Category Archives: the body

movement openings

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I am so excited by the teaching that I have been doing of late that I have decided to open some more space in my private practice in Northwest Connecticut for new clients.  Summer is a wonderful time to start something new!  Here is a brief description of that work:

Somatic Movement Therapy deepens our connection to the the body through movement and stillness, breath, touch, sound and imagery. Grounding experience in the body gives us a clear and vibrant sense of our sensual, soulful connection to the earth, each other and ourselves.  Rather than focusing on exercising isolated body parts, SMT uses movement to restore qualities of connectivity, openness and integration.

It is an effective and gentle way of working with injuries and physical limitations. if you have been feeling out-of-sorts or out-of-shape, and would like to feel more vibrant and strong  physically and emotionally, this work can be tremendously helpful and enjoyable.

I also am working one-on-one with Authentic Movement as a way of:

  • Giving a sense of spiritual,emotional and physical awareness.
  • Creating a deeper felt sense of the body/mind connection.
  • Helping to develop trust in one’s inner voice and intuitive guidance.
  • Opening doors to creative inspiration.
  • Connecting inner awareness to outer action.
  • Providing an opportunity to move without judgement or restriction.

If you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about this work, or would like to speak to me in person, please contact me HERE.

I look forward to meeting you!

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back in the saddle

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During the opening workshop with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen at the Body-Mind Centering Association Conference, she asked us to breathe into each lobe of the left lung and then the right, connecting our sensing of the lung to the brain hemisphere on the same side of the body, and then to the whole half of the body.  Instead of focusing on a crossing over relationship of left brain to right side of body, right brain to left side of body, she asked us to visualize the whole left side of the body and the whole right side of the body while feeling a sliding articulation between the lobes of the lungs,  That body half, left side/right side is an older, more primitive developmental pattern in the body.

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Today while riding, I concentrated on feeling that same soft articulation of the lungs while feeling the whole right side of my body or the whole left side, and then later, feeling both sides separately and simultaneously as I rode.  It was interesting, and gave me a very distinct sense of right brain, right hand, right hip, right foot and then the same on the left.  It felt stabilizing and I could feel Sanne, my horse, becoming more and more balanced as I rode.

Often we ride with at least a superficial sense of contralaterality, as in “inside leg to outside hand.”  In fact, that is not a true contralateral pattern, but a balancing relationship between body halves.  If we actually cross over, that becomes a destabilizing twist.

At the same time, I was aware of Sanne’s lungs – horizontal where mine are vertical.  Both breathing!  Dolphins and whales breathe consciously – each ascent to the surface a decision, each breath voluntary.  I breath that way as well when riding – becoming aware of when I have held my breath and stopping to breathe in and out.  It is my way of rising to the surface of my consciousness, becoming more aware, and in the process, softer.

 

 

 

the heart is in every part

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In class today with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen at the Body-Mind Centering Association conference, Bonnie said, “the heart is in every part.”  She was showing us how to move from a sense of the heart being carried by the vessels and the cells into every part of our bodies. Earlier that morning we had been moving from each lobe of each lung, and then exploring the cradling relationship between the lungs and the heart.

Moving this way was surprisingly emotional.  Carrying the quality of heartfulness out to the periphery of the body, allowing the movement to be shaped and supported by heartfulness was a mix of sorrow and exhilaraton.  I had to keep pausing to absorb, to listen, to recuperate.  Bringing awareness to the differentiation of the lungs laid the groundwork for the heart work.  Bonnie says, “Awareness is the motor act.”  Most people feel that it is the motor act that creates learning, but Bonnie has learned that awareness can create the same profound change and learning.

The heart is in every part also means that we can bring heartfulness to every moment, every action, every word.

a gift from Alan Watts

82478579cbd0bc357630d9acdae4e256The extraordinary Arthur Aviles

While the notion that I am separate from my experience remains, there is confusion and turmoil.  Because of this, there is nether awareness not understanding of experience, and thus no real possibility of assimilating it.  To understand this moment I must not try to be divided from it; I must be aware of it with my whole being.

To understand music, you must listen to it.  But so long as you are thinking, “I am listening to this music,” you are not listening.  to understand joy or fear, you must be wholly and undividedly aware of it.   So long as you are calling it names and saying, “I am happy,” or “I am afraid,” you are not being aware of it.  This surely is the meaning of that strange saying, “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.”

by Alan Watts from The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety (Vintage)