Somatic Movement

Balance Classes begin on Monday, Nov 3rd, '25 - Awareness through Movement with Renee - learn more @ Awareness through Movement is a program in the Health Life Area @ Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning

Read more on blog - Awareness through Health - https://wp.me/pgS6jh-x

After resting my back with legs over a ball, this rolling from side to side creates a nice and easy stretch through the lower back up towards my shoulder blades. The ball is creating the movement and is bearing the weight of my legs, so the back muscles are not engaged. This allows for the skeleton to move independent of muscle effort. Good spine and rib health.

I often suggest that students raise their legs to take stress off their lower back. Trying a ball and it's perfect!,

Somatic movement is in the life area of health at Inside Awaeness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning. You will find videos on somatic movement at this playlist on the learning centers channel on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp72FY-bFbVwSDuajxHcIOGICdINpm40x

Integration of eating, movement and spoken word for health and wellbeing

Another Labyrinth video, lol.  A somatic interpretation of experiencing a labyrinth walk via creating a personal apprenticeship of creating educational events led to significant functional integration, clarity and understanding.   Creating the last couple of labyrinth topic podcasts, I recognize my language has changed, and I see the seeds of it reflected in what is shared in this content.  It's the gap experience.  You don't know what's changing in you as it happens unless you check in.   This is one of those moments.  For anyone in mental, emotional or physical distress, check out your local labyrinths and try walking it regularly.  The pattern is rotational, and as most people do not have any rotational patterns left in their posture, the labyrinth's rotational in and out pattern can shift what your thoughts cannot.  It supports letting go and shifting the blocks holding you prisoner to stuck beliefs, controlling emotions and blocks in movement.  (Even those who are trying to keep you stuck in their wants for you - it helps to open you up to be able to increase foresight beyond this ball and chain)  It's a personal experience, private, and takes only minutes.  Use it to replace a drink, a smoke, a....?  Instead of hyjack yourself away and increase your life drama, take a moment and unwind in a natural pattern that aligns you from within.    Just a personal wellness suggestion for our toolkit.     

In yesterday's Feldenkrais series, Awareness through Movement Lessons, I introduced this concept. The Plum line of the Body Posture in Standing and its comparison to the Labyrinth Seed Pattern to emphasize the four Quadrants of the body to define core spontaneous counter-balance. This is a class with repeat students where I had noticed that the connection of feet to ground wasn't a strong enough felt sense to feel their shifting bones in their feet making contact to the ground and up through their leg bones into their hips. The last few series I have had emphasized the awareness component (mindfulness training) so, I began with walking them through a practice of mindfulness meditation to demonstrate how one would retrain the thinking patterns in a sitting meditation. It was a powerful class. In the end, there was silence. I stood there thinking, oh this was a fail. Until they opened up and expressed their experience. Hearing this feedback is when you know you have hit the mark in sharing personal development techniques or, had a fail. It was a memorable moment.