Pause right now…

Don’t change how you are sitting as you read this.

What do you notice?

Do you notice any areas of tension or compression?

Do you feel your spine? your feet?

Do you notice your breath?

What happens when you bring your attention to your breath?

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Now allow yourself to move…..

What do you notice when you bring your attention to how you are experiencing Right Now?

This Very moment is the perfect teacher, and it’s always with us. 

~Buddhist teaching

PHOTO CREDIT: Jeffrey Dow

Landscapes of words in motion...

I have been spending regular time in self-research explorations…asking myself a simple question, feeling that question “land” in my body, and then following whatever arises.

I may offer myself a simple format/structure for said exploration before I ask the question; other times I discover a useful structure/format for exploration once I’ve asked the question.

I’ve tracked a recent example below through words, images and reflections. Thank you for joining me!

Question: What do I need right now?

As the question lands in my body, I feel the following answer arise…Nourishment.

What does the word Nourishment mean to me at this moment?

Time resting on my back (I feel myself desiring to hang upside down off my sofa, so I do!

As I feel into “nourishment” in my body, words arise such as peace, possibility, flow, rest, fluidity, knowing, calm, resource. I write those words on my paper around a central point signifying nourishment. For me, the image of a cell comes to mind.

I alternate between feeling into nourishment and writing words that describe nourishment as I am experiencing it in that moment. After a brief time of alternating between feeling-sensing nourishment and writing (about 5-10 min), I rest (2-5 min).

Words in Motion: writing movement

I choose a word from the above and begin to move that word. I choose the word Resource. I feel the word resource land in my body as I express it through movement. Its various curves, arcs, and a springing up and out from the center of my being.

I feel my moving expression slow to a resting, rocking in my body as I finish moving resource. I pause, gentle arcs and swirls still moving subtly within me.

Words In Motion: images of reflection*

Because I don’t have a recording of me moving, I have used this image of a woman dancing at the edge of an ocean, gathering Resource from water and spirit as a reflection of my movement experience.

I rest for a few brief moments as I transition from moving to drawing….

I begin a simple drawing of my experience: Color and movement of the pastels on the paper point to the general movements that I experienced in my full body expressions of resource. I rest briefly before choosing another word and repeating the next cycle of bodily-moving and drawing-tracking.

The three words that I move with today: resource, gentle, green-leafy.

Words In Motion: drawing experience; from left to right: Resource. Gentle. Green-leafy.

I rest for 5 min in open attention, interest and curiosity about the subtle sensations in my body and their intermingling, feeling how resource, gentle and green-leafy are all nourishing and inspiring to my body-being.

I feel nourished and enlivened by my cycles shared above. I feel a little vulnerable and shy as I share these explorations here through words and images. I feel satisfied as I witness the time and curiosity that I have offered myself.

Words In Motion: cycles of nourishment

Thank you for your presence here.

*drawing of woman is part of a larger art piece by Chantal B., 2007.