Allow for at least 45 minutes. You will need a comfortable chair, stool, or ball to sit on that allows your pelvis to have a sturdy yet comfortable base and your feet to comfortably touch the floor.
This Somatic Act is ideally done as a duet, or with a group, but the below text offers the possibility of experiencing it as a solo.
If done as a duet or group, please touch yourself before touching others. Also, at any point, the touch can be stopped if not wanted.
With eyes closed,
and sitting comfortably,
noticing your breath…
Allowing it to move
on its own
sensing the rise and expansion
of the inhale and
the settling of the exhale
towards the earth.
Sense the weight of your body
through the support of gravity
meeting and arriving
into the place
you are sitting now.
What are you touching
the chair, the floor, your clothing, your own hands?
Allow the contact to soften
any unnecessary holding or tension
in the tissues or bones
allowing your body to
rest into the touch and
into the arms of gravity
Allowing the belly to soften a little
and the jaw
Changing your position if you need
to be a bit more comfortable
at any time…
Breathing, arriving, settling.
Allowing time…
With eyes still closed,
gently bring your hands to
explore and touch the back of the spine
-yours or your friend´s-
tracing the bony prominences
sensing the texture and shape
the hardness of bone next to
the softness of skin
from the tailbone
all the way to the atlas
deep inside the skull.
Noticing each vertebra as you pass it
the slight bumps or curves
meeting the bony landmarks…
Sensing the spinous processes
extending back as bony noses or ridges.
Allowing time…
And gently allowing
your hands to rest on your legs
or at your sides.
With eyes still closed
can you sense the bony landscape
you just touched?
Each individual vertebra?
Allowing time...
And in contrast
to this bumpy back landscape
broadening your attention
to the front vertebrae
from the tailbone
all the way to the base of the skull
at the atlas.
Placing your hands
on the front of your body
as you picture your hands
touching
your front vertebrae
awakening your felt sense
of their smoother texture
and more cylindrical shape.
Slowly, starting at
your tailbone,
touching the front of each
individual vertebra
one at a time
as your touch travels
up your spine
to the top of the base
of the skull.
One vertebra at a time.
A smoother texture
a more cylindrical shape.
Noticing your breath…
Allowing time...
And then, expanding your awareness
to the sides of each vertebra
sensing the transverse processes
reaching out as two bony wings.
As you picture your hands
touching
each bony wing
supporting your felt sense
of this subtle widening
on the left
and on the right
along the spine
Slowly, begin
at your tailbone,
touching the sides
the bony wings
of each vertebra
one at a time
as your touch travels
up your spine
to the top of the base
of the skull.
One vertebra at a time.
Bony wings inviting
a slight widening
from either side.
Noticing your breath…
Allowing time…
And gently allowing
your hands to rest on your legs
or at your sides.
And now, allowing your attention to
travel to the places between each vertebrae
cushioned with disc pillows
offering the spine
buoyancy, protection and support
Sensing their presence
for a moment
from the tailbone
to the base of the skull
inside the bony landscape
of the vertebrae.
Allowing time…
And bringing your attention
towards the river of breath
travelling up, down, and around your spine
as an axis
bathing each vertebra
from the tail bone to the base of the skull
with the pelvis as an anchor and
the skull floating on top.
How does the movement of your breath
gently rock and move
your spine
allowing any tension
to unfurl and unravel
as the vertebral column is naturally
suspending
and lengthening
tail bone dropping towards the earth
skull rising towards the sky.
Sensing how the atlas, the top vertebra
sits deep inside the top of the skull
allowing the skull to float on top.
Sensing how the tailbone, the end of your axis,
sits deep inside the pelvis
widening its base of support.
The breath bathing each vertebra
moving each one
just a little.
Allowing time…
Allow your spine
to move a little
a string of around 24 pearls
opening, closing,
spiraling,
lengthening
sensing the front, the back
and the sides of the vertebrae
Tail and head moving
towards and
away from each other.
Each vertebra
participating
responding to each other
a community of vertebrae
dancing together
Allowing time…
The rest of the body
may also follow
in small ways
or not
the arms might move slightly
or the pelvis, or the legs
the spine conducting
a tiny movement and vertebrae orchestra
As you are breathing
Allowing time…
The spine - offering structure, support, flexibility
protecting your spinal cord – the central hub
of your nervous system
as messages quickly pass through
as you are moving
and breathing.
Allowing time…
Opening, closing,
spiraling,
lengthening
as the spine moves.
Breathing.
And gently, allowing a rest
or a pause to emerge.
Sensing how you are making contact
with the place you are sitting now.
Noticing your breath…
As the felt experience of your spine
continues to resonate
I invite you into a few questions:
What if you created a costume
from this recent experience?
The sensation inside your body?
The sense of your spine from within?
A costume that brought awareness
to the lengthening of the vertebral column
or the widening of the sides of the spine, for example?
And as you are ready,
slowly opening the eyes.
And sharing your experience and reflections through writing, drawing and speaking with a friend.