Day Three: Core-Distal

READING - Ch. 7


I absolutely adore Core-Distal. At the beginning of this chapter, she says "I have to feel connected within myself and able to claim my own movement sphere (kinesphere) before I feel comfortable moving in the world." It's such a strong truth that it seems everyone is searching for. You always see people striving for the approval of others, and trying to find their place in the world or society. Less often do you see them look within themselves in order to find what their purpose is. In our naive minds, it does seem backwards. I have to go deep within myself in order to go outside of myself? However, it is such a vital step in the process of development. 


Later on in the reading, it mentions how we did start with Breath, and that we continue to move forward from there. While "the Breath pattern supports everything we now do", we're moving forward to find our own center. As she says it, "we begin to establish our own kinesphere and discover its center." For me, this means that I can begin figuring out how to dance in my own body, instead of just copying someone else, and trying to dance in their body. It is so important, both physically and mentally, to be comfortable within my own self. It is the basis for any type of growth.


CLASS


Something Janae said at the beginning of class really stuck out to me. She said "The further you go in, and the deeper you go, the further you can go out." It makes so much sense that you get as much out of something as you put into it. If you're not fully invested in something, you're not going to gain as much satisfaction from it as you could. You can't get something for nothing...growth is not supposed to be easy. It's all about that lively interplay--both in movement and in every day life. 


Core-Distal isn't just about going from in to out. Once we're out, we need to be receptive to what's out there. What information can we bring back into ourselves? What is useful and can help us? What is unnecessary that we need to let go of? This is where that breath support is still so important. If we don't allow that breath to expel what we don't need, we're crammed full of information that's just overloading our system. It's good to be able to retain information, but we only want to keep it if it's going to help us in one way or another.

Day Two: Breath

READING - Ch. 6


The first thing that caught my eye in this reading was an imagery on breath: "Life-giving fluid enters the system, rich in nourishment, swirling, laden with life energy..." I thought it was interesting that she made it sound as if breathing included, not gas, but a liquid. That makes more sense to me, as fluid seems more real and full. It feels more like it passes through the whole body, instead of being contained to only the lungs. I love that breath is such a personal connection. It's almost selfish, one could say, but in such a necessary way. We use breath to "pour out what is not needed, ready to release the waste, to open a space to make room to expand for new food." It's such a stimulating principle.


Every once in a while when someone asks me what classes I'm taking this semester, it will lead to the question: "What is Somatics?" I do my best to explain the complex concepts, and I always mention the 6 Connections. I've had a few people say something along the lines of, "Why would you study breath? That's something you already do automatically." It's at times like these that I think of when in the book it mentions: "We breathe automatically, but breath can be influenced by and is reflective of changes in consciousness, feelings, and thoughts." It's so important to be aware of our breath and how it is affecting us. For me personally, I've been having a really hard time breathing for the past year and a half. I've been in to see doctors about it a number of times, and they still haven't been able to figure it out. After my last appointment, I read this chapter on Breath, and I decided that there may be a chance that it has nothing to do with my physical health, but perhaps my emotional health. Since then, I've been paying more attention to this struggle, and it seems to be more evident during moments of stress or anxiety.

At one point in the reading, it was talking about how you can use breath "When you want to connect and communicate with another person", and she said "The connective power of breath is so strong that even when consciously attended to, the connection feels magical! Its mystery remains." I think that it is so cool that while breath is indeed an automatic function of our body, the connections that we find through breath will remain incredible throughout our entire existence. We may get used to the connections we make, but we will never get over them. There is always something to be discovered through breath.

CLASS


First we did a couple of exercises concerning breath. We laid on our backs, and just noticed our breathing, without changing anything. I noticed that I tend to breath mainly in my chest. Then we sat up and did more breathing, and I felt that I held some tension in my hips...I don't know if that's just because I was sitting with nothing to support my back, or if that's simply a residual place of tension, but it was definitely there.

Something I thought was interesting that we talked about in class is how empathy can be better understood through breath and touch. There is something about that physical human connection that allows us to feel what is happening within another person, and to share those emotions with them. That's why hugging someone can be so comforting.

We also talked about how when a priesthood leader (or leaders) is about to give a blessing by the laying on of hands, they always pause for a moment before beginning. They do this to tune in to the Spirit, which they do by tuning in to their breath. If you pay attention, you can notice that their breathing does change.

Something someone had pointed out from the book was when it said, "It is sufficient to BE, simple and whole, connected within, in unity with the universe." We talked about how it's unnecessary to have to try to fit in to whatever situation you find yourself. It's way more work than it was ever intended to be. If we can just stay attuned to our breath, we will be with ourselves, and we will remain connected with the universe. Breath is just incredible!

Introduction

READING - Ch. 2-5

This was a pretty huge chunk to read in a very short amount of time, but I really loved it! Even though I've read it before, I found many re-discoveries, and even brand new discoveries! I loved in chapter two, how it goes through the cycle of discovery that a baby goes through. It mentioned that when a baby starts crawling, "grabbing interesting things becomes a way of being in the world". It just goes to show, to me, that this world is meant to be interactive. We're not supposed to be so sucked into what has our immediate attention that we miss opportunities for growth outside of ourselves.

Something else that I loved was when she mentions that "Even without our awareness, the Fundamental Patterns of Total Body Connectivity are with us." As we study these patterns, it's really not like we're learning something brand new. Even though it may seem new in our minds, our bodies know these patterns. It's simply bringing it back to their remembrance.

I absolutely loved the steps in the change process that she listed on pages 24-26. They are all so true to how we work as imperfect human beings, and I can see how someone would gain a larger amount of growth by staying true to these steps. The two steps that stuck out to me the most were to: accept what you are doing, and how it serves you; and know that change is a process. I think these are steps that we tend to overlook or ignore. We don't want to accept what we are doing, because we're trying to change. However, there are things that must be acknowledged if you want them to be changed. There also may be some things that we are doing well and right, and we should use them to our advantage, and acknowledge that! It's also super important to remember that change is indeed a process. We're not going to become perfect all at once.

CLASS

We talked about how babies who miss certain steps of their process, like skipping crawling and going straight to walking, may have missed an important developmental process. I just thought that was really interesting....and I'm sure I'll be one of those moms who makes sure my baby does everything in the right order, haha.

We also talked about how change is fundamental. In the book, it says "the process of living is a process of learning to live with change". Because, really...when is there ever a time in our lives when something isn't changing? Learning to live with, and grow from, change is essential.

I really love the questions that we are asked to ask ourselves: what is weak, what is rigid, and what is wanting to change? We talked about how, as we watch ourselves, we must address these questions in a way that contributes to the whole, and not from a judgmental lens. We're not trying to see what is good or bad, but just trying to make sense of the way that we move. From there, we can begin to make changes.

New Semester

It's the start of a new semester....my last one at BYU-Idaho!! And guess what? I'm taking Somatics again! It'll be the third time through for me....that's how much I love it! We're also required to keep a journal again this semester....so I'll be updating this blog once again!

It'll be different this semester...we'll be focusing more on Bartenieff (definition can be found here) for the first half of the semester, and Laban principles (short definition can be found here, more descriptive definition here) for the second half!

I'm super excited....I really love both of these aspects of Somatics, and I'm looking forward to delving deeper!