On the floor, we invite in an image of our structure as one continuous fabric – a mesh of elastic tissue that pulls us together and fields of activity that resist compression and create space.

We explore how changing our internal architecture to increase and decrease the pressure between one region of ourselves and the earth causes changes in our whole pattern of connection with the earth.

We add reaching into the air with the arms and legs, head and tail, to roll from side to side with everything organising around the belly centre as we find our way up through hands and knees to standing.

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place and in this body

Practising reading our walking as a changing of shape of our whole inner volume

00:02:00 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Extending our attention from our belly centres along the line of gravity downward and inwards to the centre of the earth and upwards and outwards to an imaginary star above – creating common ground

Remembering the air around us and how the air pressure gives us a gentle hug from all directions

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Exploring raising one hand/arm at a time, then both – locating our belly centre as the centre of our kinesphere

Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head and fingertips – becoming a human fountain – mediating between heaven and earth

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Recapping turning around our axis, rounding and arching, and side-bending from our feet – combining them to create circles

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In taking our head away from the axis, we stay oriented by attending to the connection of our belly centre to the centre of the earth and the star above

With one foot in front, shifting our belly centre towards one foot then the other through initiating with the soles of our feet

Folding and unfolding so the belly centre rises away from and falls towards the centre of the earth – shapeshifting rather than pushing down to lever parts of ourselves up

Moving the belly centre side to side from our feet – sensing how the relationship of the belly centre to the centre of the earth stays constant creating the illusion that we turn the earth beneath us

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00:25:30 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us

Inviting in an image of our structure as one continuous fabric – a fractal mesh – some regions of which are elastic and pull us together while others are stiffer, resist compression and create space – mesh nested in mesh nested in mesh all the way down to the molecular level – everything connected

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Changing our internal architecture so that pressure increases and decreases behind one shoulder, then the other, then both – sensing how the movement flows through us to effect the pelvis, the heels, the head

Making the shoulders lighter – sensing where the pressure goes as something lifts away from the floor

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Changing the pressure behind the back of our heads – sensing what happens in the chest, the pelvis, the belly centre

Playing with micro movements so small nobody could see them – and also with bigger movements where the head actually lifts

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Changing the pressure behind one heel, then the other, then both – sensing how the movement ripples through us

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Changing the pressure behind one side of the pelvis, then the other, then both – actively involving places that seem to move passively

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Playing with multiple points – combining, for example, the back of the head with one heel, an elbow with the opposite side of the pelvis – channelling our inner worms

Bringing the belly centre a little closer to the earth and a little further away – sensing how this is reflected in changes of pressure – movement – everywhere where we touch the earth

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Arms out to the side – rolling them towards and away from the feet – then stretching the fingertips away from each other and curling them forward into the gesture of an embrace – sensing the support flowing through us and out through the fingertips

Sliding the hands on the floor – above the head, down towards the pelvis – sensing how the functional centre of our hand/arms is our belly centre

Adding the legs – hands and feet stroking the earth – rolling from side to side

Letting the arms and legs float up, reaching out through fingers, toes, heels, head, tail – rolling from side to side and all the way over – everything organising around the belly centre in the pattern of navel radiation

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Finding our way up to sitting without pushing down

On hands and knees – pushing and pulling along the skin of the earth – moving the belly centre in all directions – side-bending from the earth

Shapeshifting our way up to standing – noticing if the movements become lighter the more of ourselves becomes involved

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01:15:00 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity

Letting the hands float up – sensing if something changed in the connection of the hands to the feet and deeper – to the centre of the earth

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Harmonising with the earth and the air – listening into the movement that is there – surfing it

Looking for stillness – in the act of looking, creating movement – putting information out as we receive it

Fifteen minutes of free exploration with music

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Returning to standing and walking – sensing any changes in how we feel present in the place, in our bodies and in the emotional tone of our experience

On the floor, we play with our inner volume through the image of alternately filling our chest and belly with air while lightly holding the breath. This is Feldenkrais what called seesaw breathing. We explore this on our backs, on our bellies, and lying on each side with the head lifted.

Returning to lying on our backs, we stretch the arms into the gesture of an embrace, let the knees drift up, and play with rolling from side to side – everything organising around the belly centre as we come to stand.

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place and in this body

Remembering we are walking on the earth and through the air

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole continuous volume within our skins

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00:04:10 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Finding our belly centres and extending our attention from their centre along the line of gravity connecting the centre of the earth with an imaginary star above

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Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the belly centre, from the feet, from the eyes, then everything together

Remembering that our body is not an object but a nesting of processes

Arms above the head spiralling around the axis – taking this into walking as a double helix

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Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head – becoming a human fountain

Exploring raising one hand/arm at a time, then both together – shaping the flow of support out through the fingertips – sensing the smallest reconfiguration that produces a weight shift under the feet

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Initiating rounding and arching from the feet – pushing backwards along the skin of the earth through the heels to arch, forwards through the toes to round – the belly centre always anchored to the centre of the earth

Initiating side-bending from the feet – circling the belly centre – letting the arms rise to counterbalance as the head moves further from the axis

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Stepping with one foot in front – initiating from the soles of the feet – the belly centre as the centre of our kinesphere

Folding and unfolding to bring the belly centre closer and further from the earth’s surface – not pushing down and levering ourselves up but rather changing the configuration of our entire inner volume – what I call shapeshifting

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00:38:10 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea

Sensing the skin stretching and relaxing with each breath throughout its surface – auxeticity – if one part of this fabric expands, the whole thing expands

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Breathing into a balloon in the chest – expanding forwards and back, sideways, upwards beneath the dome of the shoulder girdle

Breathing into a balloon in the belly – expanding forwards and back, sideways, down into the pelvic floor – taking care to expand both backwards and forwards

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Seesaw breathing on our backs – taking a slightly deeper breath in, holding it lightly, and alternately filling the chest and the belly – one hand on the breastbone, one on the belly – as one rises the other sinks – sensing how our connection with the earth changes as the air moves up and down

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Seesaw breathing on our bellies – sensing how the pattern of pressure changes through the knees, the elbows, the tops of the feet

Playing with the diagonals – the left side of the chest with the right side of the belly, then the other diagonal

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Seesaw breathing on one side – sensing how gravity flows through us differently in this orientation

Making the head lighter on the arm – lifting it a little – sensing which parts of us reach down into the earth for more support

Seesaw breathing with the head lifted

Rolling onto the back to compare the two sides – then repeating on the other side

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Stretching the arms into the gesture of an embrace – sensing the support flowing through us and out through the fingertips

Letting the knees drift above the chest – unfolding the legs towards the sky – sending support out through the knees, the toes, the heels

Letting the head and tail join in reaching skywards – everything organising around the belly centre

Rolling from side to side – initiating from the skyward side or from the interaction with the earth – everything organising around the belly centre as we come to stand.

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01:21:15 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity

Shifting the belly centre from the soles of the feet – circling

Letting the arms float up – sensing how the seesaw breathing may have changed our sense of wholeness

These classes as moments of tuning – tuning into the flow of weight and support – the support coming from the centre of the earth and going up and out like the branches of a tree

In standing, we revisit shifting the belly centre side to side, and forwards and backwards from the feet – side-bending and rounding and arching – combining them to circle the belly centre – and finally adding turning into the mix

On the floor, on hands and knees, we explore moving the belly centre in all directions by gently pushing and pulling on the skin of the earth through the hands and the lower legs.

From here we discover a fish-like undulation led from the top of the head, sending a wave down in the direction of the tail – first horizontally and in vertical – swimming to heaven.

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place and in this body

Remembering we are walking on the earth and through the air

Bringing our attention to our belly centres – sensing their connection to the centre of the earth

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole continuous volume within our skins

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00:04:10 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure – inviting a sense of mystery about what is inside our skins

Extending our attention along the line connecting our belly centres inwards to the centre of the earth and outwards to an imaginary star above

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Shifting the belly centre side to side – initiating from the belly centre, then from the soles of the feet pushing along the skin of the earth, then everything together

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Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the belly centre, from the feet, from the eyes, from everything together – turning the same amount but lighter and lighter – dissolving the body into the space

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Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head – becoming a human fountain

Exploring raising one hand/arm at a time, then both together – shaping the flow of support up though ourselves and out through our fingertips

Reaching both arms above the head and spiralling around our axis – taking this into walking as if we were a double helix

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Initiating rounding and arching from the feet – pushing backwards along the skin of the earth through the heels to arch, and forwards through through the toes to round

Similarly initiating side-bending from the feet, then circling the belly centre – letting the arms rise to counterbalance as the head moves further away from the axis – the belly centre always anchored to the centre of the earth in our attention

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Bringing one foot in front – shifting our belly centres forwards and backwards by initiating from the interaction of the skin of our feet with the skin of the earth – floating over the earth rather than levering ourselves from it

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00:42:00 – Floor work

Lying on our backs – sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave – sensing how the ripples of the breath reach the edges of ourselves – feet and hands, head and tail

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Inviting in a sense of mystery about our structure – the body as one continuous fabric, one mesh that enfolds fields of activity rather than discrete parts

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In kneeling –  rounding, arching and side-bending – initiating from the lower legs interacting with the skin of the earth – then circling the belly centre

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On hands and knees – pushing and pulling along the skin of the earth through the hands and lower legs to move the belly centre in all directions – sensing how we can anchor the belly centre through our attention to the centre of the earth

Sending support out through the top of the head and through the tail – imagining a line that leaves through the top of the head, follows the curve of the earth, and enters through the tail – imagining our belly centres orbiting the earth

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Side-bending on hands and knees – initiated first from the spine and then from the earth

Introducing a fish-like undulation led from the top of the head – sending a wave down in the direction of the tail

Playing with the undulation moving forwards towards the hands, back towards the feet, up to kneeling – shapeshifting our way up and down without pushing into the earth

When coming to back to kneeling it’s like swimming to heaven

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Lying on our backs – little by little bringing our arms to embrace the space in front of ourselves – sensing the support flowing through us and out through the fingertips

Letting the knees come in front of our chest – unfolding the legs towards the sky – sending support out through the knees, the heels, the toes – letting the head and tail join in reaching skywards

Playing with various combinations to roll from side to side – everything organising around the belly centre

Taking 10 minutes to find our way up to standing – trying to avoid pushing down to come up but rather shapeshifting our way up – using the undulation can help

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01:17:00 – Returning to standing and walking

Sensing the internal volume in standing now

Folding and unfolding – noticing the difference between pushing down to come up and simply changing our entire shape

Placing our attention into the earth, into the air, inside our own skin – keeping our attention mobile

In standing, we revisit shifting the belly centre side to side, forwards and back, and turning – each time playing between initiating from the belly centre and initiating from the soles of the feet.

On the floor, we bring these same explorations into new variations of being on hands and kness.

Throughout all of this, the centre of the belly centre stays connected to the centre of the earth – the reference point around which we organise ourselves.

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place and in this body

Remembering we are walking on the earth and through the air

Bringing our attention to our belly centres – sensing their connection to the centre of the earth

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole continuous volume within our skins

00:03:15 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to ourselves standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting our axis from side to side and then zeroing in on the middle

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Shifting the belly centre side to side – initiating from the belly centre, then from the soles of the feet pushing along the skin of the earth, then both together

Extending our attention from the centre of the belly centre along the line connecting the centre of the earth with an imaginary star above

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Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the belly centre, from the feet, from the eyes, from everything together – turning the same amount but lighter and lighter – dissolving the body into the space

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Moving the belly centre forwards and backwards from our feet – reaching through the toes to round, through the heels to arch – sensing the line connecting the belly centre to the centre of the earth remaining constant as we fold and unfold

Allowing the belly centre to float a little closer the earth then coming back up – experiencing this familiar movement as shapeshifting – returning from having our legs bent without pushing down

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Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, gathering in the belly centre, and coming out through the top of the head and fingertips – becoming a human fountain

Exploring floating our hand/arms up in front of us – shaping the flow of support up and out through our fingertips as well as the top of our heads

Sensing the smallest change of configuration of the hand/arm that produces a weight shift under the feet

Experimenting with taking the head away from the axis while the belly centre maintaining its connection to the centre of the earth and the star above – mediating between heaven and earth

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Stepping forward – initiating from the soles of the feet – floating over the earth rather than levering ourselves away it

00:52:00 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave sensing how the ripples reach the edges of ourselves

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Rounding and arching in kneeling – initiating from the lower legs interacting with the skin of the earth

Shifting the belly centre side to side from the lower legs – circling

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Forehead on the floor: moving the belly centre side to side and forwards and back – initiating from the connection of the forearms and forelegs with the earth – first differentiating, working with sequencing, and then integrating so everything going together

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On elbows and knees finding a seesaw movement – pulling through the forearms to come forwards, pushing through the forelegs to come back – two interlocking triangles around the belly centre: the legs connecting to the top of the head, the arms connecting to the tail

Playing side to side and circling on elbows and knees

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On hands and knees, pulling and pushing along the surface of the earth through the hands – rounding and arching with the toes tucking under and unfolding

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Forehead on the floor: exploring the shoulder blades – towards the spine, away, towards the head, towards the pelvis, circling – sensing how this movement of a seemingly small region creates a weight shift throughout our whole volume

Noticing how moving the shoulder blade changes the connection of our forearms, our head, our knees with the earth – inviting more and more of ourselves into the movement

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Sensing how everything we play with changes the relationship of the belly centre with the earth

01:06:30 – Returning to standing and walking

Rising to standing without pushing down – the area of connection getting smaller, the pressure increasing, but shapeshifting rather than levering

Reinhabiting the image of the human fountain – the belly centre, always connected to the centre of the earth below and a star above, becoming the reference point around which all our movement is organised

Directing support out through fingertips, knees, eyes, elbows – playing with where we choose as exit points

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Arriving in relative stillness again – harmonising with the activity inside our skins, beneath our feet, in the air around us – the act of listening is a movement itself

On the floor, we begin on elbows and knees, exploring a seesaw movement – pulling and pushing along the skin of the earth with the forearms and lower legs to tip ourselves forwards and back.

We play with side-bending on elbows and knees, then come up onto hands and knees to explore rounding and arching, tucking the toes under, and moving towards a squat and up to standing.

Through all of this, the belly centre stays connected to the centre of the earth – the line connecting them becoming our anchor as we change orientation.

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how we feel – the emotional tone of being here and how we sense ourselves present here, in this place and in this body

Sensing the air we move through and the support of the earth with every step

Bringing attention to the belly centre – sensing its connection to the centre of the earth

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole volume

00:03:20 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure – inviting a sense of mystery about what is inside our skins

Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head – becoming a human fountain

Extending our attention along the line connecting the centre of the earth to an imaginary star above

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Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting our axis from side to side – arriving at the middle through sensation

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Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the feet, from both together – same amount of turning, same speed, but lighter and lighter – dissolving our body into the space

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Moving the belly centre forwards and back through the interaction of the feet with the skin of the earth – rounding and arching – sensing how the belly centre stays anchored to the centre of the earth

Moving the belly centre side to side from the feet

Circling – channelling support through us and shaping how it exits through the top of the head and the fingertips

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Folding and unfolding without pushing down into the earth – shapeshifting our way up rather than levering ourselves away from the earth

Stepping with one foot in front – shifting the belly centre forwards and back through the soles of the feet – sensing the delicacy of connecting through the skin

00:39:40 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us – allowing our asymmetries to be there

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea – sensing the skin stretching and relaxing throughout its surface

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Kneeling and playing with moving our belly centres from side to side – then initiating by rolling the lower legs on the floor

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On elbows and knee exploring a seesaw movement of the head towards the floor or the pelvis towards the soles of the feet

Pulling through the forearms brings the forehead towards the floor, pushing back through the forearms tips the pelvis down – sensing how the lower legs push and pull in the opposite direction

The belly centre rising and falling with this movement – two interlocking triangles around the belly centre: the feet connecting to the top of the head, the hands connecting to the tail

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On elbows and knees exploring side-bending – one side gets longer, the other gets shorter – generating the movement also from the interaction of our skin with the skin of the earth

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On hands and knees pulling and pushing along the surface of the earth through the hands – rounding and arching with the belly centre

Ttucking the toes under as we round, unfolding them as we arch – then the opposite coordination

Playing with one elbow on the floor, one arm straight – sensing how the rounding and arching moves through us asymmetrically

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Tucking the toes under and walking the hands back towards a squat – shapeshifting our way up to standing without pushing down into the earth

01:12:00 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity – reinhabiting the image of the human fountain

Letting the arms float up – exploring our kinesphere – everywhere around us we can reach from our belly centre with our touch – watching our hands, then bringing our attention out into the room through pointing beyond the kinesphere

Stepping – connecting the soles of the feet to the skin of the earth – the belly centre always anchored to the centre of the earth

In standing, we revisit bending and twisting our whole selves, initiating from the belly centre, from our feet and then our entire inner volume altogether.

On all fours, we explore rounding and arching – sequencing the movement from head to tail and from tail to head. We play with dropping the chest down between the shoulder blades and lifting it away, then combining this with rounding and arching. Crossing one leg behind the other, we explore sitting back into the space between our feet, rounding and arching as we go.

We attend to our belly centre and its connection to the centre of the earth throughout.

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how we feel – the emotional tone and how we sense ourselves to be here – in this place and in this body

Sensing the air we move through and the support of the earth with every step

Bringing our attention to the belly centres – sensing their connection to the centre of the earth – leading with our belly centre through the room rather than with our heads

Practising reading our walking as a changing of shape of our whole inner volume

00:05:25 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure – inviting a sense of mystery about what is inside our skins

Extending our attention along the line connecting the centre of our belly centre to the centre of the earth and to an imaginary star above – creating common ground

…

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting our axis from side to side – arriving at a different middle

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Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the feet, from both together – going the same distance but focusing on the lightness of the movement – “dissolving our body into the space”

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Circling the belly centre – sensing how the pressure circles under the feet – staying small enough that the head can remain on the axis, before going further so the head begins to counterbalance

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Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, gathering in the belly centre like a reservoir, and coming out through the top of the head and fingertips – becoming a human fountain

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Initiating rounding and arching from the feet – pushing along the skin of the earth through the toes to round, pushing through the heels to arch

Initiating side-bending from the feet – pushing sideways along the skin of the earth

Folding and unfolding without pushing down into the earth

Stepping one foot in front – shifting the belly centre forwards and back through the interaction of the feet with the floor – sensing the delicacy of initiating from the skin – and with this delicacy we open to receive the flow of support of the earth

00:37:15 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us even if we can’t fall over – allowing our asymmetries to be there

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea

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On all fours: rounding and arching – sensing how integrated the movement is – looking for a sense of one volume shapeshifting

Sequencing the rounding and arching from head to tail – sensing where the movement passes through softly and where it seems to move more in chunks

Sequencing from tail to head – combining the two directions

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Dropping the chest down between the shoulder blades – sensing how the shoulder blades slide together and apart – without rounding and arching

Trying one shoulder at a time – sensing how the chest turns a little

Combining chest dropping with rounding and arching – exploring different coordinations

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Crossing one leg behind the other – sitting back towards the space between the feet – exploring both rounding and arching as we go

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Returning to simple rounding and arching – organising around the belly centre and its connection to the centre of the earth

Moving the belly centre left and right, then forwards and back, through the interaction of the skin of our hands, knees and feet with the skin of the earth

Circling – sensing the support flowing up through our connection with the earth, gathering in the belly centre, and passing out through the top of the head and the tail

01:12:06 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity

Initiating rounding, arching and side-bending from the feet – circling – the belly centre as a reservoir where support gathers and from which it can flow in any direction

Sensing the delicacy of connecting with the earth through the skin of our feet – mediating between heaven and earth – treading lightly on the earth

On the floor, lying on our side, we explore rounding the spine by choosing different vertebrae and moving them away from the arm that stands in front of us, then discover how the same rounding can be created from the interaction of our skin with the skin of the earth.

Returning to standing, we play with folding and unfolding without pushing down into the earth, and with stepping from the belly centre – taking this flow of support with us as we walk – treading lightly on the earth

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Sensing the air we move through and the support of the earth with every step

Bringing our attention to the belly centre – building our ability to recognise its constant connection to the centre of the earth

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole volume

Noticing how we feel – both the emotional tone of being here and what we sense of where we are – in this studio and in this body

00:04:45 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure – inviting a sense of mystery about what is inside our skins

Extending our attention along the line connecting the centre of our belly centre to the centre of the earth and to an imaginary star above – creating common ground together

…

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting our axis from side to side – arriving at a different middle maybe?

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Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the foot we turn away from, from the foot we turn towards, from everything together – same distance, lighter and lighter

Rotating the arms around themselves to initiate the turning – walking as a double helix, contralateral rather than homolateral

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Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head – becoming a human fountain

Exploring how we can float up one hand/arm at a time, then both together – shaping the flow of support out through the fingertips

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Moving the belly centre forwards and back through our interaction with the feet – pushing back through the heels to extend us forwards into a gentle arch, pushing through the toes to round us back

Moving the belly centre side to side from the feet – as if rolling a great granite ball beneath us

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Folding and unfolding – discovering how to unfold without pushing down into the earth – reshaping the upward flow of support rather than levering ourselves up from it

Stepping with the belly centre – the feet interacting with the floor to create the impulse for the whole of ourselves to shift – travelling across the earth without bruising it

00:51:45 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us – allowing our asymmetries to be there

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Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea – sensing how the ripples reach all the way to the edges of ourselves

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Lying on our side: the skyward arm standing in front of the chest – choosing a vertebra and moving it away from the standing arm – sensing how this starts to round us

Trying different vertebrae – each initiation point creating a different quality of rounding

Playing with the opposite – moving the spine a little towards the standing arm – the beginning of arching

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Discovering how the same rounding can be created not from the relationship of arm to vertebra, but from the interaction of our skin with the skin of the earth – the arm on the floor, the side of the shoulder, the side of the pelvis, the outside of the thigh

Sensing the support flowing up from the earth and passing out through the skyward side of us

01:12:35 – Returning to standing and walking

Sensing the connection of our belly centre to the centre of the earth – rolling a little from side to side then rising up from the floor without pushing down – experiencing this as a shapeshifting of our entire inner volume – the pressure on the floor moves and changes but without levering ourselves up

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity – reinhabiting the image of the human fountain

Shifting the belly centre through the soles of the feet – sensing the friction between the skin of the foot and the skin of the earth

Folding and unfolding without pushing down to unfold up

Stepping forward with one foot, then the other – moving the belly centre, taking the flow of support with us – going with the earth rather than apart from it

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Playing with the shape of our attentional fields – from inside the skin, into the earth, into the air, and back

On the floor, we explore rolling the head, the heels, the pelvis, the chest – initiating from each in turn, then sharing the work out between them so that we have the feeling that nothing leads.

We add tiny circles – with the tip of the nose, with the front of the pubic bone, with the heels – noticing how each circling movement ripples throughout the whole of volume.

Returning to standing, we listen into the earth beneath us and into the air around us, and play with harmonising with what we sense there – the body as a continually changing process rather than an object – feelers and antennae rather than parts.

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00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how it feels to be here – both the emotional tone and the sensory experience of being here – in this place and in this body

Sensing the air we move through and the support of the earth

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of our internal volume

00:03:30 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to ourselves as we stand – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Inviting in a sense of mystery about how we might be structured inside our skins

Extending our attention from our centre axis along the line of gravity to the centre of the earth and to an imaginary star above

…

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting the axis from side to side – zeroing in on the middle

…

Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the foot we turn away from, from the foot we turn towards, from everything together – turning to same distance, but lighter and lighter – dissolving the body into the space

Swinging our arms – eyes and head ahead – and walking on the spot – taking a few steps with this funny walk – then transitioning into normal walking

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Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head – becoming a human fountain

Exploring floating up one hand/arm at a time, then both together – shaping the flow of support out through the fingertips too

…

Moving the belly centre side to side and forwards and back, initiated from the interaction of the feet with the floor – as if turning a great granite ball beneath us – the belly centre always maintaining its connection to the centre of the earth

Taking the head away from the axis – arms reaching out to balance us – playing with where we initiate from: feet, hands, head, belly centre, chest

What would it be like if there was no leader in the body? If everything went together? Shapeshifting!

00:40:25 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we are balancing on the earth behind us – even if we can’t fall over

…

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea

…

Rolling the head – sensing how far through ourselves the movement reaches

Rolling one heel towards and away from our heads, then the other, then both together – sensing the push and pull through the legs and how it changes our shape and how we balance on the earth behind us

Combining feet and head – sharing the work out through ourselves so that nothing seems to be leading

…

Rolling the pelvis towards the head and feet, then a little side to side – sensing how the head responds

Rolling the chest – sensing what happens behind the head, the pelvis, the elbows

…

Circling the tip of the nose – then transferring the initiation to the back of the head resting on the floor – sensing how the circle ripples through the whole of ourselves

Circling the front of the pubic bone – sensing how the back of the pelvis circles

Circling one heel, then the other, then both – noticing our preferences and experimenting with alternative changes in inner volume

Bringing more and more of ourselves into the movement – distributing the work so that no one place is leading

01:01:20 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity

Sensing if there is a weight shift under the feet that goes with the breath – beneath the balancing activity

Initiating movement from the soles of the feet – taking the head away from the axis – the belly centre as the anchor that stays connected to the centre of the earth

…

Listening into the earth beneath us – the spinning, the churning magma, the magnetic fields – harmonising with what we sense

Listening into the air around us – full of dust, microbes, sound, light – letting the arms rise to feel the air

Imagining feelers and antennae through the fingertips and the top of the head – broadcasting and receiving – moving in order to listen, listening in order to move

…

Letting the eyes open if they are closed – seeing how much of the experience can stay as the vision comes back in

On the floor, we play with changing our internal architecture so that pressure increases and decreases between different regions of ourselves and the earth – sensing how every change of tone is a shapeshifting of all of ourselves

Returning to standing, we listen into the earth beneath us and into the air around us, and letting ourselves move to harmonise with what we sense there.

…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing how it feels to be here – both the emotional tone and the sensory experience of being here – in this place and in this body

Sensing the air we move through and the support of the earth

Noticing how it feels to bring ourselves over the leg which swings ahead of us – do you fall onto it, does it push you away from the earth or do you float over it?

00:03:22 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to ourselves as we stand – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Considering our bodies not as objects but as fields of activity

Extending our attention from our centre axis along the line of gravity to the centre of the earth and to an imaginary star above

…

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting the axis from side to side – zeroing in on the middle

Turning around our centre axis – transitioning into normal walking

…

Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head – becoming a human fountain

Bringing attention to the belly centre – sensing how it stays connected to the centre of the earth as we take our head away from the axis

Exploring one hand/arm at a time, then both – shaping the flow of support out through the fingertips – sensing the smallest reconfiguration that produces a weight shift under the feet

…

Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the feet gripping the skin of the earth, from both together

Initiating rounding and arching from the feet – pushing back through both heels brings us forwards and into arching – pushing through our toes takes us backwards into rounding – sensing how the belly centre stays connected to the centre of the earth as we round and arch

Initiating side-bending from the feet – pushing sideways along the skin of the earth

Tipping the head off the axis until a step arrives

00:39:00 – Floor work

Sensing how we balance on the earth behind us as we lie down – sensing our inner volume – allowing our asymmetries to be there

Rolling our heads – sensing how far through ourselves this movement reaches

…

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea – sensing the skin stretching and relaxing throughout its surface with our breath

…

Pressing and lightening regions of ourselves – changing our internal architecture so that pressure increases and decreases – behind the head, the heels, the pelvis, the chest, the elbows, the shoulder blades – sensing how we shapeshift to do this

Imagining ourselves lying on a glass table and watching from below how the pattern of connection shifts as we play with the tone throughout the whole of ourselves

01:01:30 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity – reinhabiting the image of the human fountain

Sensing if there is a weight shift under the feet that goes with the breath – a wieght shift underneath the balancing activity

…

Listening into the earth beneath us – all that churning magma – sensing what of this movement passes through us

Listening into the air around us – full of dust, microbes, sound, light, chemical information – sensing what of this movement passes through us

Harmonising with what we sense – not fighting, not going against – but allowing the movement passing through us to inform how we shape ourselves

…

Imagining antennae emerging through the top of the head and through the hands, and roots emerging from the feet into the earth – feeling for information in the world around us also creates information there – broadcasting and receiving

On the floor, we revisit rolling the balls of our head, chest and pelvis with the support of the whole of ourselves, but now adding the region of our belly centre as a ball from which we can initiate and integrate.

Bringing our arms into the gesture of an embrace, we channel support from the earth out through the fingertips, knees and toes, rolling from side to side and up to standing.

…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of our whole volume

Noticing what it feels like as we travel over the leg that swings in front – falling, floating, or being pushed away?

Noticing how it feels to be here – the emotional tone of our experience and how we sense ourselves present here, in this place and in this physical body

00:00:50 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, entering us where there’s pressure under our feet, and coming out through the top of the head like a human fountain

…

Extending our attention along a line connecting the centre of the earth and to an imaginary star above and passing through our centre axis

Exploring the asymmetry in preparing to take a step – noticing the accompanying weight shift – and using it to fine tune our resting in neutral

…

Turning around our centre axis – initiating from our eyes, our feet, and from both together

Bringing attention to our belly centre – sensing how it turns as we spiral around the axis

Exploring engaging our hand/arms – shaping the flow of support out through the fingertips

Taking our head away from the axis with our belly centre’s connection to heaven above and earth below becoming our anchor as the rest of us moves around it

…

Initiating rounding and arching from the interaction of the soles of our feet with the skin of the earth – bringing our attention to the connection of our belly centre to the centre of the earth as we round and arch

Initiating side-bending from the feet though pushing sideways along the skin of the earth

Then adding rotation so the three planes of movement all sourced from the interaction of the feet with the floor and combined

00:32:30 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us – allowing our asymmetries to be there

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea – sensing the skin stretching and relaxing throughout its surface

…

Rolling the balls of the head, chest and pelvis together involving more and more of ourselves until the movement becomes lighter and lighter

Rolling the hands – fingers curled around the thumb, arms out at would be shoulder height if we were standing – sensing how the rolling spreads through the arms and creates movement in a the places where we balance on the floor

Rolling the hands in the same direction as the head, chest and pelvis – then in the opposite direction – sensing changes in our volume – shapeshifting – and our relationship to the earth

…

The belly centre floating forwards towards the sky and sinking backwards towards the floor – with our breath and independently of it

Organising the rolling of the hands around the belly centre – as the belly centre sinks back and rises forwards, the arms roll and the front of the pelvis and front of the chest move together and apart in a minimal rounding and arching

..

Stretching the arms minimally away from each other, curling the fingers forward to initiate a gesture of embrace – sensing how the support from the earth flows through us and out through the fingertips

Bringing knees above the chest – rotating the arms and legs around their axis – rolling from side to side

Playing with the image of everything organising around our belly centre

01:06:45 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity – reinhabiting the image of the human fountain

Taking the head away from our axis – initiating rounding, arching and side-bending from the feet – the belly centre always maintaining its connection to the centre of the earth

A few minutes of free exploration with music – playing with the sense of moving with the planet, shaping support and weight as they flow through us

Lying on our sides, we play with letting the skyward head, leg and arm float outwards away from the earth, using the image of support flowing up from the centre of the earth, entering our system through wherever there’s pressure against the skin of the earth, and directing it out through the tops of our heads, through our heels, our knees knee, our fingertips or wherever we choose.

…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Sensing the air we move through and the support of the earth with every step

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole volume

Noticing how we feel – the emotional tone of being here – how we sense being in this place with ourselves

00:02:45 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

…

Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, filling our volume, coming out through the top of the head like a fountain

Shifting the weight from side to side – sensing how the pathways of support reshape themselves as we change shape

Lining our centre axis up with the line of gravity – shifting from side to side to arrive at a different middle

…

Extending our attention to the centre of the earth and to an imaginary star above

Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the feet gripping the skin of the earth, and from both together – taking our axis towards the leg we turn towards,, then to the foot we turn away from, and then leaving it in the middle

Swinging and stepping on the spot – taking a few steps like this – then transitioning into normal walking

…

Playing with the hand/arms – shaping the flow of support out through the fingertips – sensing the smallest reconfiguration that produces a weight shift under the feet

…

00:27:30 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us – allowing our asymmetries to be there

…

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea – the waves washing up on our toenails – sensing the skin stretching and relaxing throughout its surface

…

Lying on our side: making the head lighter on the support – then rolling the pelvis towards the head – combining these and sensing how the pattern of pressure changes throughout our whole volume

…

Playing with the image of support entering through wherever there’s pressure and directing it out through the top of the head as we lift it

…

Engaging the foot – lifting the heel towards the sky while the toes stay in contact – directing support out through the heel

Lifting the knee towards the sky – directing support out through the knee

Alternating heel and knee – then holding the leg in the air, touching the knees together, touching the heels together

…

Pushing and pulling the earthward arm along the skin of the earth – sensing how it rolls us – finding a middle place

Pushing and pulling the earthward leg along the surface – initiating the rolling of the pelvis from our connection with the earth

…

The skyward arm out to the side – moving it forwards and back – turning the head to follow –sensing these movements echo throughout our whole volume

Initiating from the earthward arm while the skyward arm stays pointed towards the sky – turning the chest inside the shoulder girdle

…

Combining head lifted, legs twisting, arms reaching and rolling from side to side

Shape-shifting – channelling support out through our limbs

01:11:45 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity

Reinhabiting the image of the human fountain

Engaging the hand/arms – sensing how our physical body becomes a channel for support flowing from the earth out into the air

Playing in standing with the sense of shaping ourselves in a field of gravity

In standing, we initiate turning through spiralling from our eyes, from our feet and from both together. We also play with rotating the arms around their axis as a way to initiate turning

We explore half-steps – swinging one leg forward and back while the other stays grounded – noticing how the foot on the ground interacts with the surface of the earth.

On the floor, lying on our side, we explore initiating simple rolling movements from the skyward side and from the earthward side of ourselves.

We then return to standing to experience what changed in ourselves.

…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Sensing the air we move through and the dependable support of the earth beneath us with every step

Noticing our feeling for being here – the emotional tone of our experience and what we sense of where we are – both our inner space and the space around us

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of one whole volume

00:03:30 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Extending our attention along the line connecting the centre of the earth with an imaginary star above

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting the axis from side to side with a tiny side-bend – arriving at a different middle

…

Turning around our centre axis – initiating from the eyes, from the feet, from both together

Ss the movement becomes more comfortable, more powerful, rather than going further or faster we move the same distance and speed with a focus on lightness and ease – “dissolving our bodies into the space”

…

Playing with the image of support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through us and out through the top of the head and fingertips – becoming a human fountain

Rotating the arms around their axis – initiating the spiral from the hands and walking like a double helix, organising around the belly centre

Half-steps – swinging one leg forward and back – sensing how the standing foot pushes and pulls along the skin of the earth

00:34:20 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us – allowing our asymmetries to be there

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea – sensing the skin stretching and relaxing throughout its surface

…

Lying on our side: changing our internal tone to make the head lighter on the support, rolling the pelvis towards the head, combining them – sensing how our connection with the earth changes as we shapeshift

…

Sliding the skyward arm forward and back – sensing how the movement spreads through us – playing with different coordinations of the head

Sliding the skyward leg forward and back – sensing the rolling of the pelvis on the earth and how the movement spreads through us

Combining arm and leg together, first the same direction – homolateral – then into a walking pattern with the arm and leg moving opposite to each other – contralateral

Discovering how to initiate the same movements from the earthward side – the outside of the arm, the side of the head, the outside of the leg – as if wanting to slide the skin of the earth away and pull it back towards us

Combining skyward and earthward initiation together for more comfort and power

01:08:20 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity – shifting from side to side to find a different middle

Re-inhabiting the image of the human fountain – engaging the hands – playing with the spiral from the arms, from the feet, from both together

Half-steps and swinging – reading everything that happens as a movement of the whole self

Sensing how the centre axis can be experienced like home

On the floor, we work with the legs crossed and the knees sinking to one side, exploring how to use the back surface to bring ourselves home rather than thinking of the knees. We combine this with a triangle of the arms tipping to the opposite side, building towards a fuller twist through the whole of ourselves. Seesaw breathing in the twist to deepen the connection with the earth behind us.

Returning to standing, we play with rotating the arms around their axis as a way of initiating a spiral around our centre axis – walking like a double helix with everything organising around the belly centre.

…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Noticing the emotional tone of being here and how we sense where we are – how does it feels to be here

Reading our walking as a changing of shape of our whole volume – beginning with the feet and gradually including the whole of ourselves

00:04:07 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing and remembering that our bodies are not objects but fields of activity bounded by our skin

Sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Reading our shape as we are balancing on our feet – and transitioning into walking

…

Lining our centre axis up with the line of gravity and extending our attention along this line that connects through us the centre of the earth with an imaginary star above

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – shifting the axis from side to side with a tiny side-bend – then zeroing in on the middle place

…

Turning around the centre axis – sensing how we spiral through the balls of the head, chest, pelvis, all the way to the feet

…

Initiating the turn from the eyes, from the feet and then from both together

…

Playing with the image of the human fountain with support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, out through the top of the head and fingertips as both arms reach upwards

Rotating both arms around their axes above the head as a way of initiating the spiral around the centre axis and taking this into walking like a double helix

00:35:55 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us – mapping out our asymmetries

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea

With the right leg crossed over the left, sinking the knees to the right – listening to the changing connection of the back to the floor – using the back surface to bring ourselves back rather than thinking of returning the knees

With the arms in a triangle tipping to the left – exploring different coordinations of the head – initiating from the back, from the feet, from wherever we touch the floor

Sinking the knees to the left again and noticing differences

Seesaw breathing while in the twist – taking a slightly deeper breath than normal and playing with the image of shifting the air between betwen a balloon in the chest and a balloon in the belly – sensing how shifting the air changes our connection with the earth behind us

Repeating on the other side

Sensing how involving more of ourselves makes the movement lighter

01:08:15 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity – reinhabiting the image of the human fountain

Playing with rotating the arms – initiating the spiral from above, from below, from both together

Walking like a double helix – sensing how the arms participate in the twisting of walking

Reading the walking as a changing of shape – is this a little easier now?

In the opening standing section we tune our centre axis to the line of gravity, play with the image of support flowing up and out through us like water so we become human fountains. We listen for how movements of the regions of our hands through the air around us echo in the changing relationship of our feet to the earth.

On the floor, we return to the fundamental movement of rolling the balls of the head, chest and pelvis together towards our feet and away from our feet; discovering how to involve more and more of ourselves until the movement becomes a movement of the whole us.

…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Our situation is that we are walking through the air and over the earth

Reading ourselves as one organic whole volume changing shape rather than an assemblage of parts

Noticing our feeling for being here – meaning both the emotional tone of our experience and how we sense being in this place with this body

00:05:25 – Standing Explorations

Simply standing – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure while we are engaged in the activity of balancing on our feet

…

Extending our attention along a line connecting the centre of the earth with an imaginary star above which – lining our centre axis up with this line of gravity

Exploring our tonal preparation to take a single step – noticing how our structural and functional asymmetry sets us up to prefer to step with one leg rather than the other

Shifting our axis from side to side – then zeroing in to the middle – a different middle?

…

Becoming a human fountain – imaging support like water flowing up from the centre of the earth, through our structure, and out through the top of the head and fingertips

Reading every movement as a shape-shifting of the whole self – sensing the smallest adjustment in a hand that produces a weight shift under our feet

00:31:00 – Floor work

Sensing our inner volume and how we balance on the earth behind us

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave through an internal sea

Sensing the skin stretching and relaxing with the flow of breath throughout its surface

Experimenting with foot placement – listening to how small changes in the feet reorganise us throughout our whole selves

Rolling the ball of the pelvis towards and away from the feet – initiating from the feet, then from the belly centre

Rolling the ball of the head – sensing any corresponding weight shifts of the pelvis and lower back on the earth

Rolling head, chest and pelvis together – initiating from the feet, from the arms, from the chest itself

Noticing how the movement feels lighter when everything goes together

WItht he arms out to the sides, stretching the arms away from each other and curling the fingers forward into the gesture of an embrace – sensing the support flowing in from the earth behind us and out through the fingertips as we do this

Shapeshifting with arms, legs and head – surfing gravity – every movement a change of shape of the whole

01:08:35 – Returning to standing and walking

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity – reinbahiting the image of the human fountain – noticing any changes in our expereince

Playing with the hand/arms like antennae – reaching out to give receiving and giving information into the air around us

Playing with the shape of our attentional fields – from inside the skin, out beyond the kinesphere, pointing into the room and beyond

As the hands and head reach out into the air, we maintain in our attention a connection of our belly centres to the earth’s centre through the line of gravity.

On the floor, we play with subtle changes in tone throughout ourselves, adjusting our internal architecture to change our shape, and sensing the corresponding pressure changes behind us as we exchange support and weight with the earth.…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

Walking on the earth through the air

Reading ourselves as a changing of shape of our inner volume

Notcing sensations inside this shapeshifting volume

00:05:16 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Listening to our standing – noticing sensations inside our skins – sensing weight and support flowing through our structure

Extending our attention along a line passing through us connecting the centre of the earth with an imaginary star above

…

Exploring the asymmetry of preparing to take a step – find a balanced centre through sensation in the present moment rather than a habitual centre

Remembering we are not objects but processes nested inside processes nested in larger processes - we’re continually growing out of the earth

…

Floating our arms skywards while sensing the response throughout our inner volume and in the connection of our feet to the earth

Playing with the image that as we change our shape to raise the region of our arm/hands, we re-shape the flow of support flowing up through us from the centre of the earth and out through the top of our heads and our fingers

Taking the head out of the gravity line it can direct the support outwards around us – attending to the ball of the belly centre through which maintain the connection to the line of gravity – the earth below and the star above

00:32:44 – Floor work

Balancing on the earth behind us – sensing the movements of breathing throughout ourselves like a wave passing through an internal sea

Playing with tone – changing our internal architecture so that pressure increases and decreases behind different regions: right shoulder, left shoulder, both shoulders, back of the head, each side of the pelvis

Noticing that as pressure increases somewhere it must decrease somewhere else – if something gets heavier, something gets lighter

Combining shoulders, head and pelvis – discovering diagonal patterns – the beginnings of bigger movements explored at the smallest scale

…

Stretching the arms away from each other and curling the fingers forward into the gesture of an embrace – sensing how the support from the earth flows through us and out through the fingertips

Bringing knees above the chest – playing with how lifting changes our exchange of weight and support with the earth

Shape-shifting to roll a little – organising around the belly centre

01:11:09 – Rolling up to standing and walking

Rising through sitting and crawling without levering ourselves away from the earth – rolling the ball of the belly centre up into standing

Re-tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity– sensing the fountain-like support flowing up and out through us – noticing changes in the inner volume

In sitting, on hands and knees, and in standing, we explore what it feels like to organise our movement around our belly centres.

While centering our movement around our belly centre, we play with the image of the belly centre maintaining a connection to the centre of the earth and the sky above, our limbs organising around our belly centre.

…

00:00:00 – Arriving in walking

00:06:50 – Standing Explorations and Walking

Extending our attention beyond our skin, from our centre axis along the line of gravity that passes through us connecting heaven and earth – then tuning ourselves to the line

Floating our arms skywards while sensing the response throughout our inner volume and in the connection of our feet to the earth

Playing with the image that as we change our shape to raise the region of our arm/hands, we re-shape the flow of support flowing up through us from the centre of the earth and out through the top of our heads and our fingers

Taking the head out of the gravity line it can direct the support outwards around us – attending to the ball of the belly centre through which maintain the connection to the line of gravity – the earth below and the star above

00:29:15 – Floor work

Experiencing points where we exchange weight and support with the earth behind us as balance points

Playing with the image of the breath like a wave passing through our internal sea

Breathing into different dimensions of the belly centre

01:06:10 – On hands and knees, standing and walking

Noticing any changes in standing

Beginning to move around our belly centres

On hands and knees, maintaining the line of connection between heaven and earth through the belly centre. Initiating from the head and torso in the air and initiating from the connection with the earth.

Playing with the image that the earth moves beneath us with our relationship belly centre to earth centre remains constant.

Noticing any changes in walking

Reminding ourselves that:

* we are processes – always growing

* we have one whole body so every movement is a shapeshifting of our volume

* we are always mediating between heaven and earth

…

00:00:00 – Arriving with ourselves through walking

Our situation : on earth – our physical body – in air

Bringing our attention back to our physical bodies though attending to the changing shape of the entire volume inside our skins and what we sense within

As we move across the earth and through the air by stepping, do we sink? or experience a push away from the ground? or float weightlessly

00:02:43 – Three standing explorations each followed by resting in walking

Observing the flow of weight and support flowing through the structure within the volume contained by our skin

Extending our attention beyond our skin, from our centre axis along the line of gravity that passes through us connecting heaven and earth – then tuning ourselves to the line

Floating our arms skywards while sensing the response thoughout our inner volume in the connection of our feet to the earth

Playing with the image that as we change our shape to raise the region of our arm/hands, we re-shape the flow of support flowing up through us from the centre of the earth and out through the top of our heads and our fingers

00:27:13 – Floor work

Activating all of ourselves so that the balls of the pelvis, chest and head roll towards and away from our feet together

Raising both arms forward towards the sky in the gesture of an embrace. Maintaining this hoop-like of the arms, moving the hoop while listening to our changing connection with the earth behind us

Combining the movements of the arms with the movements of the head and torso to differentiate

Imagining how we shape the support of the earth flowing into our structure from behind through our arms and out through our fingers

01:03:45 – Returning to standing and walking

Tuning to the line of gravity

Floating the arms – giving and receiving, from the earth through us into the air

Moving in connection with the earth and air

Noticing what changed in your feeling for being here – playing the shape of our attentional fields

We play with reaching our arm/hand away from the opposite hip and leg, creating a diagonal that crosses through our belly centre.

Reaching on one diagonal and then the other, and comparing the sensations accompanying each, to reveal something of our asymmetries.

The questions we explore are:

* how can we organise ourselves so that the movement of reaching on a diagonal begins everywhere in ourselves, all at once?

* can we sense the differences that show up throughout ourselves when we reach with the right and left arms?

* how simply noticing differences can reorganise us towards experiencing ourselves as more balanced?

…

00:00:00 – Arriving with ourselves through walking

00:08:10 – Three standing explorations each followed by resting in walking

Sensing the flow of weight and support through our structure

Centering our vertical axis through paying attention to sensation in the present moment as we explore variations

Floating our arms skywards while sensing the response in the connection of our feet to the earth

00:29:54 – Floor work

Rolling our pelvis diagonally and exploring how every region of ourselves can participate in the movement

Bringing our arm above ourselves on the floor as an extension of the diagonal and adding reaching with the arm

Rolling and sliding our head to see the hand of the reaching arm

01:11:08 – Returning to standing and walking

Noticing what changed paying particular attention to any changes in how we perceive our asymmetries.

This is a region is often where we humans get a bit stuck – in many languages there are expressions like “carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders”.

The questions we explore are:

* can we create a sensation of more space in the area?

* do we experience a clearer connection between movements of our hand/arm and our feet?

* does that in turn support us to experience ourselves as more as a whole system and less a collection of parts?

…

00:00:00 – Arriving with ourselves through walking

00:09:12 – Three standing explorations each followed by resting in walking

Discovering how our structural and functional asymmetry shows up in our standing

Centering our vertical axis through paying attention to sensation in the present moment as we explore variations

Floating our arms skywards while sensing the response in the connection of our feet to the earth

00:38:04 – Floor work

Rolling our pelvis diagonally and exploring how every region of ourselves can participate in the movement

Sliding a hand/arm into the space created behind our lower back as we roll our pelvis diagonally

Leaving a hand/arm behind our backs as we roll the pelvis in either diagonal

01:14:18 – Returning to standing and walking

Noticing what changed paying particular attention to any changes in the volume of our shoulders and chest

Arriving in Walking

* Walking to arrive, noticing how we feel – “Feeling” meaning our emotional tone and our ability to sense where we are

* Bringing attention to our feet as we walk – experiencing them as three-dimensional volumes that change shape as we go

* Adding the volumes of our ankles, lower leg, upper legs, knees, pelvis

* Noticing also the sensations we are aware of inside these volumes

* Reminding ourselves there are no such things as feet and legs – the invitation here is to experience our bodies as whole

* Adding the volumes of our belly, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, head

* Reading our walking as a shape-shifting of our volume

* Noticing how not only do we move as we walk but the world moves around us, with us – when we walk we put the whole world in motion

Standing: Weight, Support, and centre Axis

* Standing with eyes closed, placing our attention inside our skin

* Standing is balancing – noticing the micro movements of balance and breath

* Weight is streaming down while support is streaming up through our structure

* If weight equals support with no excess tension we could maybe experience standing as floating

* Noticing the distance inside ourselves from the top of head to inside soles of feet

* Imagining our centre line – embryologically a centre line appears very early – while the structures change this relationship to a centre line persists

* Lining up our centre axis with the line of gravity

* Noticing how our centre axis meets the floor closer to one foot than the other

* Imagining taking step – noticing which foot we choose to step with

* Typically we stand prepared to step with one leg with the other leg supporting

* Sliding the centre axis towards the other leg – noticing how it feels different

* Shifting our axis side to side, less organised side organises just through attention

* Finding middle by making the shifts smaller and smaller – noticing the difference between this new middle negotiated in present moment vs our habitual middle

* Tracking the line down through earth’s layers to its centre – all our lines meet at earth’s centre – establishing common ground, literally

* Tracking the line back up through earth’s layers, through us, and out top of our head through the sky towards an imaginary star above

* Remembering how small we are relative to those distances

* Did placing our attention beyond ourselves change our experience of our inner volume?

Exploring Turning and Walking

* Looking to the horizon, turning around vertical axis

* More comfortable one direction than the other?

* Making the turning movement smaller, listening deeper

* Keeping head and eyes forward, swinging around axis with our arms, lifting opposite knee to meet opposite hand, marching on the spot

* Transitioning to normal walking, noticing our axis as we walk

Lying Down: Breath and circles with pelvis, head and chest

* Noticing where we are supported by the earth as we lie down

* Inviting in the image of lying down as balancing, but over many more points

* Following the wave of our breath through our internal volume

* Bending legs and standing our feet

* Rolling our pelvis headwards and footwards – noticing and bringing in the movement of the rolling of our head – adding the feet and legs

* Bringing in the rolling of the chest headwards and footwards – becoming a whole body movement – everything moving headwards and footwards

* Rolling our pelvis left and right – exploring variations – adding the head

* Making circles with the head and pelvis – variations to combine them

* Making fixed triangle with the hands and shoulders – moving so hands come more in front of the face and more in front of the belly

* Tipping the triangle left and right – then circles with the hands – noticing the response of the chest

* Integrating the movement of the pelvis, head and chest the exploring variations of combining circles – all whole body movements – shapeshifting

* Playing with initiating from the front of the body – the bit that moves through the air – and from the back which interfaces with the earth

Lying Down: Reaching Arms and Legs Skyward

* Making the triangle with arms as before but sensing the support from earth flowing through up through us and out through our fingertips

* Rolling head, chest, pelvis, making circles – sensing the changing support behind and imagining the support like water flowing up to us and through us

* Does thinking of becoming a “human fountain” make difference?

* Staying with this image, moving the hands apart and playing freely with our arms

* Support from the earth entering our our system through the balance points behind, shaping as it moves through us and outwards to the sky

* Floating a knee above our chest, then the other, then both – again with a sense of support flowing through us – letting the feet rise and reach skywards

* Not so much “I move myself” but more “I shape myself for forces to flow through me”

* Head can also float up to join – becoming a "human fountain”

* Not “I move against gravity” but “I move in field of gravity on earth of which I’m part and whose support flows up and outwards through me”

Returning to Standing and Closing

* Floating our way up to standing – can we get up without pushing down?

* Shape-shifting our way up, surfing the fountain of support

* Always moving in relationship to earth – never collapsing onto earth, never levering up, always shape-shifting

* Neutral standing, plugging into star above, earth’s centre below

* Sensing support coming up through us – how is it now?

* Arms rising – how light or heavy?

* Noticing where axis goes, which leg do we choose to imagine stepping with now?

* Shifting weight to arrive in our centre

* Listening, smelling into space

* Opening eyes, staying as much as possible with our inner sensation

* How do we feel now?

* What is our relationship to the possibility of floating over the earth?

* How do we experience moving over the leg the steps in front – sinking down, being pushed up, or floating?

* Touching earth more lightly as we walk?

Arriving in Walking

* Walking as way to arrive and check in with how we feel – our emotional tone and our sensation of being in this room, this place

* Bringing our attention to the touch of our feet to floor

* Bringing our attention to our volume – how much space we perceive inside our skin?

* Noticing how skin changes shape, everything inside changing shape as we walk

* Inviting in the concept that we’re just one body, one volume, not a collection of parts

* Noticing the moment we step forward – do we experience the sensation of weight falling or support rising up

* Is our head being carried by our feet? It’s a linguistic trap. Head and feet don’t exist, there’s just one body – better maybe to say region, locality of head or feet

Standing: Weight, Support, and centre Axis

* Settling into our standing, noticing that we’re balancing not standing still

* Our bodies live in the air – air circulates around us – noticing the touch of the air to the skin of our cheeks

* Noticing the sensation of weight flowing down and support flowing up through our structure

* If there’s no unnecessary tension in our system then in theory we could experience standing as floating on earth – a sense of spaciousness inside

* Measuring how we experience the distance internally head to feet

* Noticing how we experience our centre axis – this line that we create within ourselves very early in our embryonic development – the spatial organisation remains even if the actual structures change as we grow

* Noticing how in standing we align our centre axis with the line of gravity

* Projecting this line down through earth to centre – around six and a half thousand kilometres beneath – where all our lines meet

* Bringing attention back up through layers, through us, out into sky to an imagined star above

* Imagining support flowing up from earth’s centre toward the star above and weight flowing down from star above toward earth’s centre

* Noticing how small we are in comparison to these distances

Exploring Turning and Asymmetry

* Opening eyes, turning with whole self around horizon

* Noticing differences in sensation turning in one direction compared to the other

* Walking – taking axis with us, always connection between heaven and earth

* Imagining taking step forward, noticing if we shift a little towards one leg

* Experimenting shifting over the other foot, noticing how it’s different

* Tracing the axis down to where it meets floor, is it closer to one foot?

* Imagining turning around our axis to look behind

* Noticing which side we imagine turning to – what sensations accompany this?

* Opening our eyes, actually turning in the obvious direction with our whole self

* Exploring other direction, getting clues about preference

* Returning to simply shifting side to side, finding the centre through sensation

* Returning to turning, does it feel more symmetrical now?

* Initiating the turn from our eyes, from our feet, all together – three variations

* Walking again – how is it now?

Lying Down: Head Rolling Explorations

* Coming to the floor, settling on our backs – mapping out the balance points

* projecting lines from the balance points back the the earth’s centre

* Exploring the breath like a wave through the whole internal volume

* Sensing how our volume expands with an in breath and relaxes on an out breath

* Imagining rolling our head, which side do we choose

* Actually rolling our head, notice what else moves passively

* Gradually activating the whole of ourselves to roll our head

* Activating the front surface which moves through the air

* Activating the back surface which rolls on the earth

Lying Down: Rolling Our Head To The Other Side

* Noticing difference between sides in resting

* Beginning to explore rolling in the other direction in our imagination

* Actually rolling our head, sensing how the the rest of us comes along

* Initiating the rolling from the desire to sense our surroundings

* Gradually activating the whole volume – playing with sequencing

* Inviting the experience of head rolling as a shapeshifting of our whole self

* Imagining support rising up into us from the earth and our movement shaping the passage of support up through us and out

* Noticing in resting any changes in how we perceive our inner volume and the clarity with which we sense the centre of the earth behind us

* If weight equals support and there’s no excess effort then in theory we could experience a sensation of floating – a lightness inside our volume

Returning to Standing and Integration

* Standing up by shapeshifting – can we stand up without pushing down?

* Plugging into the axis – star above, earth’s centre below

* Imagining the flow of support from earth’s centre out through top of head

* How closely does our standing match possibility of floating?

* Playing again with turning around axis – how is it now?

* Arms floating up, sensing weight shift

* Support flowing out through fingertips and top of head

* Playing with rotation of arms as we rotate around the centre axis

Free Exploration and Closing

* As something goes out through fingertips, something comes in

* How do we feel invited to move?

* Moving not just inside our skin but in relation to all the information we can acces – in earth beneath our feet, in the air, inside the volume of our physical bodies

* Looking for stillness but everything is in motion – harmonising with that

* As we are moving to harmonise, we are also creating and sending information out

* Returning to standing

* Returning to turning

* Transitioning to walking – noticing how we take our axis with us

* Noticing the moment when we shift onto the leg that steps in front – how do we experience that now – sinking down, being pushed up, or floating?

Lying Down: Head Rolling Explorations

* Coming to the floor, settling on our backs – mapping out the balance points

* projecting lines from the balance points back the the earth’s centre

* Exploring the breath like a wave through the whole internal volume

* Sensing how our volume expands with an in breath and relaxes on an out breath

* Imagining rolling our head, which side do we choose

* Actually rolling our head, notice what else moves passively

* Gradually activating the whole of ourselves to roll our head

* Activating the front surface which moves through the air

* Activating the back surface which rolls on the earth

Lying Down: Rolling Our Head To The Other Side

* Noticing difference between sides in resting

* Beginning to explore rolling in the other direction in our imagination

* Actually rolling our head, sensing how the the rest of us comes along

* Initiating the rolling from the desire to sense our surroundings

* Gradually activating the whole volume – playing with sequencing

* Inviting the experience of head rolling as a shapeshifting of our whole self

* Imagining support rising up into us from the earth and our movement shaping the passage of support up through us and out

* Noticing in resting any changes in how we perceive our inner volume and the clarity with which we sense the centre of the earth behind us

* If weight equals support and there’s no excess effort then in theory we could experience a sensation of floating – a lightness inside our volume

Returning to Standing and Integration

* Standing up by shapeshifting – can we stand up without pushing down?

* Plugging into the axis – star above, earth’s centre below

* Imagining the flow of support from earth’s centre out through top of head

* How closely does our standing match possibility of floating?

* Playing again with turning around axis – how is it now?

* Arms floating up, sensing weight shift

* Support flowing out through fingertips and top of head

* Playing with rotation of arms as we rotate around the centre axis

Free Exploration and Closing

* As something goes out through fingertips, something comes in

* How do we feel invited to move?

* Moving not just inside our skin but in relation to all the information we can acces – in earth beneath our feet, in the air, inside the volume of our physical bodies

* Looking for stillness but everything is in motion – harmonising with that

* As we are moving to harmonise, we are also creating and sending information out

* Returning to standing

* Returning to turning

* Transitioning to walking – noticing how we take our axis with us

* Noticing the moment when we shift onto the leg that steps in front – how do we experience that now – sinking down, being pushed up, or floating?

Arriving in Walking

* Using walking to arrive, noticing our emotional tone and how we sense being here

* Bringing attention to our feet touching the floor – the shape and volume of feet

* Reading walking as changing of shape of feet

* Adding volumes of ankles, lower leg, thighs, knees

* Tracking changing shape of the volume and sensations inside the volume

* Practicing paying attention – gently bringing back when our minds drift

* Including volume of pelvis, belly, lower back, waist, chest, shoulders, arms, head, neck

* Reminding ourselves there are no feet, no legs – just one whole body volume

* Noticing the moment we step forward – do we experience the sensation of weight falling or support rising up

Standing: Weight, Support, And Centre Axis

* Settling into standing, observing how we are balancing

* Tracking weight passing down, support traveling up

* Measuring how we experience the distance internally head to feet

* Noticing how we are organising around a centre axis

* Projecting this axis down to the earth’s centre where all our lines meet

* Projecting this up into the sky – extending towards an imaginary star above

* Imagining taking step forward, noticing if we shift a little towards one leg

* Experimenting shifting over the other foot, noticing how it’s different

* Tracing the axis down to where it meets floor, is it closer to one foot?

* Imagining turning around our axis to look behind

* Noticing which side we imagine turning to – what sensations accompany this?

* Opening our eyes, actually turning in the obvious direction with our whole self

* Exploring other direction, getting clues about preference

* Returning to simply shifting side to side, finding the centre through sensation

* Returning to turning, does it feel more symmetrical now?

* Initiating the turn from our eyes, from our feet, all together – three variations

* Walking again – how is it now?

Lying Down: Head Rolling Explorations

* Coming to the floor, settling on our backs – mapping out the balance points

* projecting lines from the balance points back the the earth’s centre

* Exploring the breath like a wave through the whole internal volume

* Sensing how our volume expands with an in breath and relaxes on an out breath

* Imagining rolling our head, which side do we choose

* Actually rolling our head, notice what else moves passively

* Gradually activating the whole of ourselves to roll our head

* Activating the front surface which moves through the air

* Activating the back surface which rolls on the earth

Lying Down: Rolling Our Head To The Other Side

* Noticing difference between sides in resting

* Beginning to explore rolling in the other direction in our imagination

* Actually rolling our head, sensing how the the rest of us comes along

* Initiating the rolling from the desire to sense our surroundings

* Gradually activating the whole volume – playing with sequencing

* Inviting the experience of head rolling as a shapeshifting of our whole self

* Imagining support rising up into us from the earth and our movement shaping the passage of support up through us and out

* Noticing in resting any changes in how we perceive our inner volume and the clarity with which we sense the centre of the earth behind us

* If weight equals support and there’s no excess effort then in theory we could experience a sensation of floating – a lightness inside our volume

Returning to Standing and Integration

* Standing up by shapeshifting – can we stand up without pushing down?

* Plugging into the axis – star above, earth’s centre below

* Imagining the flow of support from earth’s centre out through top of head

* How closely does our standing match possibility of floating?

* Playing again with turning around axis – how is it now?

* Arms floating up, sensing weight shift

* Support flowing out through fingertips and top of head

* Playing with rotation of arms as we rotate around the centre axis

Free Exploration and Closing

* As something goes out through fingertips, something comes in

* How do we feel invited to move?

* Moving not just inside our skin but in relation to all the information we can acces – in earth beneath our feet, in the air, inside the volume of our physical bodies

* Looking for stillness but everything is in motion – harmonising with that

* As we are moving to harmonise, we are also creating and sending information out

* Returning to standing

* Returning to turning

* Transitioning to walking – noticing how we take our axis with us

* Noticing the moment when we shift onto the leg that steps in front – how do we experience that now – sinking down, being pushed up, or floating?

Arriving in Walking

* Using walking as way to arrive – with ourselves and this place

* Noticing our feeling – our emotional tone and how we perceive where we are

* Bringing attention to our feet as we walk – the volume and shape of feet

* Noticing how our shape changes as we walk and our sensations inside our volume

* Acknowledging feet that don’t actually exist – just words, we have one body

* Adding the volumes of the regions of ourselves that we name ankles, lower leg, thighs, knees, pelvis, belly, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, head

* Reading our walking as an action of shapeshifting

* Returning our attention to feet – noticing how we sense them now

Standing: Weight, Support, and Shifting Centre

* Settling into standing – noticing it is an act of balancing – noticing weight shifts

* Sensing weight passing down and support coming up through our structure

* If those forces are equal and there’s no excess work then we might experience standing as floating – grounded on the earth but with lightness

* Noticing if we stand more on one leg than other

* Imagining taking a step – which foot? Even imagining it provokes a weight shift

* Measuring distance between inside crown of head and inside soles of feet

* Imagining line of gravity from earth’s center up through us to star above

* Imagining the the source of support is earth’s centre and the source of the weight is star above – it’s not true but it can feel as if

* Beginning to shift weight toward preferred standing leg – then to the other side

* Noticing how this other side feels different, less organised maybe

* Less organised side starts to organise simply through paying attention

* Shifting side to side, getting interested in the middle

* Making the shifting smaller until we arrive in a middle negotiated in the present moment while attending to sensation – different from our habitual middle?

* Walking and noticing changes

Standing: Hand Explorations

* Bringing attention to writing hand, letting it float up

* Noticing sensation under feet as hand moves through the air around us

* What is the smallest change in the hand that creates weight shift under our feet that we can notice

* Engaging other hand – does it have a different character?

* Allowing both hands to float up

* Our bodies are not things but process – reading our material structure as a by-product of fields of activity within us

* Noticing breath expanding and relaxing skin – is this reflected under our feet?

* Imagining support like water flowing up from earth’s centre into our structure

* Engaging fingertips – directing flow of support out through our fingertips

* Shaping ourselves in relationship to the earth below and the cosmos up and out

* Reading every movement as a shapeshifting of our whole selves

* Walking and noticing how we feel now – especially the volume of our feet and hands

Lying Down: Noticing Where We Are Supported and Our Breath

* Noticing how we are supported now through many points – balance points

* Remembering that we are lying on skin of earth – a huge ball behind us

* Sensing support streaming up from earth’s centre through these balance points

* Observing our breath like a wave passing through us – connecting all of us

* Noticing how as we breathe in our skin stretches a little and as we breathe out it relaxes again – how this happens throughout the surface of our skin

Lying Down: Opening and Closing the Writing Hand

* Backs of hands on floor - finding a comfortable place for this

* Bringing attention to our writing hand and making a closing gesture – fingertips and thumb tip towards each other

* Back of the hand staying supported by the earth – not lifting it into the air

* Making the gesture smaller and smaller – so small it’s barely noticable

* Closing is a doing and returning to the resting place is a letting go

* Finding a pulsing rhythm for this movement – like a jellyfish swimming

* Exploring opening hand in a similar way – taking fingertips away, flattening palm

* Alternating the minimal opening and minimal closing

* Noticing sensations in arm, shoulder, face, chest as we open and close our hand

* Can the movement reach through all of us like the wave of the breath?

Lying Down: Opening and Closing the Foot on the Same Side

* Bringing attention to the foot on same side as hand as we worked with before

* Closing our foot – toes toward heel, like holding something with our toes

* Making the closing movement smaller and smaller – doing and letting go

* Finding a pulsing rhythm – like a jellyfish (medusa) swimming

* Then exploring opening this foot – spreading toes, flattening sole

* Alternating the minimal opening and minimal closing of our foot

* Can the movement reach through all of us like the wave of the breath?

Lying Down: Opening and Closing Hand and Foot on this Side

* Adding movement of hand on same side as foot to the movement of this foot

* Opening and closing hand and foot together

* Can we experience this as a single movement rather than two movements

* This movement expressing through both hand and foot on this one side

* Playing with idea of this movement beginning in belly centre

* Bonnie Cohen says all movements pass through centre

* Resting and comparing our two sides

Lying Down: Opening and Closing Both Hands and Feet – Variations

* Returning the opening and closing hand and foot on the writing hand side

* Adding opening and closing hand and foot on the other side

* Continuing only with the second side

* Bringing back the first side – experiencing two sides moving together

* Continuing with two hands only – letting our feet rest

* Bringing back the movement of our feet and letting our hands rest

* Continuing the movement with both our hands and feet – experiencing upper and lower regions moving together

* Continuing with right hand and left foot only – one diagonal moving

* Bringing back and then continuing with the other diagonal only – left hand and right foot

* Continuing with both hands and feet – experiencing two diagonals moving together

* Same movement with both hands and feet but experiencing it as two sides again

* Continuing only with hand and foot on the side we began with – the writing hand side

* Returning to the movement of the writing hand alone – how is it now?

* Letting go of the movement of the hand and noticing any changes since the beginning – how much space do our hands and feet seem to occupy now?

* How do we experience the support of the earth and the movement of our breath now?

Returning to Standing and Integration

* Coming up directly up to stand, resisting urge to stretch if possible

* Noticing the quality of our connection with our feet the support of the earth and the volume of our hands now – any changes?

* Sensing our breath and the interaction between feet and floor with our breathing

* Engaging our hands to move the the air – directing the flow of support out through our fingertips

* We are moving relative to our environment, where we are on this earth, shapeshifting ourselves in the field of gravity

* The room is full of air and the air full of information

* Imagining our arms like antennae broadcasting and receiving information

Integrating in Standing: Listening and Moving with the Information Around Us

* Acknowledging there’s movement in the earth below us – magnetic field, magma churning, vibrations

* Allowing the information from earth to arrive through our feet

* Acknowledging there’s movement in the air and atmosphere

* Allowing the information from the air to arrive through our hands

* As humans we are constantly mediating between heaven and earth

* Listening and moving with the information from the earth and the air

* Playing with the intention not to move but since we are balancing then any little thing tips into movement

* Playing with an intention to harmonise with the information arriving from earth and sky – noticing how we our volume moves with this information and how we experience that – surfing the information – allowing ourselves to be moved

* Noticing how as we are moved to through receiving information arriving to us we are also broadcasting information out from us

Closing the Practice

* Returning to standing, checking in with our inner volume

* Noticing the volume of our hands and feet feet

* Noticing our relationship to the proposition of experiencing standing as floating

* Returning to walking – how are we reading walking as shapeshifting of the whole self now?

* Noticing how we feel now – the emotional tone and richness of our perception

Arriving in Walking

* Noticing our emotional tone and how we sense our environment

* Bringing attention to our feet, noticing their volume and how they change shape as we walk

* Progressively adding the volume of ankles, lower legs, thighs, knees, pelvis

* Reminding ourselves the feet, legs, pelvis are just names – we have one body that grows from the earth

* Adding volume of our belly, chest, arms, hands, neck, head

* Reading walking as shapeshifting of our whole body

Standing: Weight, Support, and Vertical Axis

* Noticing standing as an act of balancing

* Sensing the air in room brushing our face

* Observing the sensation weight flowing down, support flowing up

* Noticing how spacious or compressed our inner space feels right now

* Measuring the internal distance from the crown of heads to the soles of our feet

* Tuning our centre axis to line of gravity passing through us

* Tracing the line of gravity down to earth’s centre

* Bringing our attention back up through the layers of the earth, through us, and up and out to an imagined star above

* Noticing if our perception of our inner space has changed

Standing: Sensing Balance Points in the Feet

* Scanning how one foot meets floor – parts with pressure (heel, front, toe tips)

* Image of three-footed Eiffel Tower – inside, outside, front arches

* Recognising the pressure points through which we receive the earth’s support

* Imagining support flowing up like water from earth’s centre

* Noticing how as we balance the weight shifts and the pressure changes

* Returning to normal walking and noticing the difference

Standing: Noticing the movement of breath in our feet

* Bringing our attention to our breathing

* As we breathe in, volume increases and skin stretches; as we breathe out, volume decreases and skin relaxes throughout ourselves

* Noticing if we can sense the movements of our breathing in our connection with the earth through our feet

Standing: Exploring Arm Movements

* Allowing a hand and arm to float up and around us

* Noticing if there’s a corresponding weight shifts under our feet

* Playing with other arm, then both arms

Lying Down: Balance Points and Breathing

* Coming onto our backs with our legs long (or feet standing if needed)

* Noticing where we rest on the earth – considering the points where support enters us from the earth and weight passes down as balance points

* Imagining lines connecting each balance point to earth’s centre

* Sensing our breath as a wave passing throughout our body

* Noticing the subtle stretching and relaxation of our skin with our breath

Lying Down: Exploring Movements of the Right Foot and Toes

* Bringing attention to right foot

* Moving the front of right foot away from our heads

* Tracing the passive movement of the rest of ourselves and then activating so it becomes a whole body movement

* Same but moving the front of the foot towards the head

* Playing with just toes – toward head, away from head

* Bringing back the movement of the front of the foot – toes same direction as the front of the foot

* Moving the toes opposite to the front of the foot – noticing how whole body can participate

Lying Down: Exploring Left Foot

* Going through same explorations more quickly with left foot

* Front of foot, then adding variations with the toes

* Imagining movement or making it so small we’re not sure if imagining or doing

* Coordinating front and toes, then playing with opposite coordination

Lying Down: Working with Both Feet

* Front of both feet together towards and away from head – whole body involved

* Adding moving toes with, and then opposite, to the front of the foot

* Moving the front of the feet in opposite directions – one towards and one away from the head – adding toe variations

* Introducing rolling legs inwards and outwards at the same time to create circles with the front of the feet

* Exploring some variations of how to combine each foot circling – same direction, mirror image, opposite directions – indicating how to create yet more variations

* Acknowledging this is challenging and takes time

* Resting and noticing the balance points, clarity of support from the earth, inner volume, breath as wave and expansion/relaxation of skin – how are they now?

Return to Standing and Integrating

* Coming up to standing simply and directly

* Plugging into star above and earth’s centre below

* Sensing pressure under feet – noticing if the movements of breath in the feet are clearer now

* Engaging arms and hands – how is this now?

* Support coming up and out through fingertips as we shapeshift in gravity

* Free exploration, then transitioning to walking to end

Arriving in Walking

* Noticing our emotional tone and how we sense our environment

* Bringing attention to our feet, noticing their volume and how they change shape as we walk

* Progressively adding the volume of ankles, lower legs, thighs, knees, pelvis

* Reminding ourselves the feet, legs, pelvis are just names – we have one body that grows from the earth

* Adding volume of our belly, chest, arms, hands, neck, head

* Reading walking as shapeshifting of our whole body

Standing: Weight, Support, and Vertical Axis

* Noticing standing as an act of balancing

* Sensing the air in room brushing our face

* Observing the sensation weight flowing down, support flowing up

* Noticing how spacious or compressed our inner space feels right now

* Measuring the internal distance from the crown of heads to the soles of our feet

* Tuning our centre axis to line of gravity passing through us

* Tracing the line of gravity down to earth’s centre

* Bringing our attention back up through the layers of the earth, through us, and up and out to an imagined star above

* Noticing if our perception of our inner space has changed

Standing: Sensing Balance Points in the Feet

* Scanning how one foot meets floor – parts with pressure (heel, front, toe tips)

* Image of three-footed Eiffel Tower – inside, outside, front arches

* Recognising the pressure points through which we receive the earth’s support

* Imagining support flowing up like water from earth’s centre

* Noticing how as we balance the weight shifts and the pressure changes

Walking: Variations

* Exploring variations of how the weight can shift through the feet as we walk

* Walking on the outside and inside of the feet only, without the toes touching, on the heels only, front of the foot only

* Returning to normal walking and noticing the difference

Standing: Noticing the movement of breath in our feet

* Bringing our attention to our breathing

* As we breathe in, volume increases and skin stretches; as we breathe out, volume decreases and skin relaxes throughout ourselves

* Noticing if we can sense the movements of our breathing in our connection with the earth through our feet

Standing: Exploring Arm Movements

* Allowing a hand and arm to float up and around us

* Noticing if there’s a corresponding weight shifts under our feet

* Playing with other arm, then both arms

Lying Down: Balance Points and Breathing

* Coming onto our backs with our legs long (or feet standing if needed)

* Noticing where we rest on the earth – considering the points where support enters us from the earth and weight passes down as balance points

* Imagining lines connecting each balance point to earth’s centre

* Sensing our breath as a wave passing throughout our body

* Noticing the subtle stretching and relaxation of our skin with our breath

Lying Down: Imagining Lifting the Head

* Imagining lifting our head to look toward feet (not actually lifting yet)

* Noticing shift of weight around all our balance points

* Then actually lifting head slightly off ground only as far as it is easy

* Noticing how the rest of us responds

Lying Down: Exploring Movements of the Right Foot and Toes

* Bringing attention to right foot

* Moving the front of right foot away from our heads

* Tracing the passive movement of the rest of ourselves and then activating so it becomes a whole body movement

* Same but moving the front of the foot towards the head

* Playing with just toes – toward head, away from head

* Bringing back the movement of the front of the foot – toes same direction as the front of the foot

* Moving the toes opposite to the front of the foot – noticing how whole body can participate

Lying Down: Exploring Left Foot

* Going through same explorations more quickly with left foot

* Front of foot, then adding variations with the toes

* Imagining movement or making it so small we’re not sure if imagining or doing

* Coordinating front and toes, then playing with opposite coordination

Lying Down: Working with Both Feet

* Coordinating both feet simultaneously – exploring variations with toes

* Playing with feet in opposite directions

* Noticing how head participates

* Acknowledging this is challenging and takes time

* Resting and noticing the balance points, clarity of support from the earth, inner volume, breath as wave and expansion/relaxation of skin – how are they now?

* Returning to lifting head – how is this now?

Return to Standing and Integrating

* Coming up to standing simply and directly

* Plugging into star above and earth’s centre below

* Sensing pressure under feet – noticing if the movements of breath in the feet are clearer now

* Engaging arms and hands – how is this now?

* Support coming up and out through fingertips as we shapeshift in gravity

* Free exploration, then transitioning to walking to end

Arriving in Walking

* Noticing our emotional tone and the how we sense our environment – how we feel

* Tracking our three-dimensional volume region by region, from the ground up

* Inviting in the concept that walking can be experienced as shapeshifting of the whole body

* Noticing the sensation of shifting onto the stepping leg – do we have the sensation of falling into the support of the earth or rising up from it?

Standing: Weight, Support, and Vertical Axis

* Noticing that standing is an action of balancing

* Sensing weight flowing down through our structures like water in a waterfall

* Sensing support flowing up from the earth in the opposite direction

* Inviting in the concept that standing can be experienced as floating when weight and support are equal and there is no unnecessary muscular work in our system

* Measuring the distance we experience the top of head to the soles of feet

* Tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity and tracing with our attention the line of gravity down to the earth’s centre

* Imagining support flowing up along this line, through all the earth’s layers, through us, out through our heads to our imagined personal stars above

* Noticing if the perceived distance inside ourselves between the crown of the head and the soles of the feet has changed

* Sensing the air in room brushing our cheeks – we’re surrounded by air

* Walking again and noticing if something shifted in the way we feel

Lying Down: Balance Points

* Finding a place to lie down with both legs long (or feet standing if needed for lower back comfort)

* Noticing where we rest on the earth – considering these places as balance points

* Imagining lines connecting each balance point to center of earth behind us

* Imagining support flowing up through the the earth to the balance points

* Imagining weight passing through our structure, via the balance points, towards the earth’s centre

* Entertaining the possibility of experiencing lying on floor as floating if the weight going down equals support coming up and there’s no excess work

Lying Down: Breath like a wave

* Imagining our bodies as the same shape but filled with water

* Playing with image of breath like a wave passing through internal sea

* Tracing the waves of breath passing the whole of us

* Observing how our skin stretches minimally on inhale, relaxes on exhale throughout its entire surface

* Noticing if there is now more movement around the balance points

Lying Down: Exploring with Feet Standing and Chest Breathing

* Bending legs and standing both feet

* Imagining a balloon in the middle of our chests

* Taking a slightly deeper breath and sending it into chest balloon to inflate it

* Watching breastbone move forward/outward toward the sky

* Noticing what happens behind where spine meets floor, ribs on either side, shoulder blades

* Noticing how our ribs expand sideways as balloon fills

* Noticing expansion up into top of chest, top of shoulders, base of neck

* Holding all of this in our attention – chest moving forward, pressure increasing behind, expansion sideways and upwards

* Straightening legs and noticing changes in inner volume, ability to float, sense of earth’s center behind us

* Rolling head and sensing changes

* Returning to feet standing and noticing if exploration has changed

* Thinking of reaching down through earth toward its center (not pressing but reaching like suction cup)

* Noticing: if pressure increases behind upper back, what happens behind head, behind pelvis, along arms, through soles of feet?

* On out-breath, gently compressing balloon to squeeze out more air

* Watching how connection with earth changes

* Noticing how head responds, how legs respond – movement passes through like ripple or wave

Lying Down: Belly Breathing

* Straightening legs to rest, rolling head and sensing movement

* Bending legs and standing feet again – putting balloon in belly area now

* Taking slightly deeper breath, sending air into balloon

* Attending to expansion in front of belly and lower belly

* Bringing attention to the space between lower back and floor

* Allowing back part to expand backwards towards the earth (not arching away)

* Noticing expansion down into pelvic floor, sideways into waist, all directions

* Sensing how this change of shape echoes through whole body

* Straightening legs and noticing changes

* Rolling head and sensing changes in inner volume, structure, sense of wholeness

Lying Down: Seesaw Breathing

* Returning to feet standing – recalling chest and belly breathing

* Seesaw breathing: taking deeper breath, holding lightly, shifting air from belly balloon to chest balloon and back a few times before releasing the air

* Repeating seesaw breathing with one hand on chest, one on belly while watching changing relationship with earth behind us

* Exploring if the initiation can come through changing connection with earth?

* Taking a moment to roll the balls of the head, chest, and pelvis towards and away from feet as in previous classes

* Returning to seesaw breathing – noticing how breathing moves us over the earth

* Experiencing breathing as movement of whole self

Lying Down: Letting the earth breath through us

* With legs long, noticing inner volume, balance points, support of earth

* Playing with image of breathing in through balance points (earth as source of air), breathing out through front surface into the air

* Playing with drawing air in through front surface, breathing out through balance points toward earth’s centre

* Noticing which direction is easier

* Bringing attention to balance points, remembering size, shape, volume of earth

* Imagining earth is breathing and that its skin stretches on in-breath, relaxes on out-breath

* As earth inhales, sensing balance points moving away from each other as skin stretches – and then they relax back

* Letting earth breathe through us

Rising to Standing and Arm Explorations

* Noticing inner volume, weight flowing down, support flowing up

* Tuning into centre axis

* Noticing if breathing is reflected in the way the feet connect with floor

* Bringing attention to cheeks and sensing air

* Letting one arm float up – sensing weight shift under feet as we play with arm

* Recognizing every movement as change of shape of whole self

Standing: Support, Fountain Image, Breathing, and Free Exploration

* Imagining support starting in centre of earth, coming up through layers like fountain

* Becoming human fountain with support shooting out through top of head

* As we engage hands and reach with fingertips, sending support out through fingertips

* Moving in relationship to earth’s center, not just inside our skin

* With arms up, breathing in through feet, shooting breath out through fingertips and top of head

* Or breathing in through fingertips and top of head, exhaling through feet into earth

* Free exploration

Final Integration: Walking

* Finding way back into standing

* Noticing how we sense ourselves standing here

* Bringing our attention outwards and transitioning into walking

* Sensing our inner volume shapeshift as we move

* What are we sensing now as we come over the leg that steps ahead

* Noticing how we feel now

Arriving in Walking

* Notice our emotional tone and the how we sense our environment – how we feel

* Tracking our three-dimensional volume region by region, from the ground up

* Inviting in the concept that walking can be experienced as shape-shifting of the whole body

* Noticing the sensation of shifting onto the stepping leg – do we have the sensation of falling into the support of the earth or rising up from it?

Standing: Weight, Support, and Vertical Axis

* Noticing that standing is an action of balancing

* Sensing weight flowing down through our structures like water in a waterfall

* Sensing support flowing up from the earth in the opposite direction

* Inviting in the concept that standing can be experienced as floating when weight and support are equal and there is no unnecessary muscular work in our system

* Tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity and tracing with our attention the line of gravity down to the earth’s centre (6,500 km beneath)

* Imagining support flowing up along this line, through all the earth’s layers, through us, out through our heads to our imagined personal stars above

* Noticing if the perceived distance inside ourselves between the crown of the head and the soles of the feet changed after extending our attention beyond our skins

Exploring Arm Movements in Standing

* Engaging one hand, opening and closing it, letting it float up

* Moving the hand in the air while sensing how the weight shifts under our feet

* Imagining weight flowing from the star above through our arms and heads, through ourselves, and inwards towards the earth’s centre

* Imagining support flowing outwards from earth’s centre, up through our structure and out through fingertips

* Noticing any differences between the characters of our two arms

* Reading our movement as shapeshifting in the gravitational field of the earth

Lying Down: Balance Points and Breath

* Noticing where we receive support from the earth behind us

* Reframing these contact points as balance points

* Imagining lines connecting each balance point to the earth’s centre

* Imagining our bodies as bags full of water and experiencing our breath as a wave

* Noticing the skin stretching on an inhale and relaxing on an exhale throughout its surface

* Observing asymmetries in our contact with the floor and noticing how this makes rolling our head in one direction more inviting

Lying Down: Balance Points and Breath

* With the right leg bent and the right foot standing finding ways to roll the right hip joint towards the left shoulder

* Using the right foot to push along the earth’s surface rather than down into it

* Including more and more of ourselves into the movement

* Bringing the left arm on the floor above the head in line with this diagonal from right hip joint to left arm and engaging the arm in the movement

* Creating the movement from the earthward side

* Adding floating the left arm toward the sky while bringing the right knee above the chest – light touching the left hand to the right knee – allowing the head to float skywards to join the movement

* Bringing the support flowing from the centre of the earth and out into the image

* Briefly exploring other diagonal and both arms and legs variations

Rising to Standing and Final Integration

* Making your way up to standing without pushing down into the earth

* Shapeshifting your way up with minimal force

* Tuning our vertical axis to star above and earth’s centre below

* Noticing the inner volume and how light or heavy we feel now

* Floating our arms up and sensing the connection with the earth through the feet

* What is the smallest shifts in hands that creates we can detect under our feet

* Walking and noticing changes in emotional tone and presence in this place

Arriving in Walking

* Noticing our emotional tone and the how we sense our environment – how we feel

* Tracking our three-dimensional volume region by region, from the ground up

* Inviting in the concept that walking can be experienced as shape-shifting of the whole body

* Noticing the sensation of shifting onto the stepping leg – do we have the sensation of falling into the support of the earth or rising up from it?

Standing: Weight, Support, and Vertical Axis

* Noticing that standing is an action of balancing

* Sensing weight flowing down through our structures like water in a waterfall

* Sensing support flowing up from the earth in the opposite direction

* Inviting in the concept that standing can be experienced as floating when weight and support are equal and there is no unnecessary muscular work in our system

* Tuning our centre axis to the line of gravity and tracing with our attention the line of gravity down to the earth’s centre (6,500 km beneath)

* Imagining support flowing up along this line, through all the earth’s layers, through us, out through our heads to our imagined personal stars above

* Noticing if the perceived distance inside ourselves between the crown of the head and the soles of the feet changed after extending our attention beyond our skins

Exploring Arm Movements in Standing

* Engaging one hand, opening and closing it, letting it float up

* Moving the hand in the air while sensing how the weight shifts under our feet

* Imagining weight flowing from the star above through our arms and heads, through ourselves, and inwards towards the earth’s centre

* Imagining support flowing outwards from earth’s centre, up through our structure and out through fingertips

* Noticing any differences between the characters of our two arms

* Reading our movement as shapeshifting in the gravitational field of the earth

Lying Down: Balance Points and Breath

* Noticing where we receive support from the earth behind us

* Reframing these contact points as balance points

* Imagining lines connecting each balance point to the earth’s centre

* Imagining our bodies as bags full of water and experiencing our breath as a wave

* Noticing the skin stretching on an inhale and relaxing on an exhale throughout its surface

* Observing asymmetries in our contact with the floor and noticing how this makes rolling our head in one direction more inviting

Lying Down: Balance Points and Breath

* With the right leg bent and the right foot standing finding ways to roll the right hip joint towards the left shoulder

* Using the right foot to push along the earth’s surface rather than down into it

* Including more and more of ourselves into the movement

* Bringing the left arm on the floor above the head in line with this diagonal from right hip joint to left arm and engaging the arm in the movement

* Creating the movement from the earthward side

* Adding floating the left arm toward the sky while bringing the right knee above the chest – light touching the left hand to the right knee – allowing the head to float skywards to join the movement

* Bringing the support flowing from the centre of the earth and out into the image

* Briefly exploring other diagonal and both arms and legs variations

Rising to Standing and Free Exploration

* Making your way up to standing without pushing down into the earth

* Shapeshifting your way up with minimal force

* Free exploration time with music – playing in the field of gravity with awareness of earth’s support

Final Standing Integration

* Navigating back to stillness in standing

* Tuning our vertical axis to star above and earth’s centre below

* Noticing the inner volume and how light or heavy we feel now

* Floating our arms up and sensing the connection with the earth through the feet

* What is the smallest shifts in hands that creates we can detect under our feet

* Walking and noticing changes in emotional tone and presence in this place

This time we explore our asymmetry as our baseline, and the relationship with the diagonally opposite leg

The emphasis is on experiencing all movements as movement of the whole of ourselves in the context of our place on earth and in its gravitational field.

The floor work ends with reaching our arms and legs skywards and opens to the playful task of finding a way to stand up without pushing down – shapeshifting our way to standing.

Walking and Arriving

* Using walking as a way to arrive in the space

* Noticing the emotional tone of the moment

* Sensing the space, people, and environment

* Bringing attention to the physical body its three-dimensionality

Standing: Weight, Support, and the Vertical Axis

* Observing standing as an active balancing process

* Noticing how much space we experience inside our skin

* Sensing weight flowing down through our structure toward the earth’s centre

* Sensing support flowing up in the opposite direction

* Imagining a line from our personal star above, through us, down through earth’s layers to the centre

* Following support flowing up from earth’s centre, through all the layers, up through us and out

* Remembering how small we are in relation to the earth

* Noticing how much our experience of standing matches the theoretical possibility of floating if the flow of weight and support are equal

Exploring Arm Movements in Standing

* Engaging one arm so the hand floats up and down

* Noticing the weight shifts under our feet as the hand moves through space

* Exploring the question: “Where do the arms begin?”

* Playing with the other arm, noticing its different character

* Imagining support flowing from earth’s centre up through us and out through fingertips

* Working with both arms, shaping how support flows up and out through our body

Lying Down: Balance Points and Breath

* Noticing points where we receive support from the earth behind us

* Sensing any movements around those points of contact

* Imagining balancing on these points rather than simply resting on them

* Each balance point connects to the earth’s center behind us

* Imagining the body as a bag full of water

* Observing breath like a wave passing through the entire body like ripples in a pond travel all the way to the edge of the pond

* Noticing how the skin stretches on an inhale and relaxes on exhale

Asymmetry and Head Rolling

* Imagining leaving a print on a piece of paper as a way of observing our asymmetry

* Noticing which direction we would naturally roll our head

* Rolling the head in the more inviting direction, sensing how it effects the whole body

* Exploring the other direction more slowly and smaller

* Noticing differences in how connected the movement feels on either side

Pelvic and Spinal Articulation

* Bending both legs with feet standing

* Rolling the pelvis toward and away from the feet

* Engaging feet by pushing along the earth’s surface rather than down into it

* Rolling the head and the pelvis like balls – same direction same time

* Sharing the work through the whole body

* Exploring how our arms can help mobilise our chest

Arm and Diagonal Explorations on the Floor

* Floating one arm toward the sky, exploring small movements

* Noticing how arm movements affect our back’s relationship with the floor

* Working with opposite arm and hip joint, creating diagonal connections

* Bringing knee toward opposite shoulder

* Stroking knee gently with hand, joining hand and knee and making small circles

* Floating foot toward ceiling, sending support out through both arm and leg

* Considering the movement as shape-shifting in a field of gravity

Rising to Standing

* Exploring the task of standing up without pushing down

* Shape-shifting our way up rather than levering off the earth

* Free exploration time with music

Final Standing Integration

* Arriving in neutral, connecting to star above and earth’s center below

* Shifting weight side to side, finding the middle through negotiation

* Floating arms up, noticing changes from the beginning

* Observing differences between the character of the two arms

* Noticing how much space we experience inside now

* Sensing if standing feels more like floating now

* Walking and noticing how we feel now compared to the beginning

This time we explore our asymmetry as our baseline, and the relationship with the diagonally opposite leg

The emphasis is on experiencing all movements as movement of the whole of ourselves in the context of our place on earth and in its gravitational field.

The floor work ends with reaching our arms and legs skywards and opens to the playful task of finding a way to stand up without pushing down – shapeshifting our way to standing.

Walking Practice: Arriving In Walking

* Beginning with walking, noticing our emotional tone and awareness of the world

* Cumulatively scanning the internal volume in motion from the feet upwards

* Inviting in the image of walking as whole-body activity of shapeshifting rather than movement of separate parts

* Noticing if we “fall down” or “fall up” as we arrive onto the leg that steps ahead

* Sensing the differences between left and right sides as we go

Standing Practice: Tuning our vertical axis

* Observing the micro-movements of balancing - the interaction of the feet with the earth below and, more subtle, the face brushing against the air

* Measuring the internal distance as we sense it from top of head to soles of feet

* Observing the sensation of weight falling down through our structures and of support rising up through ourselves – Newton’s Third Law

* Tuning our centre axis – which we begin cultivating with the formation of the notocord – with the line of gravity that connects us inwards to the centre of the earth and outwards to an imagined personal star above

* Imagining taking a step and noticing how our weight shifts to prepare us to step

* Shifting the axis from side to side – pausing to notice how each side organises to channel weight/support differently

* Becoming more interested in the middle and finding neutral through making progressively smaller shifts – zeroing in on the middle

* If the weight flowing downwards is equal to the support flowing upwards then if there’s no unnecessary tension then in theory we could experience standing a floating – not up into the air but anchored to the earth

Standing Practice: Exploring Arm Movement and Support

* Letting an arm/hand float up – where do our arms begin?

* Noticing weight shifts under our feet adjusting to receive support from the earth as we move our hands through the air

* Imagining the support – like water or light or … – flowing out from the earth’s centre, up through ourselves, and upwards and outwards through our fingertips

* Playing with moving both arms, sending support out through fingertips, elbows, or the top of your head or …

* Reframing this experience as shaping how support flows through a body that is integral and whole rather than moving a collection of parts

Lying On Our Backs: Balance Points and Breath

* Legs long, noticing the points where we receive support from the earth – each of these points connects with the centre of the earth

* Lying down we can’t fall over but nonetheless we are balancing – there are more points and they are spread out further – it’s easy to move from a balance point

* Playing with the image of our bodies as bags filled with water – sensing our breath as a wave moving throughout ourselves

* Sensing our whole skin stretching slightly on an inhale and relaxing on an exhale

* Noticing if there is more movement around the balance points now

Lying On Our Backs: Asymmetry and Head Rolling

* Mapping your balance points and noticing asymmetries left and right – it would be strange not to notice anything – functionally, we are left or right handed, and even the ambidextrous live in a right handed world – structurally, we grow asymmetrically, our heart for example are usually more to the left

* Noticing how our organisation to receive support from the earth sets us up to prefer to roll the head in one direction rather than the other and exploring this favoured direction for a while

* Then exploring rolling the head in the other direction, more carefully in order to notice any differences – rolling in both directions to compare differences

* Maybe the rolling the head to one side feels more connected to the rest of us than the other

Lying On Our Backs: Finding the Best Place To Stand Our Feet

* Bending our legs and standing our feet, experimenting with moving feet closer, farther from each other, and then from the pelvis

* Noticing the differences and between each variation returning to a comfortable place – noticing if the comfortable place changes each time we arrive there

* Using sensation in the present moment rather than habit to organise ourselves

Lying On Our Backs: Rolling Headwards and Feetwards Over the Balance Points

* Witht he legs bent and feet standing, rolling the pelvis like a ball towards and away from our feet – initiating from the feet, then more from the belly centre – playing with sequencing – noticing the response in the rest of us – especially the response in the head which is also like a ball

* Rolling the ball of the head towards and away from the feet – noticing the response in the rest of us – noticing the response in the ball of the pelvis

* Rolling the head and pelvis together, both moving in the same direction at the same time – towards and away from the feet – as if it were one movement

* Engaging our feet by pushing along the earth’s surface rather than down into it – as if we wanted the push and pull the skin of the earth towards and away from our pelvis

* Playing with the image of the chest like a ball – adding this to the rolling of the head and pelvis through exploring variations – activating the arms in a similar way as the feet to support the rolling of the chest

* The playing with sharing the work through our whole bodies

Lying On Our Backs: Arm and Leg Diagonal

* With both legs bent and feet standing, floating one arm forwards toward the sky, moving it a little in all directions – first simply sensing the interaction with the earth behind – and then seeing if we can initiate from there

* Bringing the opposite hip joint towards the arm that reaches to the sky – first simply sensing the interaction with the earth behind – and then seeing if we can initiate from there

* Variations with the hip joint with just the diagonally opposite leg bent

* Then variations bringing knee above chest

* Stroking knee gently with hand to connect hand with diagonally opposite knee, making circles – exploring the leg by stroking it – sensing the interaction with the earth, sensing the flow of support, playing with initiation from the ground

* Floating foot toward ceiling, sending support out through both arm and leg

* Working second diagonal briefly, noticing differences between sides

Integrating Both Sides and Free Exploration

* Playing with both arms and legs simultaneously

* Bringing knees above chest, floating feet toward ceiling

* Shaping weight and support through our whole bodies

* Taking time to explore freely, moving as shapeshifting rather than moving parts

Return to Standing and Closing

* Rising to standing without pushing down, shapeshifting our way up to standing

* Noticing changes in inner volume and balance

* Returning to exploring the arm movements

* Returning to walking, noticing the sensation as weight shifts to the leg in front

* Observing any shifts in the physical organisation and emotional tone of our experience

But there are really no such things as arms, legs, pelvis, etc.

They are just language and different cultures language the body differently.

Our bodies are not made of parts, but grow as whole entities.

Can our whole bodies participate so that a movement of the “arm” can be experienced as a shapeshifting of the whole self?

Class Structure

Arrival In Walking

* Walking to arrive—connecting emotional tone and physical sensation

* Bringing attention progressively through feet, legs, pelvis, torso, head

* Experiencing walking as continuous shapeshifting rather than moving parts

Standing: Tuning To The Vertical Axis Creates Common Ground

* Sensing the flow of weight and support through our structure

* Projecting a line downward through the Earth’s layers to its centre and upward toward the heavens – we are always mediating between heaven and earth

* All our line converge at the Earth’s centre – practising creating “common ground”

* Remembering how small we are in relation to the Earth and Heaven

Standing: Fine Tuning The Vertical Axis

* Sensing habitual readiness to step – we usually stand with more weight on one leg

* Sliding the axis side to side—pausing to sense difference in the flow of weight and support through both sides of ourselves from feet to shoulder, neck, head

* Observing how our system self-organises itself toward greater symmetry

* Getting more curious in the moment we sense that we pass through the centre

* “Zeroing in” on a center discovered through sensation in the present momenet rather than relying on our habit

Standing: Turning And Walking

* Scanning horizon with eyes – turning whole self around the vertical axis

* Swinging arms, walking on the spot, noticing how everthing rotates around the centre axis

* Returning to “ordinary” walking – noticing how it feels now

Standing: Exploring The Arms

* Floating one arm up and around ourselves while tracking changes through feet, torso, pelvis as the arm moves

* Playing with the question “where do the arms begin?”

* Noticing the flow of weight and support streaming through the arm

* Imagining that the support originates from the centre of the Earth, travels up through it, through our bodies and out through our fingertips

* Both arms together – mediating between heaven and earth

Floor Work: Arriving On The Back

* Reframing lying on the floor as an act of balancing on multiple points of support

* Inviting in the image of the body as a bag of water with the breath as a wave moving through the whole body – like ripples in a pond

* Watching the subtle stretching and relaxation of the skin with each in-breath and out-breath – how this happens throughout he surface of the skin

Floor Work: Rolling The Pelvis, Head, And Chest

* Exploring rolling of the pelvis toward and away from the head without pushing through the feet – pelvis like a ball

* Rolling the head towards and away from the pelvis – noticing response of the spine – head like a ball

* Playing with coordinating the two movements so they feel like one

* Activating the legs and feet to support and join the movement of head and pelvis

Floor Work: Using Arms To Roll The Chest

* Hands beside pelvis, palms on the floor – pulling on the “skin of the earth” to help roll the chest much like we did to activate our feet and legs

* Initiating from the arms or from the centre – playing with sequencing

* Sharing out the work so that it is distributed throughout ourselves

Floor Work: Arms Out To The Side

* Extending arms sideways – reaching through the fingers

* Imagining support from Earth flowing out through the fingertips

* Rolling hands palm up and palm down – observing response in upper back

* Lifting little finger upward to twist arms, noticing effects through torso and head

Floor Work: Combining Movements Of The Arms With The Head, Torso And Legs

* Curling fingers around thumbs to make loose fists so the hands become like balls

* Rolling the hands headwards and footwards

* Adding in the rolling of the head, chest, and pelvis

* Exploring variations: hands and body moving together or in opposite directions

* Reframing the movements as shapeshifting of the whole self

Floor Work: Opposite Arm Patterns

* Rolling hands in opposite directions noticing the response in the chest

* Adding movement of head and pelvis to create more variations

* Returning to simple coordination where hands move headwards and footwards together to notice any changes

* Returning to simplying lying on our backs to notice any changes

Standing: Final Integration

* Returning to standing – feeling new organisation through the whole self

* Floating the arms again – sensing if they feel different now

* Image of arms as antennae – receiving and broadcasting simultaneously

* Walking again to notice what changed

Class Structure

Arrival In Walking

* Beginning with simple walking to arrive—exploring “feeling” as emotional tone and physical sensation

* Progressive three-dimensional volume scanning from feet upward

* Experiencing walking as shapeshifting of the whole rather than movement of a collection of parts

Standing: Vertical Axis And Mediating Between Heaven And Earth

* Observing the micro-movements of balancing in standing

* Measuring inner volume distance from soles of feet to top of head

* Extending attention to the Earth’s center 6,500 km below along the line of gravity

* Extending attention upward and outward into the heavens above

* Turning around the vertical axis to strengthen its perception

* Considering how small we are when perceiving this line of gravity

Standing: Using Sensation In The Present Moment To Rebalance Our Standing

* Noticing which leg preferred for stepping—pelvis shifts toward support leg

* Shifting axis side to side—sliding axis toward one leg, pausing, then other side

* Observing nervous system self-organising – the less well-organised side starts to organise to become more like the better organised side – the body teaches itself

* Zeroing in on new middle through progressively smaller shifts

* Tipping forwards and backwards – noticing where we increase tone to prevent ourselves falling over – and then finding middle

Standing: Exploring Moving The Hands Around Us

* Writing hand exploration—wiggling fingers, floating the hand up, exploring space infront/side/behind – where do you sense your arm begins

* Noticing volume changes in arm, chest, shoulder, feet, leg, face

* Same with the other arm – noticing its different character

* Both arms together— again playing with question of where the arms begin

Floor Work: Lying On Our Backs Watching The Breath

* Considering how we now balance on multiple points

* Playing with the image of the body like a bag full of water

* Watching the breath like a wave spreading through us

Floor Work: Reaching Forward To The Sky With One Arm

* Pointing finger to ceiling – support from Earth’s center traveling through arm out through pointing finger

* Moving the arm left/right, toward feet/toward head

* Finding the place where it’s the least effort to balance the arm – making small circles

Floor Work: Lying On The Side Arm Variations

* Both arms extending forwards along the floor – hands stacked, sliding skyward hand forward – head rolls so nose moves towards support and sky

* Creating movement from earthward side—pushing earth’s skin away, pulling towards us with the outside of the arm that rests on the floor

* Arm floating out sideways towards the heavens

* With the arm out to side making small circles—creating the movement from earthward side and the skyward side

* Keeping the arm pointing skyward while body rolls forwards/backwards

* Rotating the arm around itself—like turning a key or unscrewing a lightbulb

* Hand hanging vs pointing finger variations

* Combining rolling of the chest and head with the arm rotation

Floor Work: Lying On Our Backs

* Arm out to side, hand curled into soft ball, rolling the hand on floor headwards and footwards

* Coordinating with head rolling exploring variations

* Turning the pelvis by bringing the hip toward and away from the shoulder of the arm that lies out to the side – knees staying toward ceiling

* Noticing the response in the feet then activating them to turn the pelvis

* Everything together: hand rolling, head turning, pelvis side-bending, feet and legs engaged

Floor Work: On Back With Arm Reaching Forwards

* Arm reaching forward breaking shoulder blade contact with floor – adding twist

* Multiple variations: rolling head toward/away from arm as it twists

* Recruiting whole body so movement feels like a shapeshifting of the whole self

* Arm extended above head on the floor exploring arm rotation variations

Floor Work: On Back Integrating Both Arms

* Both arms reaching forwards to the heavens – playing with moving both arms left/right, twisting, circles – imaging the support flowing up the the earth, entering our bodies through the contact with the floor and exiting skywards

* Legs bending – one knee floating up, extending, directing support out through knees/toes/heel – both knees

* Rotating legs around themselves – analogous to arm twisting movement

* Both legs, both arms, head floating skywards

* Playing with where the support exits (elbows, fingertips, toe tips, head, tail)

* Being active everywhere seems to be how to get the lightest sensations – skyward and earthward sides working together

* Standing up without pushing down—shapeshifting our way up using support entering wherever we touch the earth

Standing: Final Integration

* Exploring moving the hands around us – close/far from body, all directions

* Arms as antennae – always both receiving and broadcasting

* Sensing differences in walking

* Noticing readiness to dance – “A step is a small dance, life is a big dance”

Class Structure

Arrival in Walking

* Beginning with walking as way to meet yourself – “feeling” as both emotional tone and physical sensation

* Progressively scanning three-dimensional volume of ourselves from feet upwards

* Considering walking as shapeshifting with attention the sensations inside our changing volumes

* Considering that body “parts” as linguistic constructs

* Noticing how our arms swing paying attention to sensations of asymmetry

Standing: Self-Organisation in Vertical through Weight Shifting

* Perceiving left/right asymmetry in inner volume and outer space

* Connecting our vertical axis to Earth’s centre 6,500 km below and imaginary star above

* Weight shifting side to side – slowly sliding our axis from side to side

* Self-organisation through observation – nervous system adjusts without conscious correction

* Zeroing in on new middle through progressively smaller shifts

Standing: Arm Explorations with Fountain Imagery

* Playing with image of support like a fountain flowing up from Earth’s centre

* Floating one arm up and down – close/far from body, front/side/behind variations

* Noticing accompanying sensations throughout the whole-body

* Does the second arm seem to have a different character

* Both arms together sensing their different characters

* Image of support like water from Earth’s centre streaming up and out through the top of our heads and out through our fingertips

* Moving in relationship to gravitational field rather than moving parts of ourselves apart from the world

Floor Work: Lying On Back with Single Arm Raised Skywards

* Considering lying on our backs as an act of balancing on multiple points

* Working with the image of the body as a bag of water – observing breath flowing like a wave through an internal ocean

* With one arm pointing to sky – moving left/right, toward feet/toward head, making small circles – sensing the weight shifts on the earthwards side

* Creating the movements of the arm from earthward side– attending to changing contact with the earth rather than moving arm through air

Floor Work: Lying on the Side – Arm Variations

* Lying on our sides – same arm pointing skyward again but now the sky is at our sides – moving forward/backward, toward head/toward feet in small circles

* Arm fixed pointing to sky while rolling the chest forwards/backwards around it

* Lifting head with arm extended skyward – noticing ribs, pelvis shifting on ground

* Both arms straight in front, hands stacked one on another, sliding skyward hand forwards/back

* Adding head variations – same direction then opposite direction

* Creating the sliding of the hand from the earthward side – pulling/pushing earth’s surface with the outside of the earthwards arm

* Bringing the arm to point to the sky again – then taking towards the floor behind you – exploring the range of ease, comfort and quality – following with the head

* With the arm behind us in a comfortable place, leaving it there then rolling the head to look towards the arm in.front then the arm behind

* Playing with moving the head and arm in opposite directions

* Returning to taking arm behind simply – noticing any changes in quality or range

Floor Work: Lower Legs and Book Opening

* On the side again with legs tucked up – lifting skyward heel skywards (front of feet stay together) – then variations with earthwards heel sensing how earthwards leg can become involved

* Lifting lower leg with knees together – whole foot floating up toward sky from initial heel twist

* Lifting skyward knee toward sky – pelvis variations

* Twisting leg in air – alternating knee contact/heel contact creating torso rolling

* Arm and leg on skyward side opening together only as far as earthward knee stays grounded

* Folding arms at elbows, increasing speed is possible

* Rolling side to side across back – generating the movement from earthwards side or from head and limbs – or both sides together

* Bringing back the image of support flowing up through us and out like water in a fountain – arms, legs, head all extended with support streaming out through fingertips, toes, head, tail – becoming a human fountain

Integration: Return to Standing and Walking

* Standing sensing wholeness rather than collection of parts

* Arms floating up in various directions – noticing weight shifts under feet

* Weight shifting side to side finding center

* Walking noticing changes from beginning

We continue exploring the relationship between the perception of the space within our skins and how we perceive the world around us. In this class, we explore the the sideways dimension in standing, and then we do a one-sided exploration lying on the floor that builds from the simple action of lifting the head away from a support

Class Structure

Arrival: Walking and Initial Sensing

* Beginning with simple walking as a way to arrive with oneself and the space

* Exploring “feeling” as both sensation and emotion in English

* Progressive body awareness through walking—noticing feet, legs, pelvis, belly, chest, shoulders, head, eyes

* Brief eyes-closed walking to notice changes in sensation and tension

Standing Explorations - Weight, Support, and Vertical Axis

* Sensing standing as balancing with micro-adjustments

* Noticing weight and support flowing through us

* Connecting to Earth’s center 6,300 km below

* Imagining stepping reveals weight preferences and asymmetrical organization

* Weight shifting practice—sliding axis toward one leg, then the other

* Dividing universe into left/right—noticing which side feels more present, alive, bigger

Floor Work - Lying on our Backs

* Balancing on multiple points (head, heels, pelvis) vs two feet in standing

* Image of the body as a bag of water – observing the breath like waves passing through internal sea

* Earth support streaming up through contact points as water, light, or electricity

* Head rolling exploration—easy direction more connected to whole body

Floor Work - Side-Lying Explorations

* New relationship to gravity—earth on one side, sky on other

* Lifting the head attending the changes throughout the body

* Weber-Fechner effect: “The less you do, the more you can feel”

* Rolling the pelvis noticing how this movement effects the whole of us

* Playing sequencing – head, pelvis and centre lead variations

* Heel and knee lifting variations exploring how the pelvis can coordinate

* Upper body rolling – creating movement from earth side rather than sky side

* “Human fountain” image – support like water entering through where we conect with the ground and exiting through head and limbs

* Body reaching down towards the centre of the earth rather than pressing down to receive support – feels like a suctioning action

* Moving in relationship to earth and sky, not just moving inside our own skinsskin

* Full integration with head, foot, arm reaching, leg extending, twisting – one side oriented to the earth and the other oriented to the sky

Integration & Return to Standing

* Standing reveals which leg receives more weight—noticing differences

* Weight shifting shows how less organized side self-organizes by observing better side

* “One of the most magical things”—nervous system organizing itself through simple attention

* Zeroing in on center through progressively smaller weight shifts

* Turning variations: eyes leading, feet leading, or everything together

* Walking integration noticing changes

We do this by first noticing how our relationship to our two sides is different through exploring how we stand and walk. Then we go to the floor to explore a movement of lifting our heads and our legs while lying on the side.

After bringing more and more of ourselves into the movement we return to standing and walking to notice how our perception of the two sides, inner and outer, might have changed. Finally, we rebalance ourselves in standing.

Class Structure

Using walking to arrive into present awareness

* Questions as invitations to work with rather than needing answers

* Exploring double meaning of “feeling” - emotional tone and physical sensation

* Body parts as cultural/linguistic constructs - “there’s no such thing as a leg or arm”

* Walking with the eyes briefly closed to notice internal changes

Standing Explorations - Weight and Support

* Weight as something passing through us, not something we possess

* Support as Earth’s push in opposite direction to weight

* Connecting to Earth’s center (6,300 km below)

* Extending attention to imaginary personal star above

* Noticing how extending attention beyond body changes internal space perception

Standing Explorations - Asymmetry and Center

* Imagining taking a step reveals how we tend to organise ourselves to receive support more on one side than the other

* Dividing universe into left/right - noticing which side feels more available

* Weber-Fechner effect: less movement allows more sensing

* Simple weight shifting with awareness we experience the brain listening to itself and self-correcting – accessing the internal organic wisdom

* Finding center through decreasing oscillations vs habitual stance

Floor Work - Side-Lying, Head Lifting

* Using solid head support to explore relationship to gravity from the side

* Head lifting while progressively involving through attention more and more of ourselves

* Focusing on releasing the weight of the head onto Earth’s generous support

* Playing with movement initiation: periphery to center vs center to periphery

Floor Work - Side-Lying, Lifting Lower Leg

* Foot moves skyward with knees together - exploring what the pelvis does

* Knee lifting with feet together - noticing weight distribution changes along the side

* Moving heel apart, front of foot apart, to set the whole body in motion

* Lifting the head with the arm and hand to involve more of the centre

Floor Work - Support “Like a Fountain” Imagery

* Support from Earth as water flowing up through contact points

* Becoming a “human fountain” - redirecting support to the head and limbs and out

* Shape-shifting to re-route gravity flow rather than lifting parts

* Full-body integration with arm reaching, leg extending

Integration & Return to Standing

* Noticing changes without stretching or fiddling

* Weight shifting allows the less organised side to learns from better organised side

* Walking integration noticing changes in perception

In this class we explore how our perception of support, balance, and orientation in space is continuously shaped by the relationship between gravity and our internal organization. The class moves through standing, lying on the belly and back to reveal how awareness of the central axis — between earth and sky — can reorganize our sense of self and movement.

We begin by arriving through walking and standing, sensing weight, support, and inner space. Gradually, we expand perception in all directions — up and down, side to side, front and back.

The work then transitions to the floor, lying on the back and on the belly, to explore how the body channels support through ourselves from the earth tot he sky.

Finally, we return to standing and walking, noticing how the experience of balance, inner space, and the outer world has transformed.

Class Structure

Arriving and Standing

* Walking as a way of arriving into the present moment through sensation

* Bringing awareness to the air around and the earth beneath

* Transitioning into standing as an act of balancing

* Imagining a central axis connecting the centre of the earth to a personal star above

* Exploring the relationship between our perception of inner space and outer space, inside and beyond our skin

Standing Explorations – Balance and Asymmetry

* Imagining taking a step to reveal our personal asymmetrical organisation

* Noticing which foot or leg tends to support us more directly

* Discovering that the “center” is not fixed but alive and responsive

* Integrating sensory awareness of sound and vision with balance

Standing Explorations – Front–Back Awareness

* Dividing space into front and back, noticing which feels more present to us

* Gently tipping forward and back to sense tone and ease

* Observing muscular effort that prevents falling and where release is possible

* Reducing movement amplitude to find equilibrium and clarity

* Reconnecting awareness of front–back balance with sound and vision

Lying Down – Support and Breath

* Noticing how weight is distributed through points of contact, balance points

* Imagining weight flowing down to and support rising up from the earth

* Imagining the body as a bag of water or jelly — soft, continuous, and supported

* Sensing breath as a wave moving through the whole internal space

Lying Down – Arms and Upper Back Movement

* Exploring air as a medium to move through rather than empty space

* Moving the arms while sensing changing contact through the back

* Discovering how making the movement smaller reveals more details

* Imagining support flowing up through the body and out through the fingertips

On the Belly – Lifting the Head

* Rolling onto the belly to reverse orientation – now the earth is in front, sky behind

* Lifting the head, noticing how the whole body joins to support this movement

* Letting the head rest while the rest of the body does what it does to “lift” the head

* Exploring various sequencing options leading to lifting the head with the whole self

* Introducing the image of support flowing through us like a fountain – from the centre of the earth, channeling through us, and then out towards the heavens

On the Back – Lifting the Head

* Exploring variations of lifting the head, but in a different orientation to gravity

* Bringing more and more of ourselves into actively supporting the movement

* Adding the image of channeling the earth’s support up through us and out

Integration and Return to Standing

* Returning to lying on the back to feel renewed balance and ease

* Coming up to sitting and standing through “shape-shifting” rather than pushing

* Reconnecting to the central axis between earth and sky

* Walking again with awareness of balance, support, and expanded perception

NOTE: I had some problems with the sound during the opening walking sequence so the recording begins in standing – the initial walking and standing sequence is missing

Class Structure

Using walking to arrive with ourselves

* Questions as invitations to play with rather than to answer

* Walking to discover “what we do if we don’t consciously try to do something”

* How do we “feel”? – what is our emotional tone and what is its relationship to what are we sensing, inside and around us?

* Building awareness of body as one volume through progressive scanning

Standing Explorations – Weight and Support

* Weight flows through our structure, it’s not something we possess

* Support as equal and opposite force to weight (Newton’s third law)

* Plugging in to the line of gravity – centre of the earth below – imaginary star above

* Noticing where we place our attention affects our perception of the space inside our skins

Standing Explorations - Asymmetry and Center

* Imagining stepping reveals how we organise ourselves in standing

* Weight shifting side to side to discover centre in the present moment

* Tipping the centre axis forward/backward to find centre

* Exploring relationship between how we experience front and back space

Floor Work - Lying on our back

* Lying as balancing on many points

* Noticing how the breath passes through us like a wave if we invite in the image of our bodies and “us shaped” bags of water

* The skin expands and contracts with our breath throughout ourselves

Floor Work - Lying on our bellies

* A huge shift – the earth is now in front and sky behind us

* Lifting our heads - noticing whole-body response to lifting the head then activating the whole body to lift the head

* Lifting feet – exploring the difference between moving from our centres rather than our periphery

* Combining head and leg, experiencing this as whole-body shapeshifting rather than mobilising different parts

* Working with channeling the support of the earth through us

Floor Work - Integration on Back

* Lifting our heads with interlaced hands behind head

* Adding knees to create open to easier perception of the movement as shapeshifting

* Rolling side to side while channeling support through elbows

* Building towards all limbs reaching to the sky while channeling the support from the earth behind us out into the sky in front of us

Coming to Standing

* Challenge: standing up without pushing down into earth

* Shape-shifting the whole of us rather than levering ourselves up part by part

* Noticing any changes in how it feels to be standing and walking again – the relationship to the backspace now?

On Friday evenings I intend to teach similar material to the preceding Tuesday morning Tuning class but it a simpler more spacious way. We will go quicker to the floor and explore in more detail there and have longer for free movement integration at the end.

In this class we begin with a short walk and stand before going to the floor with the attention to the backspace. Once on the floor, we begin with exploring the seemingly simple movement of rolling the pelvis towards and away from the feet. We explore how different “parts” of ourselves can be involved in the movement and discover how this movement, and all movements, become lighter and more powerful when experienced as whole body movements – what I call shapeshifting.

The recording covers the first part of the class until the end of the floor exploration.

Class Structure & Topics Covered

Using walking to arrive into present awareness

* Walking without trying to walk well - using movement to assess our current state

* Exploring “how we are feeling” - feeling in the sense of what is our emotional tone and feeling in sense of what are we sensing.

* Noticing how we feel the floor, room, other people, the weather

* Noticing standing as dynamic rather than static activity

Standing Explorations - Weight and Support

* Measuring internal space between top of head and soles of feet

* Connecting to Earth’s centre below and personal star above through gravity line

* Observing the sensation of weight flowing through us “like water through a waterfall”

* Support as the equal and opposite force to weight – Newton’s third law.

* Noticing which foot we imagine stepping forward with reveals our habitual organisation

Standing Explorations - Finding Centre

* Weight shifting side to side

* Observing how the less clear side organises itself through attention alone

* “Zeroing in” on centre through decreasing oscillations side to side

* Tipping the axis forwards and backwards looking for the certre where muscular tension is minimal

* Noticing centre as the place of maximum internal space

Floor Work - Head and Pelvis Coordination

* Lying as balancing on multiple points with movement at each

* Working with the image of the body as a bag full of water to release unnecessary tension and experience whole body breathing

* Noticing asymmetrical support patterns and head rolling preferences

* Finding optimal leg position through Goldilocks principle

* Rolling pelvis and head as “bowling balls” in same and opposite directions

Floor Work - Adding Elements

* Integrating jaw opening and tongue movement

* Eyes patterning tone down the spine

* Feet gripping floor surface to initiate the movement through the legs

* Developing mastery means inventing multiple ways of achieving the same result

Floor Work - Whole Body Integration

* Adding in the image and movement of the chest like a ball

* Using arms as levers through surface contact to move the ball of the chest

* Playing with initiation and sequencing using all we’ve explored so far

* Returning again to variations when everything moves all together

Integration & Return to Standing

* Noticing changes in internal volume and breath distribution

* Transitioning without excessive stretching to live inside the new organisation for as long as possible to achieve maximum benefits

* Returning to standing and walking to observe what changed

Class Structure

Using walking to arrive into present awareness

* Walking as a way to meet ourselves in the present and bring our attention to our physicality

* Recognising that sensation of having different body parts is a cultural construction – “there is no such thing as feet or toes, they are just words” – which are useful but also create a very particular impression

* We scan our attention through different areas of ourselves, building to an invitation to experience the body as one interconnected shape in motion

Standing Explorations - Weight and Support

* Noticing how weight and support flow through us like “water through a waterfall” rather than being something we possess

* Noticing how our perception internal inner volume and changes depending on where we place our attention

* Discovering which foot we imagine stepping forwards with reveals how we organise ourselves for weight and support to flow through us asymmetrically

* Noticing how we are constantly mediating between heaven and earth

Standing Explorations - Playing with the Vertical Axis

* Slow weight shifting from side to side, finding a new position for the vertical axis through attending to sensation in the present moment – “zeroing in” on middle

* Tipping forwards and backwards, noticing how the musculature changes tone and looking for where the tone seems to be minimal – again “zeroing in”

Floor Work - Rolling the Head and Pelvis Towards and Away from the Feet

* There are many balance points when we lie as opposed to only the soles of the feet when we stand

* Rolling pelvis and head as if they were “bowling balls” towards and away from the feet

* Initiating from feet through surface friction rather than pushing down and integrating this work in the legs with the head and pelvis

Floor Work - Eyes and Whole Body Integration

* Adding chest as third ball into the mix

* Using arms as levers through surface friction to support chest rolling

* Distributing work throughout body vs. initiating from single place

* Playing with sequences and variations

Integration & Return to Standing

* Choosing which side to roll to as information about our self-organisation

* Maintaining the awareness of support through transitioning to standing

* Noticing what movements arise that take us out of simple standing, which is actually quite challenging

* And noticing changes in emotional tone and perception as a result of all we have done

We refine that by working with rolling side-to-side on the floor where our vertical axis becomes a centre line. Turning, rolling, different parts of ourselves around this centre line, and combining them in ever more complex combinations, clarifies the axis still further.

Class Structure

Using walking to arrive into present awareness

* Beginning with simple walking as a way to arrive with ourselves

* Noticing the “feeling” you have in this moment – in English “feeling” means sensation and emotion

* Beginning with the feet, progressively sensing our inner volume throughout entire body while walking

* Playing with the idea of the body as process and community rather than object

Standing Explorations - Weight and Support

* Exploring the subjective effects of Newton’s third law through sensation – the sensation of weight and support flowing through our structure

* Opening our attention to the line the line that connects the Earth’s centre to our imaginary personal star above through our vertical axis – noticing the accompanying changes in our perception of our inner volume

* Noticing our asymmetry through discovering our standing leg

Standing Explorations - Turning around ourselves

* Using turning to clarify the vertical axis

* Noticing our preferences and investigating further our bilateral asymmetry

* Using sensation in the present moment to tune ourselves to gravity and find a new relationship to centre

Floor Work - Head and Pelvis Coordination

* Noticing how we roll our heads differently to either side and how that relates to how we perceive asymmetries in how we lie on the floor

* Adding rolling the pelvis, then creating variations by combining with head rolling

* Using triangle arms (both arms straight and hands stuck together) position to explore rolling the shoulder girdle and chest to create more variations

Floor Work - Eyes and Whole Body Integration

* Exploring eye movements left and right

* Smoothing out the eye movements by tracking an imaginary object

* Eyes leading and opposing head movement

* Complex coordinations with eyes, head, pelvis and chest

Integration & Return to Standing

* Attending to what changed in lying

* Attending to what changed in standing

* Attending to what changed in walking