Impressions - Releasing Residual Tension

This slow, meditative movement lesson guides you in releasing residual tension throughout your entire body by gently exploring and becoming more aware of the unique imprint your body makes on the surface beneath you.

Transcript

Take a few moments just to arrive. Lie down on the floor or a carpet or a mat. Or if this is too uncomfortable for you, You can lie on your bed. For the first movement, You will need to be able to slide your feet effortlessly. If you're on a sticky mat, You might want to get down so that the feet are off the mat. And if you're on a bed, You might want to put on a pair of socks. You want to be able to slide your feet as easily as if you were ice skating. What you'll be looking for is the sensation of your spine. And to find the connection from your pelvis to your lower back, Your upper back and your head. The continuity from your tailbone to the top of your head. So as you are lying now, Could you think of taking a snapshot of your shape? What I like to call a body print. Just as your footsteps leave their prints on the sand as you walk, Could you feel the shape of your body print on the floor? The point where the back of your head touches the ground. That particular single point in the back of your head that feels the heaviest. Can you sense how the vertebraes in your neck are lighter and lift off the floor? And then a bit lower down your spine, This vertebra where your neck comes down again and meets the ground. Can you feel the weight in your right and your left shoulder blade? Which side is heavier? Which side feels spreading its weight wider? Sense the way your ribs touch the floor. And then your lower back. Can you visualize the print your pelvis is making on the floor? And if visualizing is not clear for you, Can you trace with your attention the edges of your shape on the floor? Lower now the back of your thighs. Do the back of your knees feel lighter? And then your calves and your heels. And which heel is heavier? And which one leaves a wider print on the floor? And sometimes it's the same heel that feels heavier and wider on the floor. And sometimes one seems heavier. And the other one seems wider. There are no right or wrong answers. We're just exploring what is. Visualize the whole of your body print on the floor. What color would it be? Which places the color gets denser? Which places do you feel the color being lighter? Which places do you feel the body lifting from the floor? And is there a ridge there? Or is it a gradient that slowly fades out? Can you clearly sense now the print your body is making on the floor? And can you make the image clear in your mind's eye? So that you can hold on to it for a while. So that when we do this again, Later on, You will have a clear, Crisp image to compare to. Now please bend your knees and stand your feet. Can you feel what changed now that you have your knees bent? Your pelvis is positioned differently. How about your lower back? Does it feel different? Is it lighter or is it heavier? How about the point in the back of your head? Now very, Very slowly, Allow your feet to slide on the floor. Can you feel that if you gently lift your heels just a bit, Making them lighter, You can allow your feet to slide away. Softly and quietly. In slow motion. And as your knees are extending, Your legs elongate back on the floor. Can you feel how your pelvis changes its position and its contact with the floor? Can you feel the movement of your legs changing the shape of your lower back? Slide them away as long as it feels easy. And when they feel too heavy, Let them go on the floor. And then again, Bend your knees. This time keeping your attention clearly in your lower back. Slide them as long as it feels easy. And when they feel too heavy, Let them go on the floor. And again, Bend your knees. This time keeping your attention clearly in your lower back. Again you start sliding your feet away in slow motion. Take your time. Do not rush. Observe your body as it changes shape. Enjoy the journey. Keeping your attention to the sensations in your lower back. And when you have finished sliding, Have a breath. And then bend your knees again. And as you slide your feet away once again, This time pay attention to your ribs, Your upper back. How does your shape, Your contact with the floor changes as your feet slide away? Slow and easy. Paying attention to your changing shape. And then again, When you have finished sliding, You bend your knees, This time keeping your attention to the back of your head. And once more you start sliding your feet away in slow motion. How does the position of the pelvis, The shape of the spine and the back of your head change their contact with the floor? When your knees are bent. And when your legs are long. When your feet are long, Your pelvis is positioned in a very different way. And the position of the pelvis defines the shape of the spine. The curvatures of the spine. So now the next time you bend your knees, Let them stay there. Quiet down. Take a breath here. Feel the back of your head. The place where your head contacts the ground. And very slowly, In slow motion, Start sliding your feet away. Observing the changing shape of your spine. Slowly and only as long as it feels easy to slide. And rest with the legs long. And as you lie here with legs long, Could you visualize your body print? Is your shape clear? Can you feel the shape of your spine? The shape of your pelvis? The place where the back of your head touches the floor? Is it the same as before? Is it different now? There is no right or wrong here. We are not looking for something specific. We are just looking for what is. Can you compare the sensation you had when you first started lying on the floor? And how you are feeling your body print now? Is your body spreading? Are you releasing more of yourself on the floor? Can you bring your attention to those spaces in your back where you touch the ground more? And those spaces that touch less? And those that don't touch at all? That place in the back of your head where you feel it resting heaviest on the floor? And then, As your attention slides down, Can you feel the curvature of your neck? And the spaces between your shoulder blades? Can you sense now which shoulder feels heavier? Which shoulder blade seems wider on the floor? And as you go down your back with your attention, Can you feel your ribs? And as you breathe now, Is there a change in your contact with the ground in those lower ribs? And in your lower back? How does the lower back contact the ground? And your pelvis? Which hip seems a bit heavier? Clarifying this image of your body print as you go down your thighs now. And that space behind your knees. Are your thighs heavier than your knees? Lighter? Your calves and your ankles? And can you bring your attention to your heels now? Could you detect which heel maybe feels a bit heavier? And as you slide your attention, Are you only noticing those places I call out? Or are you also keeping your attention focused wider to the rest of yourself as well? Could you take a snapshot? Having a clear image of this body print now, So you can be able to come back to it. Come back to it again and again as we go through the lesson. To have an image, A sensation to compare to. Now keep the right leg long and bend your left knee. Your left leg standing. Can you begin to press your foot into the floor? Making it only a gram heavier. The smallest possible movement. A micro-movement. Pressing through your foot into the floor and finding out how is your pelvis rolling on the floor when you press down through your foot. But can you do this movement now with the same attention as you had before? So you feel the gentle pressing of the foot into the floor and you feel the shifting weight of your pelvis. How far up your body print can you feel the movement? And can you begin to play now with the position of your foot? Keeping this a micro-movement. Every time you push through the foot in a different place on the floor now, The direction of rolling in the pelvis becomes very, Very different. You could push through the foot and feel the pelvis rolling to the right. Or make the roll more diagonal towards your head. So there are some places on the floor where you can push through your foot and feel the weight shifting diagonally up your back. So play around with the position of your foot. How many different directions can you feel your weight shifting towards? And the changing shape of your trunk. And feel the shifting weight as if you were allowing the ground to massage your back. Feeling this rolling movement of the weight from the pelvis up your back. And if you are feeling the movement reverberate in your body, Make it smaller. How much smaller can you make it and still feel it's shifting your body print? And if you are not feeling anything yet, Make it just another gram heavier. A little bit bigger. Until you can sense the movement of the pelvis clearer in the rest of your body. Sense the chain reaction of the movement. From your foot and your ankle to your knee and hip. And feel the activation in your muscles. But also the forces travelling through your joints and bones. And let that go and have a rest. Legs long. Do you remember that first body print? The one we made when you were just lying down. Could you conjure up that image? And compare it with the body print you feel on the floor now. How does it feel now? And let's try it on the other side. So stand your right leg and keep the left leg long. And begin to find this micro movement of gently pressing the foot into the floor. And feel how your ankle responds to that movement. Feel how your pelvis shifts as you gently press down. Keeping your attention through the body. Not just in the places you move. In the places where the movement can be heard as a shifting of weight in your body print. Your shoulder blades. The back of your head. Could you begin to play around with the position of the foot? So that each time now you press down, You find a different direction for the weight to roll towards. And can you press down into the ground actively? Using this rolling weight as if you were a sandbag that's being shifted around. And play. Rolling your weight around your back. Allowing yourself to be massaged by the floor. Allowing yourself to soften. Discover all those new pathways. Those new connections from your foot to your back as you roll your weight. Maybe some more unfamiliar ones now. Because you don't want to repeat what comes as a first response. But you want to take your time to explore different variations. The different positions of the foot. The different ways you can roll your weight. How is this side? How is the connection from the foot to your trunk? And the back of your head. Does it feel like moving? On which side did you feel you were cruising on a highway? And let that go and have a rest. Both legs long. What's the image of your body print now? For a few last times bend both knees and stand your feet. And very, Very slowly, In slow motion, Allow your feet to slide away on the floor. Sensing the changing shape of your body print. Where do you get lighter? Where do you get heavier? As your feet elongate. How much more can you discern? Can you feel your body print with clarity now? And you can play around, Exploring a bit more. Or allow your attention to rest. And enjoy the sensation of being supported by the floor.