Hello and welcome to your centering practice.
You can use this anytime to support aligning your system,
Connecting to an intention,
Or as an integrative piece at the end of any embodiment practice.
So this is done standing.
So begin by really finding your feet,
Taking a nice full deep inhale and exhale.
And you may even look down and see your feet.
You might contract them,
Wiggle them,
Really allow your feet to land right here,
Right now.
Taking some nice full breaths.
You might even let your heels drop or say aloud,
I am here.
Really feeling your feet on the earth,
Right here,
Right now.
Taking a nice,
Generous breath.
And then beginning to build from the ground up.
So feeling the energy rising up into your legs so that they are active and alive,
But not locked.
So the knees are soft.
And you can tilt your pelvis back and forth to find where is center.
Beginning to align your body.
So feeling all the way from your feet up your legs into your pelvis,
Taking a breath into your lower body.
And moving up,
Softening the belly,
Softening the chest,
Allowing the back of your body to lengthen for the spine to grow tall.
Once again feeling where is center for your shoulders and chest,
Right over your hips,
Right over your feet.
Taking another generous breath all the way from your feet,
All the way up,
Out the crown of your head,
Allowing your arms to gently hang at your sides,
Softening the face,
The jaw.
And beginning here to inhabit your length.
So really feeling that dignity,
That strength,
That length in your spine as you breathe.
And then softening the front,
Softening the heart,
Softening the belly.
When we inhabit our length it is the dimension of our dignity,
So feeling your length without over-efforting or trying to be taller than you are.
Just feel that dignity in the spine,
That strength,
That length.
And then that soft,
Open front,
Open heart,
Soft eyes.
And you might experiment doing this practice with your eyes open or your eyes closed,
Or changing throughout,
Really beginning to feel what it's like to align your system.
And now moving into your width,
So feeling yourself expand to inhabit the fullness of you,
From shoulder to shoulder,
Hip to hip,
Letting your body unfurl,
Uncurl as it opens into your width,
Continuing to breathe.
This is the dimension of connection,
So you might even notice how the air feels on your exposed skin.
You might notice how connected you feel to the space around you,
To others inhabiting your width.
Taking a nice full breath into this length and into this width.
And now moving on to depth,
So beginning at the back of your body,
Feeling your shoulders,
Your back,
Your bum,
The backs of your legs,
Perhaps inviting yourself to rest a bit into your back body.
We often are very oriented forward,
Maybe even leaning or bracing into the future.
So exploring this back body.
In somatic centering it is our history,
All of our lived experiences.
So exploring softening and welcoming,
All of that.
And now using your awareness to gently track through your body,
Imagining all the inner organs,
The blood,
The heart pumping,
The lungs,
Until you reach the front of your body.
Feeling your face,
Your chest,
Your belly,
Your legs,
Expanding into your depth,
Your width,
Your length,
As you breathe.
And the last dimension in which we center is purpose,
So bringing your awareness to right below your belly button.
You might even place a hand on your lower belly with your thumb in your belly button to feel that space.
Bring into that space,
To your belly.
And you can release your hand if you placed it there.
Begin to connect to what you care about,
To what matters most to you.
This could be something really large,
Like a declaration,
Or could be something really small in this moment,
An intention,
Or a felt sense,
Or a word.
It can be anything.
And really let it drop right there into the belly,
Breathing into it.
And simply allow your body,
Your system,
To organize around it,
Without thinking,
Just trusting that the body knows how to do that.
And from this place,
Holding it all,
Feeling the length all the way from your feet to the crown of your head,
Feeling your width,
Feeling your depth,
Feeling that connection and alignment to purpose.
And feeling the 360 degrees that is you,
How from this embodied,
Centered place,
There's choice,
There's possibility,
There's freedom.
And for a few breaths,
Really feel your strong back,
Your soft front,
And your radiant,
Wild heart.
And I'll see you again.
