Small Journeys Into The Vastness Of Self | Whispers

Take a few moments to arrive,

Lie down on the floor or on your bed.

As you are lying now,

Could you think of taking a snapshot of your shape,

Your body print,

The point where your head touches the ground.

Can you feel the weight in your right and your left shoulder blade?

Which side is heavier?

Which side feels spreading its weight wider?

Sense the way your ribs touch the floor and then your lower back.

Can you visualize the print your pelvis is making on the floor?

Lower now,

The back of your thighs.

Do the back of your knees feel lighter?

And then your calves and your heels.

And which heel is heavier?

And which one leaves a wider print on the floor?

And visualize that body print on the floor.

Now bend your knees and stand your feet and very slowly allow your feet to slide on the floor.

Can you feel how your pelvis changes its position and its contact with the floor?

Can you feel the movement of your legs changing the shape of your lower back?

Slide them as long as it feels easy.

And when they feel too heavy,

Let them go on the floor.

And when your legs are long on the floor,

Take a moment there.

Take a breath.

Bend your knees and begin to slide again.

Observe your body as it changes shape.

Enjoy the journey.

Keeping your attention to the sensations in your lower back.

And when your legs are long on the floor,

Take a moment there.

Take a breath.

Then bend your knees and begin to slide again.

This time paying attention to your ribs and your upper back.

And once again,

Bend your knees and begin to slide again.

This time paying attention to the changing shape of your neck and the position of your head.

And when your legs are long,

Stay there and sense.

How is your body print today?

As you lie down,

Which are those spaces where you can feel yourself heavier?

And those that are a bit lighter?

Can you bring your attention to those spaces in your back where you touch the ground more?

And those that touch less?

And those that don't touch at all?

That place in the back of your head where you feel it resting heaviest on the floor?

And then as your attention slides down,

Can you feel the curvature of your neck?

And the space between your shoulder blades?

Can you sense now which shoulder blade feels heavier?

Which shoulder blade seems wider on the floor?

And as you go down your back with your attention,

Can you feel your ribs?

And as you breathe now,

Is there a change in your contact with the ground in those lower ribs and in your lower back?

How does the lower back contact the ground?

And your pelvis?

Which hip seems a bit heavier?

Clarifying this image of your body print as you go down your thighs now and that space behind your knees.

Are your thighs heavier than your knees?

Calfs and your ankles?

And can you bring your attention to your heels now?

Which one feels a bit heavier?

Which one feels a bit wider?

And as you slide your attention around your body,

Are you only noticing those places I call out?

Or can you also keep your attention focused wider to the rest of yourself as well?

Could you take a snapshot?

Have a clear image of this body print so you can be able to come back to it again and again throughout the lesson.

Having a clear image to compare to.

Now don't do anything just yet.

Just find out what's the first thing that happens to you when I ask you to lighten your left heel.

Don't do the movement just yet.

Notice what happens when I ask you to lighten your left heel.

Does your attention turn from wherever it was to that heel?

So could you,

Without moving your body,

Just play a bit with the movement of your attention?

Can you pay attention to your right hand?

What if I told you to lift your right hand?

Don't do anything,

Just notice that first moment where you suddenly turn your attention from your foot to your hand and then your left shoulder.

And find that first movement within yourself,

Which is the movement of your attention.

From your right hip to your left heel again.

Are you being totally absorbed into focusing on that one single specific point?

Can you keep part of your attention to the rest of yourself?

Could you simultaneously keep your attention to your body print and to the rest of yourself as well now,

As you think of your left heel?

And your right wrist?

And your left shoulder blade?

And your right hip?

Can you find a way to jump around with your attention in all those places I call out,

But still keep another part of your attention throughout the body and feel what changes happen to the rest of the body when your attention shifts from place to place.

And let's find now this space in time between intention and action.

So can you think now again of lightening your left heel?

Only your left heel.

Not lifting,

Just lightening of the floor.

And as your heel begins to lighten,

What happens?

Can you feel those first moments when your muscles begin to engage somewhere in your lower leg?

Can you feel what happens to the rest of yourself?

Can you keep a wide focus as you gently begin to lighten your left heel and then allow it to release back down on the ground?

And it's a very small movement,

A micro-movement of lightening.

What is it that you notice in your lower leg as you lighten and release,

Lighten and release?

Could you think now of noticing two things at the same time?

Those places in your lower leg where you can feel the muscles engaging in order to lighten your heel,

And at the same time pay attention and see if there are some places in your leg where you become heavier.

Maybe the back of your knee.

And then can you play with your attention and for a few moves,

Feel those places clearly.

Feel where do you engage your muscles,

In your calf,

Around your knee.

And for a few movements,

Just notice the weight shifting in your structure,

Your bones.

Feel all those places where you feel getting heavier in your lower leg as you lighten your left heel.

And then could you think of pressing the back of your knee very gently into the floor?

As softly and as quietly as you were lightening your heel.

Still now,

How would you go about making the back of your knee a bit heavier?

And could you find this idea of a seesaw between those two joints,

Your ankle and your knee?

So as your knee gets heavier,

Your heel gets lighter.

And as your heel comes burying into the ground,

Your knee gets lighter.

Could you examine this movement and how are you doing it?

Are you thinking of pressing?

So you press into the heel to lighten the knee,

And then you press into the knee to lighten the heel.

Or do you seesaw by lightening?

So you think about lightening the heel in order to make the knee heavier,

And lightening the knee in order to make the heel heavier.

There are so many ways to do this little micro-movement.

And go ahead and explore,

As much as you feel like it.

And let that go,

And have a rest for your attention.

Now we will keep this idea of paying attention to the muscles as they engage,

And simultaneously to the shifting of the weight in your structure,

And feel it progressively getting bigger.

So we will stay with this idea of keeping part of your attention to where the movement is being done,

And part of your attention to the whole of yourself at the same time.

So this time could you think of beginning to lighten the whole of the left leg?

As if you were going to lighten the thigh and the calf and the heel all at the same time,

The whole of the leg wants to get off the ground.

But again,

You're exploring only the beginning of the movement,

The moment you turn your attention.

Can you keep a bit of your attention to the rest of yourself,

So you can feel the lightening of the leg,

The engagement throughout the muscles,

The place that gets heavier in your trunk as you do this movement,

Of lightening the whole leg,

Keeping the knee straight.

Can you feel the places in your trunk where you get heavier in order to lighten that leg?

Not lift,

Only lighten.

Lighten and release.

Lighten and release.

Could you use your exhale now for a few moves,

And press into those spaces that are already getting heavier?

So you use your exhale to press down with the rest of your body,

Allowing your left leg to become lighter.

Don't lift,

Keep your contacts to the ground,

Only lighten a few grams,

Only make the beginning of the movement.

Can you keep your attention wide,

So you can feel the whole of the body print that is changing a bit now?

Those places that get lighter,

And those places that get heavier as you attempt to lighten your left leg.

And again,

Let that go,

And have a rest.

What we want to explore today is what happens to the rest of ourselves as we move a particular limb.

When we move,

Our attention usually goes to the places that moves,

That changes.

But the rest of the body changes too,

In order to arrange itself to support the movement.

This lesson is about those dark places,

Those blind spots,

Those places we do not usually pay attention to when we do a movement.

The rest of ourselves.

So let's try it on the other side now.

Can you begin to lighten the whole of the right leg this time?

Lighten and release.

Lighten and release.

As you exhale,

Thinking of lightening your right leg,

Sense where does the weight go?

Where does it shift throughout your body print?

And don't lighten your heel only.

It's the whole leg now that tries to gently lighten,

Not lift,

Only lighten.

And feel what changes in your pelvis,

And the contact of your ribs on the floor.

Maybe in your shoulder blades too.

And as you pay attention now,

Find out which are those places in the trunk that get heavier in order for you to lighten your right leg.

And could you make them a bit heavier?

A gram more?

Without actively pressing down,

Could you allow more of your body to follow the movement?

Like a stone that ripples in the sea.

Don't lead the movement,

But allow your whole body print to follow.

So the action stops being lightening of the leg,

And it becomes using your exhale to allow those spaces that become heavier to accept the shift,

Allowing your body print,

Your contact with the ground to change.

And how is this side for you,

Compared to when you were lifting the other leg?

Do you feel a better connection from your ribs to your leg on this side?

Do you have a preference?

Does one side feel more familiar?

And let it go and have a rest.

Having to pay attention is already hard enough,

Having to split your attention between a specific place and the whole of yourself is quite the task.

So have a breath,

Lying and resting.

Now could you allow your arms to open to the side a bit,

So that they're not right next to your trunk?

Could you think,

With your next exhale,

To lighten your left arm?

The whole of the arm,

Not just the wrist or the elbow.

As if you were going to lift your arm,

But you do it only as far as you can keep your contact with the ground.

Just for a few breaths,

You lighten and release,

Lighten and release.

Easy and comfortable.

And as you do this movement,

Pay attention to what happens to the rest of yourself.

To the weight in your ribs and in your shoulder blades.

To the changing shape of your body print.

What happens to the side of your neck?

To the back of your head?

Make it really,

Really small now.

Find the beginning of the movement.

Use your exhalation.

Find all those places that get heavier in your trunk.

And with your exhale,

Allow them to sink more into the ground.

Finding the connection from your ribs to your left arm.

Feeling the changing shape.

And then for a few breaths,

Could you do the same with the right arm?

So you begin to gently find the beginning of the movement.

The muscles that begin to engage.

Just enough so you can feel it.

Lightening but not lifting.

Without losing the contact with the floor.

And as you do this movement,

Can you pay attention to the places in the centre of yourself?

Your trunk.

How does your contact with the ground changes?

How about the back of your head?

Keeping your attention in those places that get heavier in order for your arm to become lighter.

Could you use your exhale to allow the movement to happen?

To those places that begin to get heavier.

How is this connection?

This side?

This body print?

Do you have a preference?

Is lifting one arm more familiar?

And briefly let it go and have a rest.

Have a breath.

Explore your new body print.

Enjoy your new body print.

And with your next exhale,

You're going to be lightening both arms.

So you could use your exhale now to think of lightening both arms and feel the changing shape of your trunk.

The changing contact with the ground.

And in those places that get heavier,

You could use your exhale to press even more.

A bit more actively into the ground.

But do it slowly and easily and without tension.

So you can track this changing shape of your body print.

Just like you would look at the cloud on a sunny,

Windless day.

You look at the cloud and you think it's not moving.

But if you continue to look for a bit longer,

You see that it's actually shifting and changing its shape only very,

Very slowly.

Could you make your movement just as slow now?

So that you can keep your attention in your trunk and sense all those slow and delicate changes in the weight distribution of your body print.

The shifting of the weight.

The changing of the shape.

Just as the cloud shifts.

Exploring this connection between your trunk and your arms.

And maybe you want to have a rest for your attention.

Or maybe you want to continue and see what happens if you make your arms a bit heavier.

And find the other side of the connection.

Pressing your arms and releasing.

Gently pressing a gram more and releasing.

What if you press gently the whole of the arm as you exhale?

And feel what happens to your body print when you make your limbs a bit heavier.

And let it go and have a rest.

A rest for your attention.

Sense your body print.

And let's play a bit more.

Let's improvise.

So as you come again to this gentle lightening and pressing down into the ground,

Could you go about doing it freely as if you were dancing.

So you begin to gently press and lighten through your limbs and through your trunk.

You can find your own rhythm now.

Lightening one leg and then one arm.

The other leg.

Pressing down on one arm.

Your trunk.

The other leg.

Finding flow now in the movement as if you were swimming.

And as you do can you pay attention throughout the body.

How your body print is changing as you shift your weight now around.

Would you find those movements that feel more familiar?

As a rhythm or as a sequence?

Are you following your sensations?

Are you going only where it feels easy to?

How would you go about doing something unfamiliar?

How would you go about experimenting with something that is less familiar to your body?

And you can play around exploring a bit more.

Or allow your attention to rest and enjoy the sensation of being supported by the floor.