1. Body Talk
Why we work with the body? Have you noticed it yet?
That you can jog, play sports, even practice yoga without feeling your body? It seems counter-intuitive at first. Yet - we are so used to the head commanding over the body that we often don't hear anything else!
Embodiment is not just about being aware of THE body, but being aware AS the body.
Everything is connected in the body. Our actions, our judgment, mood - all of this is closely linked to our physical impressions.
Your body intelligence speaks clearly when you listen to it: What or who attracts you? What does your heart really desire? What do you turn your nose up at? Do you need a breather? What does your gut say? Did you get cold feet? Or a frog in your throat? Did you take matters into your own hands? Are you holding your tongue?
Our body is a fluid, intelligent, constantly adapting organism.
Sounds like a pretty ideal setup for navigating uncertain times, doesn't it?
2. Body Posture
"Head up! Chest out! Belly in! Back straight!"
This well-intentioned tip is outdated and wrong. It doesn't lead to good posture. Rather, it leads to more tension. Good posture and body language cannot be forced by such commands. It has to do with your attitude and relationship to your own body.
Good posture is a balanced posture where the (dis)tension in muscles and fascia is well distributed and the spine is allowed to move in its natural curves. Fascia, gravity and breath play a central role in this.
Gravity is constantly pushing us towards the earth.
With a good posture we do not fight against it, but are in harmony with it. We allow it, use it, and transform it into an ascending energy. A good posture does not start with the head or the shoulders. It starts with the breath and the feet.
When our feet are well anchored on the ground and the arch of the foot is flexible and adaptable, it prevents tension up to the shoulder area. It triggers a chain reaction from foot to pelvis to chest, shoulder, neck and head.This is partly due to the fasciae.
Fascia is a paper-thin, highly elastic connective tissue.
They envelop our muscles, bones and organs. They connect all the elements of the body and at the same time separate them from each other. Like the thin skin that envelops the flesh of an orange. Fasciae are our "actual" skeleton: an elastic network. It is not the rigid components (the bones) that keep the body upright, but the sliding fasciae. Behind tension, pain and poor posture are often stuck fasciae. Simple exercises and stretches activate the fasciae and make them supple again.
Breath: Did you know that we breathe about 25,000 times a day?
Mostly unconsciously. And often burdened. Yet the breath influences our health, feelings, thoughts. We like to separate head work from body work - but our different fields of perception and mental processes are not separate. They overlap into each other. The sight of this takes my breath away. This work requires a long breath. This decision releases my breath.
Here is a small but effective experiment:
Take 3, 4 breaths and you immediately become aware of the presence of your body. This intense aliveness that we are. As you exhale, let all your weight flow through your feet into the floor. You become aware of gravity and the support that the ground beneath you offers you.
Elasticity, free breath and anchoring in gravity: THAT has an immediate impact on your body and charisma.
And that immediately affects your body language.
And it leads to a good posture. That anyone and everyone can learn!
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