Sensing Worlds: The Body Becomes River

Session 2: The Stone & The Release

A guide for home practice.
Last night, we moved from the "fluidity" of last week into the density of the body. We explored how we move from the soft inner dance, into the expanded, open, vigorous of life. How we carry our stories, the sediments of moving through... our ancestral wisdom, our joy, grief, our Self ~ and how we might consciously choose what to put down, release, leave behind.

Feel free to choose some gentle music to move through this exploration.


1. The Warm-Up: The Bud, The Cocoon
Before working with the stone, we explored the "Topography of growth and density."

• The Practice: Using the image of a flower bud that grows gently wrapped onto itself until its life force opens up to the world, softly expanding and receiving, relating... And the image f the Cocoon wherein a caterpillar fully digests itself, into mush, to be transmuted into a butterfly: spine, lightness, wings, freedom. We spiral through those cycles of small, inward, growth, to the expansive, openness. 
  
  To warm up, move from your inner dance, through your space. Experiment with these four states of being:
  • Small & Soft: Microscopic, internal movements. The breath moving the ribs. The sacrum moving spine, moving head.
  • Big & Vigorous: Grow into taking up space. Reaching, expanding, using high energy and wide gestures.
  • Small & Vigorous: A "vibration" or a "shiver." High energy contained in a tiny, compact, contained shape.
  • Big & Soft: Spiraling into expansive, low-effort movements. Imagine moving through thick, warm water.
• The Inquiry: How do I move through this cycles, and sequences, and how does it feel in my body-mind-spirit awareness?
  
  
  

2. The Rock Ritual 
A Guided InquiryFor this practice, find a stone from your garden, a nearby park, or even a heavy object in your home that feels "right" to you. Let the Stone FIND YOU.
Hold the stone in your hands. Close your eyes and sense its weight, its temperature, and its texture. Then, let the stone "travel" through your body as you ask these questions:

• Finding its home: Where does this stone want to live in your body right now? Just feel its weight against your skin. Move with it there. Let is find a place where it may dwell, lodge for a bit (neck, armpit, foot, thighs, hip.... etc) and sense the experience of moving wth this stone being part of your body. 
• Ancestors: If this stone was your Ancestral Wisdom, where is it held? How does it feel to be supported by this ancient weight?
• Joy/Confidence: If this stone was your Inner Fire or Joy, where does it lodge? Let its energy radiate from that point into your limbs.
• Sadness/Grief: If this stone was a Grief or Sadness you are carrying, where does it sit? Notice how your movement and breath change when you acknowledge this weight.
• The Self: If this stone represents your Soul, or Essential Self where is its true home? Move from this center. Let it infuse you with its essence.

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3. The Shedding & The Gift

• The Gift: Ask the stone: "What quality are you offering me today?" (Steadiness? Stillness? Strength?). Let that quality sink into your cells. Rocks know time, rocks are part of Earth, of the Universe... let it guide you.
• The Shedding: Ask yourself: "What am I ready to set down, release, leave behind?" Imagine infusing the stone with that specific weight. It is willing to carry that for you.
• The Release: Place the stone down on a surface or back on the earth. Feel the space that has opened up in your body where that weight used to be.

Integration: Take a moment to draw or write about the "Landscape of your Weighted Self." What traces are left through this story, or dance? What feels lighter now? What feels more grounded?
We missed your presence in the circle last night.
Know that the collective "altar" of stones we built holds a space for your journey, too.

See you next week!
​Guadalupe