Flower Hand 2 (The Longer Version)

A longer version of the original "Flower Hand" session. This allows you to linger longer and rest more deeply. By attending in a simple way to body sensations we engage natural gateways to our emotional life. This movement session offers you a way to quiet your nervous system: Quiet occurs by gently engaging what we already have: breath, the ground beneath us, and awareness of movement.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Meg Granale of Body-Centered Inquiry,

And welcome to this somatic movement session,

Flower Hand,

The longer version.

For this session,

You'll need a padded or carpeted surface to lie upon.

You may also lie upon a bed.

You'll need a roller or bolster for underneath your knees to allow your low back to be at ease.

You'll also need a rolled up bath towel for head or neck support.

And even if you're lying on a bed,

If you could use a rolled up bath towel,

That would be better.

Bed pillows are too soft for this kind of movement and actually inhibit the kind of movement we'd like to invite here.

Have clothing that allows for warmth and ease of movement.

Have sock or bare feet.

And when you're ready,

Please come to lie on your back.

When is the last time you were tender toward yourself?

That's such an intimate question.

So much of what has motivated me through the decades in body-centered work is to witness how steady presence,

Guided movement,

And well-honed touch liberates the spirit of a person.

When we honor the body,

The spirit flies free.

This is a guided practice that cultivates intimacy with ourselves by bringing attention to the breath,

Gesture,

And ground via early developmental movement.

Psychological and physical development go together.

One cannot happen without the other.

When we revisit our developmental movement,

We allow for the emergence,

Support,

And resolution of missed psycho-emotional experience.

The intent here is to nourish ourselves and discover how to turn toward the world as it is with resilience and trust.

Be aware of the ground beneath you and how it supports you.

Could you imagine that the ground is actually moving toward you?

Allow your attention to gradually turn away from the outside world for a little while.

Close your eyes or allow them to rest in a soft gaze.

Allow your awareness to gather around the length of your body as you lie there.

And be aware of your width and your depth.

Allow the ground to support you.

While being aware of your support,

Bring your awareness to your breathing.

Have your arms long by your sides if it's comfortable for you.

Be aware of how the breath comes and goes all by itself.

Could you invite more softness in the tongue,

The throat,

The jaw,

The face,

The eyes?

Breathing,

Allowing yourself to feel supported by the earth that's always beneath us.

Allow your awareness to shift to your right hand.

Fingers,

Thumb,

And palm of your right hand.

And begin to make a slow,

Very slow movement of opening the hand and then closing the hand such that all the fingers and thumb close together like a flower.

The tips of the fingers and the thumb of the right hand converge like a flower,

Like the movement of a jellyfish.

And then slowly the fingers touch and then ever so slowly open your fingers and thumb out.

Not stiffly or suddenly,

But slowly,

Gradually,

Like the opening and closing of a sea anemone.

Listen for a slow,

Simple rhythm of opening and closing.

Opening and closing.

Make sure you're not snapping your hand shut or splaying it too far open.

It's a gentle,

Soft motion,

Like baby hands.

Invite tenderness.

And begin to find a way to connect this gentle motion of opening and closing your hand with your breathing.

When do you breathe in?

And when do you breathe out?

It's natural for you in this moment.

Remain aware of the ground beneath you.

Your arm can rest easily in your lap or on your body,

On the ground.

Where can your arm be that there's no extra effort happening as you do this simple movement of quietly,

Slowly opening your right hand and then closing it in a rhythmic way that is connected to your breathing.

Take your time.

Remain soft through the jaw,

Throat,

Mouth,

Face.

Your left hand is quiet.

Allow your awareness to be gathered in this one simple gesture.

And then rest your hand.

Rest your right hand.

Open through yourself for any echoes of that movement,

For anything that may be present or absent.

Don't strain.

If there's nothing that you notice right now,

That's okay.

You don't have to manufacture any experience,

Which is a relief for our nervous systems in and of itself.

Just rest.

And if you drift off,

It's okay.

You'll come back.

Breathing,

Aware of your length,

Your width,

Your depth,

And your breath.

Breath coming and going all by itself.

Now begin the same movement with your left hand.

The right hand for now is quiet.

Find a simple way for the arm to be supported so that the movement in the left hand can be simple and unburdened.

A gentle gathering of the fingertips and thumb of your left hand converging and slowly opening apart.

Opening through yourself for a connection between this movement and your breathing.

When do you breathe in and when do you breathe out?

As you open and close gently the left hand.

We do so much with our hands.

Could you allow a bit more tenderness in this movement?

Breathing in and breathing out.

When the hand slowly opens and closes,

Like a baby hand.

Continue this movement with your left hand,

Listening for your breathing,

How it coordinates with this rhythmic movement of the left hand.

A simple gesture,

Support beneath you,

Breathing in and breathing out.

And rest.

Be aware of the support beneath you and your breathing.

The act of gathering awareness around one simple gesture can be enough to turn down the noise in our nervous system.

Now,

Return to the right hand,

Opening and closing.

Slowly allowing breath and movement to come together in a way that makes sense to you.

Listen for how that movement wants to happen.

Imagine that the center of the palm of your right hand draws your fingers and thumb together.

So there's a point at the center of the palm that draws the fingers together and then allows them to move apart.

Return to that idea for a moment or two,

A few more movements.

Making sure your right hand,

Right arm,

Right wrist,

Right shoulder are well supported.

There's no extra work anywhere.

Breathing slowly opening and closing the fingers and thumb of the right hand with an awareness of that point in the center of the palm that acts as a gathering place for the gesture.

And then pause.

And then shift your awareness to the left hand.

Begin to open and close the left hand in a gentle,

Rhythmic way.

Be aware of the center of the palm of the left hand.

Listening for what makes sense to you right now.

Be aware of the similarities and differences between the two sides.

There's nothing to do about it.

We're not symmetrical.

Opening and closing.

Opening and closing.

Nothing else to do but attend to the ground beneath you that supports you and the rhythmic relationship between the opening and closing of the fingers and thumb of the left hand and your breathing.

Gaze is soft or eyes are closed.

Could you invite more softness through the tongue and jaw and throat and face?

Do this movement with the left hand two or three more times at your own pace.

You can pause the audio.

Take your time.

And then rest when you're ready.

Now,

Have both hands slowly open and close at the same time.

Make sure your arms,

Wrists,

And hands are gently supported.

There's no extra work anywhere.

Bring your attention to that place in the center of each palm that draws the fingers together and then allows them to move apart gently.

There's a tenderness to this,

A simplicity,

A quieting.

It can be evocative of movements from our young lives.

A time when we lived closer to a natural pulse of life,

When our natural rhythms were closer to the surface for us.

Continue to open and close both hands slowly,

Breathing,

Being aware of the support beneath you.

These rhythms are still there.

These natural early rhythms are still there and important to recall.

It's restorative to visit developmental movements such as these.

They are the building blocks for our movement,

Our breath,

And our later psycho-emotional and social development.

These patterns are all there waiting to revitalize and inform us.

And rest.

And now explore alternating the hands.

Begin with the right hand,

Open and close it gently,

Being aware of that spot in the center of your palm,

Of your right hand that draws the fingers and thumb together.

And as one hand,

As the right hand comes together,

You could open the left hand out,

Being aware again of the spot in the center of the palm.

And as you close the left hand,

You could open the right hand.

See what makes sense to you.

There's no right or wrong way to do this.

We're not looking for a movement form here.

We're looking at what informs all our movement.

So breathing,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Being aware of the support that's always beneath you and alternating the right and left hand in a gentle,

Quiet,

Simple way.

In a way that for you,

Movement and breath are related.

If there's a place where you hold your breath,

Notice that.

If there's a place where there's a bit of confusion,

Notice that.

These may be new ideas for your brain.

Just a few more times,

Alternating the sides,

Right to left,

Left to right,

In your own rhythm,

Your own timing.

You can always pause the audio.

And then let it all go and rest.

Continue to rest.

Continue to rest.

And slowly,

In your own time,

Being aware of when you breathe in and when you breathe out,

Roll to one side.

Keeping that sense of rhythm,

That deep rhythm that you have discovered in this session.

Rolling to one side gently,

Slowly,

Ever so slowly coming up to sitting.

Being aware of the relationship between breath and movement each time you move.

Allowing these deep rhythms to inform you as you go from lying on your back to rolling to your side,

To slowly coming up to sitting,

And gradually coming up to standing.

All in your own good time.

Being aware of how you breathe through this process.

Gradually coming up to standing,

And you can pause the audio if I'm going a little bit faster than you're moving right now.

It's about respecting your own rhythm.

When you finally do come to standing,

Just remain in standing,

Have your eyes and face looking out at the horizon line,

Wherever that may be,

Wherever you are.

And listen through yourself for the echoes of this session as you return to upright.

Attend to the connection of your feet to the ground,

Your breathing,

Your quality of mind.

And when you're ready,

Begin to take a few steps around,

Again with this sense of this deep rhythmic relationship between breath and steps,

Breath and walking.

And thank you.

That's the end of this session.

Reviews

I did the short Flower Hand yesterday and looked forward to trying this. Very peaceful. Thank you.

Thank you very much! I really enjoyed this meditation 🙏