Hi,
This is Meg Ranali of Body Centered Inquiry and welcome to this Somatic Movement Audio.
Put your feet up and take a breath.
For this session you'll need a flat bottom chair,
A rolled up towel or yoga blanket for head support,
And a comfortably padded place on the floor.
Please wear clothes that keep you comfortable and allow for easy movement.
Remove your glasses,
Jewelry,
Belt,
Anything that might interfere with your movement.
Gather your props and when you're ready,
Please come to lay on the floor with your feet standing about hip width apart,
Which is about 6 inches or 15 centimeters.
Have your arms along by your sides,
Have your head supported just as you need it,
And take a deep breath.
Throughout this session you can always pause the audio and linger longer in places that are interesting or command your attention.
Take time to allow yourself to arrive.
Close your eyes or have them in a soft gaze.
Scan through yourself slowly.
Be aware of your connection to the support beneath you that's always there.
Your breathing,
Your quality of mind,
Notice those.
Tuck that image away so you can revisit it at the end of the session.
And when you're ready,
Arrange yourself and your chair so you can comfortably rest your legs on the chair seat.
Your lower legs go on the chair seat.
So you're lying with your legs up,
You're in the reverse position of sitting on the chair.
Rather than your upper body being up,
Your legs are up on the chair and resting.
We all do a fair amount of sitting and especially these days.
It's good to reverse the blood and lymph flow.
And it's interesting to reverse our relationship to gravity.
Breathe.
Take time to allow your in-breath and your out-breath to become more even.
Listen for the natural pause at the bottom of your out-breath and the top of your in-breath.
Those pauses are natural to the breathing cycle.
Do this cycle of breaths for seven breaths.
Take your time.
Again,
Pause the audio as needed.
Allow your arms to rest long by your sides or rest quietly on your body.
Each placement feels like comfort to you right now.
Continuing to breathe in and breathe out.
Listening for those little pauses.
Allow your eyes to close or have a soft gaze.
Take your time.
Now,
Arrange your head support if you're ready in such a way that you can slowly and gently roll your head from side to side.
Slow it way down.
Go slowly enough so you can begin to detect a pleasing quality to the movement.
Go slowly enough so that you can begin to listen for how you do this movement.
Is turning to one side easier than the other?
Again,
Keep it gentle and simple.
Pay attention to the movement as you pass from one side to the other.
In other words,
Pay attention to the quality of your movement from the beginning to the end.
Breathing and being aware of the support beneath you and let go of any idea that the two sides have to be the same.
They're not.
So be aware of what's actually happening in your movement rather than what you think should be happening in your movement.
Breathing and gently rolling your head from one side to the other in a simple way.
This is what makes somatic movement different from learning a movement form.
What we're listening for here is what informs your movement,
All your movement.
How we organize for our movement is how we organize for life.
Body movement is the template for how we move through life.
And when you're ready,
Take a rest.
Let your head rest.
And breathe.
Be aware once again of your in-breath and your out-breath and the little pauses in between those and the support beneath you.
Imagine that the support beneath you moves toward you as you move toward it.
That idea can invite a deeper level of letting go.
If at any time during the session you get tired of having your legs up,
Then return to lying on the floor with your feet standing clearly,
About six inches apart or 15 centimeters apart.
You could have the legs resting on one another or with the knees apart.
And in whatever position you choose to be in right now,
Bring your right palm to your forehead.
Allow your right palm to softly shape itself to your forehead.
Your elbow is jutting up in the air a little bit.
And now bring your left hand to your right elbow.
So your arms form a frame over your face,
Above your face.
Eyes soft,
Jaw soft,
Throat easy.
And begin to guide your right elbow with your left hand.
And allow that movement to roll your head a little bit to the right and then back to where you began.
So it's a small movement.
Again you're listening for the quality of the movement,
Not the size of the movement or how many times you do it.
Continue this movement of guiding the head with the hand and elbow a few more times to the right slowly.
Allow your shoulder blades and shoulders to sink toward the floor so there's no extra work in the shoulders or upper back.
And then when you're ready take a pause,
Rest your arms down.
Be aware of your connection to the floor,
Your breathing and your quality of mind.
Now change hands.
Bring your left hand softly to your forehead.
Allow the palm to shape itself softly to your forehead.
Bring the right hand to the left elbow,
Forming that frame above your face.
Gently guide your head to the left and then back to where you started.
Pay attention to the quality you bring to your movement.
This can be very restful.
Be aware of how when you shift the quality of your movement,
What happens throughout your body and what happens within your mind.
With your arms organized in this kind of frame,
Where else are you aware of movement and breath?
Could you imagine inviting breath into your upper back and between your shoulder blades and ribs in the upper back?
And pause,
Rest your arms down again.
Breathing,
Being aware of the support that's always there beneath you.
And now switch hands and arms one more time.
So you're bringing your right palm to the forehead,
Left hand to the right elbow and guiding your head a little bit to the right and back to where you started.
And as you do that,
Listen for what else moves in your upper back and your shoulders.
Could you invite breath between your shoulder blades and upper ribs?
It's an area we carry tension.
Take your time.
Pause the audio at any point to linger longer in places that draw your attention.
Allow your shoulder blades and shoulders to sink into the floor.
And when you're ready,
Take a rest.
If your legs are still up on the chair,
Return them to the floor and have them either long or with feet standing.
Check in now with your breathing,
The quality of your mind and your connection to the floor.
And when you're ready,
Very slowly find your way up to sitting and in your own good time come up to standing or you can remain in sitting.
In any case,
Can you bring with you that quality of movement that you evoked in the session?
And thank you.
That's the end of this session.
