On May 11 a group of us gathered for the moonrise at the Jens Jensen ‘council ring’, or the fire ring, as many know it, at the Lighthouse Beach. I led an embodiment exercise after Nancy Floy gave a meditation focused on the five elements.
It was a beautiful night. We paid attention to our bodily sensations and experience of being there on this occasion, in this special place.
I want to share this exercise here with the larger Heartwood community.
First, what does embodiment practice mean? For me it means a practice that helps you to connect to your body and connect to what you’re doing in a visceral way, not only mentally.
It can take you a few moments to connect with your body… just as it takes your eyes a few moments to adjust when you enter a dark room.
When you want to feel more embodied in the midst of what you’re doing, first take a few moments to really pause.
Take time to settle your awareness in your body: feel your feet, feel your body’s contact with what you’re sitting on. Breathe.
Allow yourself time to bring your attention into the inner area of your body: your throat, chest, stomach.
For this exercise ask about something going on in your life that you’re curious to sense more into in an embodied way.
Pay attention in that inner area, and sense right there what it feels like now. You can have a visceral feel of it. Notice the feel of the experience or the situation or memory…instead of rattling off in your head what you know about it. And maybe your body will give you a word that describes and holds the bodily feeling. See if you can stay with that a few moments.
What can you expect from this exercise? For one thing, hopefully you get a break from your usual train of thoughts. And as you get more familiar with sensing into your inner experience, it becomes easier to get in touch with your bodily felt sense, your own visceral understanding of a situation, and exploring it with curiosity in an embodied way.
Thanks for reading Access Inner Resources. If you have a comment or question please feel free to email me.
