Somatic Centring Practice Embodiment With Four Dimensions

This meditation practice takes a somatic approach and involves tuning into different parts of ourselves to centre and ground ourselves. Through a somatic lens, we explore the dimensions of length, width, and depth of your body, feeling into your capacity for and relationship with worth, boundaries, and trust. Finally, we explore the dimension of care, which exists everywhere at once and nowhere in particular. This practice cultivates embodiment, bringing us deeper into the most authentic version of ourselves, so that we can move through the world from this place of centre and steadiness. This track includes music in the background.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. To this centering practice. That explores the four dimensions. To begin, We'll draw our awareness to the breath. If it helps, You might even bring your palms into your low belly. This is why you're feeling the breath. The very base of your belly. Starting to notice the rise and fall. Of each breath in. And each breath out. Breathing all the way down. Into the very base of your belly. And for this practice. This is what we call our center. The center of the breath. At the base of the belly. And so if you notice your mind wandering at any point. Know that you can always bring your awareness back to your breath. Back to your belly. And back to your center. The first of the four dimensions that we'll be exploring. Is the dimension of length. And so from wherever you are, See if you can start to feel into the length of your body. And for this practice, You're welcome to move. You might be seated, You might be lying, You might be standing. And see if you can feel into the length of your body. The length of the tailbone to the crown of the head. The whole length of the spine. Maybe even reaching the arms overhead. Feeling the length of the heels to the fingertips. Can you really embody this feeling of length? In this dimension of length. Is associated with your inherent worth and dignity and so you might feel into these qualities of yourself. As you also feel into the length of your body. Feeling the pride across the chest. Feeling how it is to take up space, Really allowing your body to be tall and reaching. How might it feel to embody this sense of length and through that embody this sense of inherent worth and dignity. Staying with this feeling of length. Taking a deep breath all the way in. And all the way out. Inhaling into your center and letting it expand through the length of your body. Exhale to release. The second dimension that we'll be exploring together is that of width. And so here you might start to feel into the width of your body. Perhaps you're stretching the arms out wide or even taking the feet out a bit wider. Feeling into the breadth of the body, Shoulder to shoulder, Hip to hip, The spaciousness of the body within this dimension of width. You might even move a little left to right, Exploring the edges of this dimension and the edges of width. And this dimension is associated with your boundaries. In your relationship to those boundaries. And so as you feel into the edges of your width, Is it possible to feel into the edges of your boundaries? As you allow yourself to take up space within this width of your body. Can you also allow yourself to take up space with your boundaries? Feeling the edges of those boundaries and exploring the space within those boundaries. Each time the mind wanders, Just bringing it back to the breath, Back to the body. And feeling into this dimension of width. Take a deep breath all the way in. And all the way out. Inhale into your center and expand the breath wide and broad into your body. Exhale, Let the breath go. Our third dimension on offer is that of depth. And so you're invited to begin feeling into the depth of your body. Feeling into both the front body and the back body. If you're inviting in movement, You can even lean forward and lean backwards, Maybe stretching your arms or your legs in front of you and then reaching your arms behind you as you lengthen the chest forwards. Exploring this dimension of depth by leaning forwards and by leaning backwards. See if it's possible to feel this sense of depth. From the inside out. And so you might feel the features of your face. From the inside out. If you're lying on the ground, Can you feel the shoulders, The hips, The back body sinking downwards? Towards the ground. Perhaps a sense of lightness at the front body. A sense of heaviness at the back body. In this dimension of depth. Is associated with our sense of inner trust, Our sense of presence, And our sense of belonging. And how all these things relate to one another. And so can you trust yourself to catch yourself when you lean forward and when you lean back? Trusting that your body can hold you here. Trusting that the ground can hold you here. Can you feel this sense of presence from the inside out, Perhaps leaning forwards, Representing this future, Leaning backwards, Representing this past? Somewhere in the midline. Can you find this feeling of presence and belonging? Feeling this spaciousness. When we allow ourselves to drop into this dimension of death. Feeling what's here when we allow ourselves to drop into this dimension of death. Take a deep breath all the way in. And all the way out. Inhaling into your center and expanding forwards, Expanding backwards, Feeling the depth of the body. Exhale to let the breath go our fourth and final dimension. Exists everywhere. Yet nowhere. And this is the dimension of care. And so as you feel into this fourth dimension, You're invited to notice how your body responds. Maybe noticing where in your body you feel this sense of care. As you begin to consider what is it that is important to you? What is meaningful to you. What are you passionate about? What do you care about? And see if it's possible here. To let your body answer these questions. Rather than inviting the mind to start conceptualizing or theorizing, Can you allow your body, The space, The patience to respond? What is it? That I care about. Where in your body can you feel this sense of calm? Whatever comes up can you allow that to inform how you respond. Perhaps you're in need of movement or stillness or a deeper breath. And allowing this to be a curious exploration. Taking a deep breath in. And out. Full breath all the way into your center, Letting it expand into this dimension of care. And a full exhale. Another breath in, This time breathe into your centre and then feel into all four dimensions. The feeling of length, The feeling of width, The feeling of depth and care. Exhale, Let it go. Another breath like that, Breathing in this sense of expansion, Fullness, Taking up space with the body. I let it go. And let your breath settle. Or maybe bring your hands back to your center at your lower belly. Taking a few conscious breaths here. And just noticing how it feels to be in your body right now. Acknowledging this practice and thanking yourself for carving out the time to tune in. Knowing that this practice is always here anytime you wish to cultivate a deeper sense of grounding and embodiment, Anytime you wish to center yourself in breath and body and beyond. Until then we close this practice with one last breath all the way in. And let it go. Thank you for joining this practice. I'll see you next time.