Taking your hands onto that front seat.
That's so.
.
.
You might lift your chest a little bit,
Feel the crown of the head.
Rise up towards the ceiling.
We're again looking for percentages so noticing what you feel through that supporting me Thigh area.
There's a little stretch there that feels interesting.
Also be here in relative stillness or Maybe explore a little bit of movement.
That sort of imitation of.
.
.
Listening to what percentage feels right.
And then place your.
.
.
Hand that's on the kneeling side to the inside edge of that front foot.
And we'll lift up and open through the opposite arm.
Let me twist.
And you can reach.
Towards the ceiling it feels good or keep it a little bit softer there might even be a little bend in the knee might be some movement through the body,
A little sway.
Keeping it soft.
And then that hand comes down and we bring that foot back.
We are stepping back.
And then the opposite leg comes forward.
You can help it out.
Take your time.
Make your way.
All the way up.
And again same kind of process again here what feels interesting Movements.
It's kind of sitting in the stillness.
Noticing.
That desire,
That impulse.
To do more,
And you could do more.
Sometimes more isn't required.
Just noticing what's.
.
.
Was there and that kind of.
Simplicity.
Once you feel like you've had.
Yeah,
Enough here.
We'll say that.
Hands all the way to the outs of support and lift up and open and looking for effort.
What level of effort feels interesting on this side?
Might be different to the other side.
And then bringing that hand all the way down.
Step it back.
Do a little cat-cat out here.
Tailbone lifts,
The belly softens,
The chest rolls forward and through.
Exhale.
Around through the back body.
Come through a few runs just like that.
And then maybe we sink back into a child's pose.
Again,
Stillness or movements,
What feels nice,
What feels interesting.
And walk working your hands all the way back up through to your seat.
I might come back to you.
Your chair or your cushion.
And we'll finish off here.
Again,
Maybe taking one hand to the belly.
One hand onto the chest this time.
And just watching the rise and fall.
Of your breath.
Noticing any.
.
.
Difference in the quality of your awareness.
It's really subtle bodily.
Sensations.
And.
.
.
Maybe selling an intention to.
.
.
Carry that with you into your day.
Checking in with.
.
.
What effort.
Percentage of effort.
Is required and which percentage of effort.
You see where you're at.
Thanks so much for joining me in this morning's practice.
Shanti,
Shanti,
Shanti.
Peace,
Peace,
Peace.
