The Embodiment of Being

I am here to share this radical idea: The Body does not have to learn to BE.

There is an idea that I have heard throughout my life, that we somehow have to WORK to learn to BE. I have come to understand that this is a basic misunderstanding of HOW we develop.

The Body has ALWAYS known BEingness and at this very moment yearns for the complex YOU to allow it more and more! (Can you hear it whispering, “please oh please oh please”?)

Here is how I view it: Body was conceived into Beingness. One moment you were something - spirit, energy, Divine, nothingness, take your pick - and then the next moment you were the embodiment of Being. In that moment of your conception the cells knew how to Be. They didn’t need an instructor or a book. They knew. They Breathed, taking in nourishment and letting go of what didn’t serve their desire for Life. They accepted the support of Gravity as it sequenced through the Body of your host. They allowed and welcomed growth and change. All of this is what supported You to become the Being that could viably live outside your host mother in your many layered complex form. Your cells then continued to allow and welcome growth and change as you became…the YOU of right now and all that you’ve been.

Today, right now, you can trust that your cells. While having changed their form many times over, they are still as wise as they were in the BEginning. You can trust that they have the capacity to continue to allow and welcome growth and change (as long as your more complex Self doesn’t thwart them in living their deep wisdom!)

The embodiment of BEing is foundational within all of us. It is how we all began.

To connect with the history of the human experience of this deep wisdom we just need look at the way we’ve have created language to try to capture this very experience. The etymology of the word “Be” is “I am”, “I exist” and “I grow”. Similarly the word BEgin derives from roots that mean “to open to existence”.

We are always capable of sensing of BEingness…that is IF we allow ourselves to access the deep wisdoms of the Body, I’m talking about accessing the deep wisdom of the Body in its own right, with its own unique information and not as our Minds conceives of it.

Can you grok this? Do you feel any of your Body’s parts resonate or become more enlivened as you read this idea? Do you feel curiosity and/or desire well up in your tissues?
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I will say it again.

The Body does not have to learn to BE.

We do not have to do anything to BE, other than to allow ourselves to connect with the most foundational experience of our physical embodied Selves.

When we think we have to learn to Be, we forget that it is actually the DOing that we learned and must relearn, unlearn or change to feel more health.

As we grew from that initial tissue into the more complex human form that we most likely still carry with us in some way in this moment, we moved and we engaged with the environment. It is this movement and engagement that invited the mind to began its process of being created.

And it is the mind that was taught to separate our DOing from the foundational support of BEing. It is the mind that was taught to prioritize the DOing. And it is the mind that was taught to dis-embody ourselves, to we make our bodies DO in ways that exhaust and deplete us. (When I say “taught” I am not talking about the intentional lessons of educators. I am talking about everything what we experienced, saw, felt, were told, were subjected to by people, things and situations (well-meaning or otherwise) that formed our understanding of our Selves - then, now and in-between.)

Given this, we are all fully capable of allowing ourselves to be open to embodying our BEingness ALL THE TIME (or at least, opening ourselves to the possibility that we are all fully able to be open to this in some way), even while we are DOing.

And yet, I have learned and observed that it is not an easy thing to reconnect with this foundational aspect of our Selves. The lessons of disembodiment are deep. Our patterns and practices of disembodiment and disconnection are strong and familiar in our culture (and sometimes we have learned to disembody and disconnect for important and valuable reasons that served us at the time!)

In spite of the challenge, it is the practice of reconnecting with the embodiment of BEing that is essential to living our life more fully (in my probably not so humble opinion). It is my experience that one of the keys (if not THE key) to living life with more health, ease, confidence, creativity, and compassion (to name a few of the benefits) is this practice of connecting to one’s sensory, moving, breathing, living Body in whatever ways are possible in this moment and in each moment.

If you are curious and want support exploring and reconnecting with your sense of your foundational BEing Self, contact me.

Blessings. Victoria aka DidiAletheia

Remembering Our Practices - Practicing to Resource - Resourcing to Resiliency

I am writing this because of the need for support that I am hearing/sensing from all quarters given the events in our nation's Capitol yesterday.

The events of yesterday 1/6/2021 and the reactions I’ve heard and seen in my world have really affirmed for me the importance of the things I share with individual clients and the participants to my various workshop. To say that I see a need for more capacity for safe embodiment is, at the least, an understatement. It is times like these when our very structure seems unstable that we most often recognize the importance of a regular practice of our resources. A regular practice that includes things like constructive thinking, The Check-in and active self-care during the settled times is the foundational work that helps us expand our capacity to be more resilient in times of great unknown and transition.

I invite you to remember, as we all move together through these turbulent, transitional times, that you have support., if you choose to access it.

At the most basic, you have the support of your breath, of the Earth under your feet, and of your sensory body to orient you into the present moment.

You have the support of your personal practice.

If you choose to, you have the support of a therapeutic relationship.

You have support.

I invite you to remember, you have the capacity to shift how you feel inside.

When the danger that is causing dysregulation is not actually near us and is a creation of our mind, we CAN choose to practice nourishing our nervous system instead of accumulating more pain/stress.

We practice nourishing our nervous systems so that they are able to perform as they are designed, to allow us to rest, digest, recuperate and to be actively responsible for our self-care. We practice nourishing our nervous systems SO THAT they can more readily react in cases where our body is actually in danger, when we truly need the chemicals of adrenalin, cortisol and epinephrine to help us survive and get to safety.

I invite you to remember, that you have support.

We can choose to practice deepening our relationship with the actions of breath, centering, grounding and orienting. These are the resources of our eternal selves. They were gifts given to us at birth to help our nervous systems regulate.

We can choose to practice self-regulation. We can choose to be the thermostat of our life, rather than the thermometer.

I invite you to remember you have the capacity to think constructively, instead of destructively.

"I am free to choose."

"I am free to notice ease."

"I am free to choose where I put my focus."

I invite you to remember, you are free to choose.

By actively doing the practice of recognizing and choosing where you put your focus throughout your day AND by observing HOW your whole Self is affected by what you choose to focus on (intentionally or unintentionally.), you can continually deepen your ability to make choices about your focus and your actions that further help you to co-regulate and self-regulate.

I invite you to remember, you have the capacity to learn and repattern.

We learn to self-regulate not simply to reclaim our place in our Comfort Zone.

We learn to self-regulate in order to ALSO be able to more safely go into the places in our lives that bring up challenging sensations, emotions, actions, beliefs and stories.

We learn to self-regulate in order to help us be able to grow and learn with less overwhelm or panic.

You can choose to self-regulate so that you can have more energy to change the things you can have some effect upon.

You can choose to self-regulate to increase your capacity to let go of what does not serve you and what you can not change.

You can learn to self-regulate so that you can better access attunement and reason within your Self, regardless of what is happening in the world outside of your skin container.

We each practice self-regulating so that we can give care to ourselves, our loved ones, each other and our community. We practice self-regulation to give space for ease and compassion to ourselves and to others.

I invite you to remember, you have support. We are all in this together.
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If you do not feel like you have the capacity to feel and/or access the support available to you or to explore these practices on your own, please contact me or another somatic therapist to help you deepen your practice of embodiment with professional support.

The Importance of Embodiment (in Times of Great Unknown)

In times of unknown, it is can be tempting to fall into old patterns. The comfort of the dysfunctional pattern can feel more familiar than slowing down, checking in, reminding ourselves that it is our choice as to where we put our focus, that it is our choice when and how to move in a new direction, it is our choice to move in that new direction at a speed that our slowest parts feel safe to go.

In times of unknown, it can be tempting to shut down, go into shallow breathing, stop moving, crawl under the covers, try to be as small as possible or even try to make ourselves invisible from every danger of some future possible timeline that our minds can create.

In times of unknown, it can be tempting to blow up, lash out, drink, hit someone or something, say "f*(k it" and lose any sense of our grounded support and our breath, to prepare to fight every possible future danger our mind can create.

All of this could be true. We each have a choice. Do it. Don’t do it. Do it for a little while and then decide to do something different. Your choice.

Your choice

There are other options. In times of unknown, it is possible to slow down, to check-in to the movement of our breath filling and emptying our torsos, to check-in to where and how we are accepting the support of our bones standing strong with the unconditional loving support of the Earth.

We are free to check-in with the movement of our breath and to pay attention to the ways we are literally being supported, right now, right in this very space and moment.

We are free to allow ourselves to gently, easily move our bodies around in the space we are in while looking at, touching, smelling, listening, actively experiencing and being present with the things around us that nourish us.

We are free to notice the impulses and sensations within these bodies we are in, these bodies that are trying to process and be present with our mind’s ideas about the great unknowns. These impulses we feel are important information that we may be tempted to stifle or ignore or shame because we don’t know how to attend to them safely. Ask yourself:

Does my body want to run? Can I run in place right where I am?

Does it want to jump up and down, to scream, moan or yawn? Am I somewhere I can do this safely?

Does it want to stretch slowly or shake, shimmy, wiggle, wriggle or rock? Will I allow myself to do this?

In times of dysregulation and unknown, it is important to remember that we can choose to find a safe space to move our bodies in the ways that it wants and then to Do it.

Remember: the nervous system is designed for movement and movement that feeds the nervous system does not need to be large.

The movement that nourishes and supports the nervous system can be subtle. It can be the movement of conscious breath changing the shape of your torso. It could be the movement of pressing and releasing into whatever surface is currently supporting you.. It can be the movement of growing and shrinking some body part with curiosity or it could be whatever the movement is of letting go of what no longer serves and giving yourself what you desire more of.

While thinking about and talking about your fear, anger, sadness might seem productive to your cognitive self, it is not the best way to calm the nervous system. In fact, unless we are choosing to think or talk with a very conscious constructive intent, our thinking and talking often contributes to more active firing of the sympathetic part of the nervous system which leads us into spiraling patterns of Flight/Flight that we sometimes call anxiety and depression.

Actively moving your body is the best way to support yourself in letting go of the chemicals created by your nervous system in response to the dangers your mind has been and is creating. Letting go of those chemicals while actively making space for more ease and serenity makes way for your body’s natural healing capacities of resting and digesting. Nourishing, healing, and supporting ourselves in this moment, right now, is the way we prepare ourselves to respond reasonably and with resilience when we are called upon to act in relationship to whatever unknowns exist in our actual future timeline.

In times of great unknown, in times of discomfort, it is so important to lovingly and compassionately move yourself, even if for just one minute now and one minute later. Even if it is simply remembering to focus for the next sixty seconds on the movement created within your skin container as you breathe.

Tending to your embodied experience is so very important, in times of ease, and in times of great unknown. Take care, dear ones.

Processing. Movement. Self-care.

Every single thing we take in during every moment of each day needs to be processed.

Whether it is food, drink, air, ideas, energy or information of the sensory and/or cognitive variety, everything that enters us needs to be tended to by our body.

Fortunately for us, the body is designed to process all of these things I listed. It is the body that helps us absorb what nourishes us and to expel what no longer serves us.  The body is designed to have sensory experiences in relationship with these things I’ve listed and then to move in ways that support the absorbing of and the letting go of whatever it is that is being experienced within our skin container.

Unfortunately for us, we’ve created a world that tends to overwhelm our natural capacities toward health.

This blog was inspired by a trend I have noticed recently: people with discomfort in the stomach. Quite a few clients I’ve seen recently have needed somatic support in session to safely explore uncomfortable stomach related experiences.  I have also had several people in my social circle reporting unexpected, intense gut distress with no easily identifiable source. I, too, have woken on several nights in the last few weeks with a sense of queasiness in my mid-section that I know was not food related.

When this sort of synchronicity happens - of noticing a common theme across so many people and over more than 24 hours time span - I pay attention.

I’m curious: what is causing all this gut distress?

Here are my thoughts:

We are all trying to process and digest a lot.  While it is always important to tend to your whole system, it is especially important right now to allow yourself time to slow down, notice and allow movement that will, in turn, allow whatever might be causing you distress to be processed and moved through. Take the time to be present with whatever comes up when you allow yourself to gently give attention to this area of your body. Help your body know it is safe to absorb the parts that are nourishing and to let the parts which are no longer of value pass through and out!

This is such a simple biological process of acceptance and letting go that we have developed the ability to thwart it in all sorts of ways!

Please remember:

You can choose to notice or ignore your bodily sensations.

You can choose whether to tend to or override uncomfortable information in your systems.

You can choose whether you allow your Self to move or to become rigid.   

You can choose what parts of your Self to move.  

You can choose how you move.  

We can all choose to gently learn about the patterned movements of our physical, sensory, emotional and cognitive bodies. 

We can learn to slow down in a way that allows us to notice what patterns succeed in helping us to be more selective, to support the taking in of what is nourishing and letting go of what is depleting.  We all have the capacity to also notice which of our patterns we are using that fall short of supporting this biological process of health.

We can learn how to move ourselves to expand and deepen our capacity for seeing diverse options and making conscious choices that increase the quality of what is entering our body, with each breath, in each moment. 

And as humans we have the capacity to choose to limit our ability to move. We can choose to inhibit ourselves, sometimes for important social reasons. We can also choose to shrink our capacity to notice, to react rather than respond, to resist change, or to believe we are helpless to choose something different, which all serve to undermine individual and social functioning.

The body is designed to live life fully.  To live life fully involves learning ways to move yourself in diverse ways with more ease and integration as well as to discovering and exploring what challenges you from doing so.

Processing IS not simply a cognitive exercise.  Processing IS a whole body activity of movement.

If you notice a sensation of discomfort in your gut or you feel like you are trying to absorb and process TOO MUCH of something or perhaps even find yourself thinking “This is all too much”, I invite you to do the following:

• slow down your activity

• take at least six minutes to Check-In

• allow yourself to truly and fully process throughout your whole system

• support some part of your physical body to move in a way inspired by the speed and quality of the act of digestion

Processing. Movement. Self-care.

We are all in this together. Blessings, folks.

(If you’d like support in MOVING with these ideas, please check out the video support HERE!)

Image source

Finding Comfort, Support and Ease in this time of Covid19: the practice of The Check-in

This is a slightly revised excerpt of an email that i shared with my clients yesterday. I hope that at least one of you will find what I share helpful to you in your process of staying healthy and fully alive in this unusual of times. - Victoria

Today is day 28 for me in this process of keeping to my home, physically distancing when I am out and connecting with other humans only on-line or across a 6 foot trail!  There have been challenging moments and rewarding moments:  I can share with you that I have felt the experience of ALL of the zones a person can live in (according to Tom Senninger), and have been finding all sorts of opportunities to practice my tools of self-soothing - the very same tools that I share with all my clients, whether in private movement sessions, private clinical sessions or moving together in my group Embodiment classes.  

The process of what I call “The Check-in” has been crucial for me in my pursuit to find some sense of the Comfort Zone throughout the day.  When Comfort, Security, Safety is not really to be found, it is the Check-in that helps me keep my feet and head in the Learning Zone.  

Sometimes I need to do a full-blown, time-out sort of check-in, giving myself 15 - 20 minutes of breath, grounded support, orienting and constructive thinking.

Sometimes it is a mini-bringing-myself-back-to-the-present-moment kind of check-in of one breath, one shift of focus, one jiggle of my Upper body into my Lower.

And sometimes it is simply reminding myself that I am free to notice where I put my focus.  

Regardless of the length of time in the Check-in process, I have found that daily, hourly, sometimes moment-by-moment the practice of Checking-in to the "right now" of where and how I am has been crucial for me.  

How about you?

To support you in your process of Checking-in, I have shared below some of my writing about my practice this past week.

(I’d like to acknowledge that I learned the value of the phrase “I am free to…” in my training and conversations with Imogen Ragone, and have enfolded it into to my Embodiment practices because I have found it to be powerful in supporting change!)

I am free to notice the experience of my breath.  I am free to choose the speed and depth of my breath.

As I notice my breath I think about these more than 650 hours of quarantine and the changes I have experienced and witnessed in that time.  Crocuses and daffodils have bloomed and then waned.  Tulips and spring beauties (the small white & pink flowers that have been blanketing Stewart Park) have emerged as well as the leaves and buds of various types of trees.  (And although the frost may have done some damage, I can still see the pink explosion of the red bud trees out my window so I have hope that this week I will still be able to find and enjoy color in nature!)  I notice a loosening in my chest and gut as I choose to focus on my memory of what I have seen of spring blossoming.  I notice my breath deepens and slows.  Joy.  Peace.)  

I am free to notice the experience of my body being supported by the Earth.  I am free to accept and allow myself to be fully supported.

 I am free to orient in the environment that is outside of me right now.  I am free to notice my sense of the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, temperature and texture of my Outer environment as they come into my Inner environment.  I am free to notice the experience of my Inner environment:  my Back body and Front, my Right body and Left, my Upper body being supported by my Lower body.  

As I settle my awareness and my Weight into my feet I think about all the walking I've done this week. In those walks, with the Earth rolling its support through the heel, balls and toes of my feet, I've had the opportunity to witness so much wildlife  - seeing swans and muskrat at the Cosmos-Bethel lake; observing the sights and sounds of herons standing in stillness, ducks floating in pairs muttering to each other, geese flying and honking their air-traffic control calls, frogs hopping and several baby snakes slithering their way across the trail at the wetlands of Forum Nature Area, and hearing the multi-faceted and omnipresent calls of the tree frogs at Stewart Park, Forum Nature Area and Grasslands Trail.  Remembering these things, I recall the sense of excitement with a widening in my chest, the power of recuperative energy rising into my leg bones, and the satisfying experience of being a physical body present and supported in this moment.  Satisfaction.

I am free to notice ease.  I am free to notice where it seems a little easier right now.  Where else?  Where now? I am free…

If this felt valuable to you or piqued your curiosity about Embodiment, I invite you to check out my website. For a schedule of online movement events  visit here. To find our more about private sessions visit here.

The Monday and Tuesday Easy Movement Breaks are 30 minute seated or standing explorations of embodiment tools and easy free-style movement.

The Thursday Mindful Move Groove is a 1 hour class that can be standing or seated.  The first 30 minutes focuses on boosting immunity and soothing nerves, followed by easy choreographed movement and ending with a gentle cool-down.

The Friday On the Floor Movement Break is 30 minutes of exploration of grounded support and movement at the lowest level possible:  we are currently focusing on Constructive Rest!

In everything I offer professionally, we practice Checking In in some way: taking the time to notice, choose, finding ease and support, practice living life more fully! I believe this is all so important, and especially in these challenging times we are living in together right now. Let’s keep our combined energy recuperated and alive! Live life more fully with Embodiment!