Thank you to all who joined me at Clear Yoga for an experiential dive into Somatics!
Below is an outline of the key components of our time together, with a step-by-step guide through the main exploration. I welcome even the smallest sharing from your time in the workshop and/or in the week(s) following. Feel free to contact me via email or phone here.
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In this moment, I invite you to notice the position and feel of your body,
the movement of your breath,
the shape of your body breathing.
There’s no need to fix anything, yet if your curiosity is awakened, perhaps you might again revisit seeing from somewhere deep inside your body (pelvis, belly, heart, back of skull) as you peruse the words below.
Enjoy!
OUTLINE
Arrival — Intro — Reflection — Exploration — Closing — Resources
Arrival…
inner and outer experiences of arriving: using your senses to perceive from the outside-in and from the inside-out.
Examples:
~ on your way to the workshop (sensory and image experiences responding to temperature, relationships, events of the day);
~ entering the studio (sensory experiences of the way the room looked-felt, who was there, how the room was being set up);
~ experience of right now (hands resting on body, feeling the shape of your body breathing, “sit bones” on support of bolster or ground, hands sliding across your skin & skin feeling hands, textures, shapes, etc);
~ inner self resting somewhere in your body, sensing-feeling from that place…..and finally opening your eyes from the “inner you” and seeing from there!
Pause here.
Notice the shape and feel of your body, from the inside-out.
Take a few moments, breathing with the sensations that arise.
INTRO:
The field of Somatic Movement Education and Therapy (SME&T) has developed over the last century through a process of inquiry into how consciousness inhabits the living body.
The word Soma means living, aware, bodily person; in other words, pertaining to the body as experienced and regulated from within.
SME&T is a transformational learning process of awakening the human body, or soma, through movement, breath, sound, touch, and imagery.
Read More about the Scope, Purpose, Practice, and Benefits of SME&T.
REFLECTION:
I find that a primary lens in somatics is curiosity and interest. When we are in the processes of somatic inquiry, it is different than “going in” to fix something or find an answer. That may happen as a byproduct, yet a primary place of exploration is curiosity.
It’s a more open-ended noticing: “What is here?”…. and when different sensations, emotions, thoughts arise— noticing which ones might be more interpretive/fixing/judging and then, in a sense, diving back underneath those stories to discover What else is Here? in our experience.
As we become more nuanced and versatile in our capacity to distinguish the difference between our biology and our biographies, we gain access to a wider range of resources for our choices in effectively caring for ourselves, others, and the world around us!
EXPLORATION*: resourcing your reservoir
TOUCHING BONE — “Here I Am”
~ Let your fingers explore the shape of the bones of your eye sockets, going slow enough to gently “hug” the bone.
~ Rest your fingers around the shape of your eye sockets and HUM, allowing the sound to reverberate through your body.
~ Pause and notice, with open attention, the sensations that are alive in your body.
~ Slide your fingers/hands down to the next bony landmark of your collarbones and repeat a similar process as above.
~ Continue this practice at each of the following places of bone: low ribs, pelvis, feet
TRAVELING — optional Theta sound as your hands travel from one bony landmark to the next. The Theta sound is made by resting your tongue gently behind your teeth and making a sound that is a cross between an “s” and a “th”. Allow the muscle of your tongue to relax so that the sound moves inwardly.
CLOSING CYCLE ONE — once you have completed your time at each of the bony landmarks, rest in open attention, noticing the sensations alive in your body. You may then move into open movement, feeling for the ways in which the vibrations of sound and sensations of awakening are expressing through your body….perhaps reaching, dipping, circling, stretching, resting, and on and on — What is here? ….What else is here? — anything is possible!
TOUCHING FLUID-SPACE —
~ Begin again at your eyes, this time resting your hands fully over the space of your eye sockets.
~ Sound several rounds of Lunar breaths (can be described as a gently whispered “aaahhh” in the back of your throat, made with lips closed; akin to hearing the sound of the ocean as you hold a conch shell to your ear).
~ Rest and notice, with open attention, the sensations that are alive in your body.
~ Slide your hands down to the region of your throat and repeat a similar process as above.
~ Continue this practice at each of the following places of space: lungs, pelvic “bowl”, feet.
TRAVELING — optional Theta sound as your hands travel from one fluid-space to the next.
CLOSING CYCLE TWO — once you have completed your time at each of the fluid-spaces, rest in open attention, noticing the sensations alive in your body. You may then move into open movement, feeling for the ways in which the vibrations of sound and sensations of awakening are expressing through your body….perhaps reaching, dipping, circling, stretching, resting, and on and on — What is here? ….What else is here? — anything is possible!
REST — a time for truly resting from attention inside and out, before beginning again.
*see Resources section below for more information about CONTINUUM, from which this exploration is inspired.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
~ T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets
RESOURCES:
Organizations:
ISMETA: International Somatic Movement Education & Therapy Association.
This site offers a plethora of resources to learn more about Somatics as well as to inquire into Registered Somatic Educators, Therapists, & Training Programs.
CTA: Continuum Teachers Association
This site offers information specific to Continuum and to its teachers throughout the world.
Primary Teachers: links where available
Mary Abrams, MA, RSME
Mary is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator (RSME) with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA), and holds a masters degree (Goddard College) in Consciousness Studies with a focus on embodied movement practice and theory. She apprenticed in Continuum Movement with its founder Emilie Conrad from 1994-2014 and was among the first group of people Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper Authorized as Continuum MovementTeachers in 1999. She continues to dialogue with Susan Harper (Continuum Montage), and explore human being theory (Affect-script theory) and Epistemics, with Emilie’s long-time collaborator, Gary David, PhD.
Gary David, Ph.D in epistemology, is currently engaged in a private counseling practice, as well as giving seminars teaching the role of the biology of emotion in the meaning-making processes of the whole human being. A former professional musician, he was the leader of an experimental jazz group called "The Sound of Feeling," and was one of the early, longtime students of Erv Wilson.
Susan Harper
Susan Harper opens portals of exploratory consciousness. She has the ability through demonstration of sounds, breaths, and movement to transmit a primal and spiritual fluidity that inspires participation resulting in embodied innovative discoveries. She has been teaching and contributing to Continuum since 1975. Susan brought Continuum to Europe for the first time in 1992 and to Japan in 1997. Her work is inspired by Hubert Godard with whom she co-taught for many years.
Additional Support: Hudson Valley
Elaine Colandrea & Watermark Arts
Elaine is a primary “holder & carrier” of Continuum in this region. Her article for Omega Institute, “The Growing Popularity of Somatic Practices” is a useful “go-to” for a basic intro to Somatics.
Jeni Ascosi, MA, RSME: Somatic Movement Education, Movement Research, & Multi-disciplinary Arts
My somatic practices are informed and shaped by —
Masters Degree in Somatic Movement, Research, Therapy & Education
Epistemics & Affect Script Theory
Alexander Technique
Continuum
Authentic Movement
Body-Mind Centering
dance, yoga, pilates, post-surgery rehabilitation, prenatal/postpartum training/care, personal training, nutrition and wellness.
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NOTE: please credit any and all writing/photos/video appropriately if used/repurposed in any way. Thank you!
Photos: all photos by me (Jeni), Ashokan Reservoir, Winter 2019.