Reclaim Your Space: A Somatic Exercise For Empowerment

A quick, quiet skill for any moment you want to feel more embodied, whether you are on a crowded bus, in a meeting, seated or standing, without anyone noticing. You are guided to bring awareness to the back of your body, from the crown of your head down to your tailbone, and then invite your spine to lengthen by just 1% while you keep breathing naturally. You can add the words "I can take up this space" and keep everything soft rather than rigid, which can help you feel more connected to your sense of choice and vitality. This content is educational and is not a substitute for one to one professional care.

Transcript

Hi, Beautiful people. I'm here to share another stealth somatic trick with you. My series on stealth somatic tricks incorporates quick, Subtle somatic skills and exercises that you can incorporate throughout your daily life at any time. And these stealth exercises are a little bit different from some of the big movements or big sounds or self holds and other exercises. Because I wanted to create a series of skills that you can use anytime without feeling awkward or uncomfortable or self conscious. So often when we actually need somatic tool for helping ourselves regulate, We might be on a crowded public bus or we might be sitting in a meeting at work or we might be in a location where it doesn't really feel appropriate or socially acceptable to make a big voo sound or do something macro like that. Today I'm going to introduce another stealth somatic skill that you can use in the moment anytime just to help yourself out. This skill is called taking up a little more space and it's a very subtle movement. You'll start seated or standing. Again, You can do this pretty much any time, Any place. But you're just going to bring some gentle awareness internally to the back of your body and to your spine. So just taking a moment to notice the space from the crown of your head. All the way down the back line of your body to your tailbone. This helps us come a little bit more into the center of ourselves, Helps us feel more embodied. And then what you're going to do is just invite. The smallest, Most internal micro-movement through your spine to lengthen 1% more. So we're just thinking about taking up 1% more vertical space. Between the crown of your head and your tailbone. A little bit of internal lengthening. And I've been doing it as I've been sharing the exercise, But it's so subtle. If you weren't looking for it, You wouldn't notice anything was happening. I'm doing a very subtle and small movement, More on the inside of my body. So again, Just taking some time, Keep breathing naturally and explore that a little bit in yourself. Bring awareness to your spine, To the back of your body, And let it lengthen just a little bit more. As you do that, You can think some words internally to yourself if you'd like to add this in. This can be helpful. Just say to yourself. I can take up this space. It's okay for me to take up this space. And you might even find from that place. You can take up 1% more space. So perhaps feeling the subtlest lift of your chest. Of broadening across your shoulders. A mini micro lengthening of your neck. And then let everything soften in your body as you do that. So we're not going rigid. We're not sitting up and forcing this big upright posture in the body. We're keeping things soft. And supple on the inside. But allowing a bit more space and length. And this exercise can certainly help you to feel a little more embodied. It can help you get in touch with your sense of agency and internal choice that you have, Kind of bringing the power and the vitality back into you. You can take up this space. You can fill in the container that is your body and claim the space that your body takes up in the space that you're in. All right, I hope you enjoyed this little stealth somatic trick today, And I'll see you next week with more. Thanks.