Our second, and final, taster for ReSource has been
We begin the new term on February 20th.
Here is an opportunity for you to sign up for some deeply nourishing and restorative sessions, serving to welcome you as you are and offer resources to support your life.
Info can be found here
Dates and booking can be found here
As we follow the arc of Imbolc through to the Spring Equinox we explore themes around connecting with our roots, places of initiation and awakening of sensation through the body.
In the world around us, as the roots are reaching down into the earth, seeking the nourishment to support their emergence, our next session will explore what it is to feel rooted through your body from your feet to your pelvis.
In our last taster, I shared a movement exploration which I am calling ’Shared Leadership.’ This exploration is inspired by a practice shared by Miranda Tufnell, called ‘Conversations.’
In this practice, we settled into a deep listening of the body within its environment. We listened through our ears and we opened up to the possibility of listening through the body.
From this, we explored how it is to allow different parts of the body to come to the fore and lead. This breathed opportunity into allowing leadership across the body: through parts that may be used to leading, as well as giving voice to parts that may normally be outside the threshold of everyday awareness.
We explored:
How is it to allow certain parts of the body to lead and the rest of the body to support these parts?
How is it to shift the leadership to different parts?
How is it for the body to share and interchange leadership? To notice the parts that move harmoniously and those that disagree.
Can these dialogues be enjoyed, allowed?
Can they be catalysts of creativity?
How is it to contain harmony and difference within the body as a moving whole?
How is it to become a part within a much larger body, the body of the Earth?
In exploring this through my own practice, I am moved by the leadership that emerges through different parts of my own body and how they interrelate with the whole, each with their own unique voice. I am struck by the nuance and delicacy of the dance of diversity and inclusivity of these myriad parts. As I explore the myriad of complexities within my own lived experience, I reflect upon how true inclusivity needs to be willing and able to embrace complexity, nuance and paradox.
I find parts of myself that lead with seemingly little effort. I find parts that, when invited to lead, don’t know what to do. I hear voices in my body I never knew were there. I receive these parts with great curiosity and interest and am struck by the importance of placing listening at the very centre of this practice.
If I can listen, I can hear the voices of leadership emerging through unexpected parts, finding new pathways of interconnection and allowing other parts to explore their identities through resting, following, supporting and leading.
As I move my body, I find parts that move in harmony with each other and parts that are at odds with each other. I find parts that pull in one direction, alongside parts that pull in the other. I find places of intersection and interconnection. I discover that each of these parts contain something of their own dance, their own voice of leadership, that comes to the fore when given space, and offers a window into my own personal landscape in relationship with the whole.
Alongside this, I discover a dance in the space between these parts. A dance that is evocative of something new and unknown. A creative spark is ignited in these spaces that can lead to greater integration, satisfaction and wholeness, even when these parts “disagree”.
When I widen my scope to include the environment around me, I become a part within a much larger body. I find themes that span personal, collective and transpersonal material. I allow myself to listen, to respond and to discover an authentic response pertaining to each moment. My leadership becomes interchangeable with the wider ecosystem within which I move. I am reminded of the importance of allowing my listening to extend into these other-than-human spheres. My cells buzz and my heart finds resonance as I breathe and move within this reciprocal field.
Through this exploration I arrive at no conclusions and I have no answers. I am moving in conversation with life and I am listening. This inquiry may span my lifetime and beyond. I continue to unravel a thread of how leadership can be fluid and interchanging. I renew a commitment to explore inclusivity through lenses of nuance, complexity and paradox. And this sparks my curiosity to dance and listen deeper to the wider whisperings of all life.
Below is a combined Embodied Rest & Somatic Movement exploration for you to practice in your own time exploring Shared Leadership.
With heart,
Hayley