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

Giving Yourself Grace - what does this mean?

I was inspired to google the terms giving yourself grace and found this interesting essay.

What inspired me to search on these particular terms? I was motivated to do this because I had observed this topic as a theme in many conversations and in many sessions with clients these past few weeks. The conversations may not have included the exact word "grace", but what I have observed is the expression of the desire of having more grace with(in) ourselves and/or of the feelings of being pushed upon and away from our sense of grace or the feelings of being compelled to push against someone or something, that caused a feeling of gracelessness in ourselves.

Does this resonate with you? If so, I invite you to read on:

The writer of this article I shared above offers the following quote in in her essay:

think of "grace giving as a form of equanimity. That concept is defined by an openness, softness, and love, qualities that allow emotions to come and go, "without push or pull," says Sola."

I invite you to consider that what the writer is talking about, whether she knows it or not, are some of the key aspects of somatics.

Giving yourself permission to Yield, to soften into the support of your experience of your body breathing and being supported by gravity in this moment, is a foundational resource necessary for giving yourself grace and also for the process of safely opening somatically.

For those who don't know what I mean by Yield, it is one of the five fundamental Actions. These five fundamental Actions (Yield/Push, Reach/Grasp/Pull) are the universal energetic "pathways to life and...movement" (from Susan Aposhyan, for another perspective on this click here).

Yield is resting in contact, allowing oneself to actively rest in connection with what supports you in the present moment. It is this capacity, to actively Yield and allow the support of the Earth and our breath, that underlies our capacity to Push.

And this, dear ones, IS the act of equanimity: to be able to fully and easily Yield into what is supporting you in this moment and to allow that support to communicate to your nervous system that you are whole and safe and secure and to allow yourself, if you choose, to Push yourself upward or to take a stand or to take an action WITHOUT losing your sense of yourSelf as a supported, fully alive and present human being. This is equanimity.

The act of Grace.

Consider practicing living grace as a verb. Invite yourself to allow yourself to honor your whole Self - spiritbodymind. To honor your experience of Presence, right here, right now It is all awareness, it is just awareness, it is part of awareness of what is the truth of this exact moment - and give yourself permission to not be Pushed or Pulled into the past, the present, the story, the rules or the judgement.

The embodiment of Grace.

************************************************************************************************************ As always, if this inspires questions, curiosities, concerns, confusion, inspiration - please let me know. I would love to explore it together! (I am currently putting individual clients on a waiting list as I am full to the gills!)

Also know that you can always find out what sort of opportunities to explore I am offering - simply check out my website for upcoming events

"Being in the Present": What does this mean?

I recently had someone say to me, "what do you mean when you invite me to 'be in the present'? I'm right here, aren’t I? How can I not be in the present?"

And while it is true that your body IS always here, as a noun, a “thing”, it is not always actively present as a verb. The body is always trying to be actively present right here in this moment as a living, sensing, moving being because that is how it was designed, however, without an active practice of allowing your body to be fully living, sensing and moving (known as the act of embodiment) your mind can easily convince your body that it is NOT in the present. This is because we’ve all been deeply deeply trained to disconnect from the body and to let our Selves be led by the mind. Without practice the physical Self can lose its ability to stay connected or return to the present real experiences of this moment, and will yield to your mind’s beliefs and thoughts of the past or of the future as IF these are what is real right now, while they are not.

While this experience of feeling the past or future as if it is happening right now can be a wonderful way to relive and reconnect with the sensations of a fond memory or to anticipate a future hoped for event, it can also be the foundation for incredible unease and dis-ease in the body, especially if one’s memories or expectations are of danger and overwhelm.

As a somatic movement therapist, I believe that deepening one’s capacity to actively BE in the body as a living, breathing, sensing, moving experience with more and more ease is essential for spiritual, physical and mental health.

Because I believe this, I invite you to consider prioritizing the practice of embodiment in your life.

What does that mean, you might wonder?

Let’s explore!

if you would prefer to explore with video support, check out these videos on my Youtube channel, and if you like what you see, please subscribe!

Feeling Your Body

Checking in: Experiencing the Body in the Present Moment

Letting Go of the Hungry Mind

Otherwise, I invite you to join me now in this written guided embodiment practice:

I invite you to Pause.

Right now.

I invite you to stop reading for a moment and let yourself notice where your mind's focus is, without judgement.

And when you return to this reading, I invite you to give yourself permission to take note - was the thing your mind was focused on about you and the environment you are experiencing right in this moment or was it about something that is outside of what was actually present in the moment?

Whatever you noticed, I invite you to let go of anything the mind is focused on that is not right with now, in this moment.

I invite you to let your mind practice focusing on the experience of the breath and then let the experience of your breath soften. Let your breath go.

let your eyes gently close or rest softly on an object on the room that causes your body to feel neutral or pleasant or safe, until you are ready to return to this guided practice.

As you return to the reading, I invite you to let go of any thoughts that arose and pulled you out of this present and then return your awareness to your breath. Let it go with a gentle sigh, and perhaps a yawn

invite your focus to shift from reading at the end of this paragraph and to shift to the experience of your physical weighted body being supported right now. Feel the experience of being in contact with the bed or the couch or the chair or the floor and, ultimately, by gravity. Notice the sensations you notice. Allow yourself to soften into the support and, when ready, allow yourself to continue to feel the support when you choose to return to the reading.

As you return to the reading, I invite you to honor the sensations you are noticing, even as you read. Be curious. Again, shift your attention from this reading after this paragraph and give your sensations and all your body parts permission to move, if that is what they desire in this moment. Give them permission to breathe and sigh and sound. Give them permission to open and/or close, to stretch or to tighten. Repeat this until you feel a little bit of satisfaction, a little bit of ease, a little bit of ease, until your body is ready for your eyes to return to reading.

Give yourself permssion to let go some more.

Each time a thought comes up that is not about this moment, let it go.

Invite yourself to let go of reading to return, over and over again, to the practice being present with the sensations of the experience of your breath moving into and out of your body, and the sensations of the experience of your physical body receiving the grounded energy of the planet, and with the sensations of the experience of what you are seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching, in this present moment, even as your also focusing on reading this blog post.

I invite you to give yourself permssion to practice being present with yourSelf and your physical environment right now for as long as you desire.

And when you decide that the time to finish reading this blog post and exploring this practice with this guidance, I invite you ask yourself these questions:

”Do I feel any different - in my spirit, my body and/or in my mind?”

“Has anything changed from when I started reading this blog?”

“Did I feel any challenges?”

I’d love to hear your answers. Whatever you experienced, please know that this practice is not only valuable, but essential for spiritbodymimd health!

If you’d like more guided support in your practice of living, breathing, sensing and moving more fully and with more ease - whether as an individualize or in a group - please contact me for more information.

Love: What Do the Shoulders Have to Do with It?

People use the word “shoulder” to mean many things. Most people aren’t aware of all the body parts that make up the “shoulder” or of how the shoulder is intimately connected with and a part of our Whole Selves.

Deepened awareness and understanding of what makes up what we think of as the "shoulder" and the importance of the shoulder in all our movement: this is our focus as we explore movement together in Mindful Move Groove during this mid-winter time.

To help us have a better understanding of the bony structure of the shoulder, we recently watched: How Scapular Movement Works. I invite you to take a few moments to watch this video and explore the movement of your own scapula.

But what does this have to do with LOVE, another word people use to mean many things.

Awareness of the movement of all that is the shoulder and its relationship to the whole body is key if you desire effortless alignment. It is this awareness that allows us to move through our day with more ease in all the actions that include the shoulder (physically or mentally) such as reaching, grasping, embracing, pulling, hugging, comforting, creating, setting boundaries, starting your car and manipulating keypads and utensils!

When we allow ourselves to feel the firm structural support of the Lower Body into the Upper Body, our face, neck and shoulders can relax, and we are more able to soften and open our hearts when we desire to do so.

Wth the pelvis as our firm base of support, our upper body - chest, arms, and head - is able to suspend and lift with less effort. When our upper bodies expend less effort trying to hold ourselves upright, there is a natural opening and widening across the chest. With good structural support, we might notice that the area around our hearts is more able to radiate and expand. - Erika Berland, Sitting: the physical art of meditation

Deepening our somatic awareness of the parts of us that make up the shoulder, the ways these parts move and the ways these parts are integrated into the whole Self is just one way to cultivate our capacity to more effortlessly expand our heart energy and to radiate our love.

Remember, love is a verb, not a noun.
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And this is what Mindful Move Groove is all about! It is not just your ordinary exercise class. It is not just a dance class. Mindful movement extends way beyond the existence and movement of physical body parts!

Mindful Move Groove is:

• an opportunity to explore and learn and move

• in ways that support you in living your life more fully

• with deepened awareness of spirit, body and mind

• while also getting your groove on!

Cultivating the State of BEing, an embodiment practice

My favorite line from this meme is "become, unfold, tense and unfold again". It really resonates.

For me, the juicy stuff of my life, personally and professionally, lies in my capacity to be ever more fully in the experience of the transitions. When I read this line from this meme, I don’t simply resonate with the idea of these three states of action - of Becoming, Unfolding and Tensing. I resonate with the images and sensations that arise for me as I imagine the experience of moving each one, and from one to the other.

For me, growth is about being able to notice, in deeper and deeper ways, my patterns and to explore ways to move within, around and between these patterns.

For me, learning happens when we recognize our patterns and allow ourselves to explore and play with them.

For me, doing this sort of deep play and exploration can only be done from a sense of safety. Being in my embodied sense of safety is what allows me to not only do an action with my full Self but to also to be more fully in the experience of moving, to be completely in the process of shifting from one action to another, of moving with, around and between the patterns and to never become unsafe. Because of this personal (and professional) practice of starting from a sense of safety, I'm inclined to change the language of this meme just a bit.

For me, the process of becoming, unfolding, tensing and unfolding again is more accurately described as this:

Be.

Allow movement.

Notice the edge where you begin to resist and allow yourself to be right there.

Be curious.

Notice what you can notice.

Learn what you can learn.

Be.

Once you notice that you are satisfied (or possibly bored),

change something.

Allow space and time for continued curiosity.

Repeat. Over and over again.

This, for me, is the practice of embodiment. It is the process of somatic movement therapy. It is the template for all healing. It is an invaluable practice to cultivate.

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While I was journaling and moving and exploring in the process of refining the original phrase so that it better suited me, I felt inspired to create a guided embodiment practice for myself. The result is the attached twelve minute audio recording. I appreciated this so much for myself that I wanted to share it with you.

I hope you will explore with my guidance.
I hope you will share your comments below.

And if you find this inspiring and you’d like to take your practice deeper or wider or fuller with support, I hope you will contact me about setting up a thirty minute free consultation to discuss the possibility of working together.

Regards and blessings. - Victoria
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Special thanks to my friends at Kindred Collective who originally shared this meme on their Facebook and Instagram pages.