Moving Into Wholeness

Preparing

Find a space where you can move freely and safely, without being disturbed.

You may wish to remove your shoes and loosen anything that restricts your movement.

Throughout this practice, move in ways that respect your body.

You may make any movement smaller, slower, or gentler.

Begin in a comfortable standing position. Let your arms rest naturally.

Feel the ground beneath your feet.

Sensing

Begin with a very gentle movement.

You might slowly shift your weight from one foot to the other. You might sway, turn, or begin to walk quietly through the space.

For now, simply move as a way of listening.

Bring your attention down into your feet. Notice pressure, warmth, coolness, or tingling.

Let them move in any small way they would like to move.

Allow your awareness to travel upward through your ankles and legs. Notice where movement feels easy. Notice where there is tightness or stillness.

Let the breath meet each part of you as it is.

Feel your hips, your belly expanding as you breathe in, softening as you breathe out.

Let the breath gently invite movement.

Bring awareness into your chest, shoulders, arms, hands, and face.

Some places may feel vivid and alive. Others may feel distant or tight.

Welcome all of this. Keep breathing. Keep gently moving.

Becoming

Now imagine your awareness sinking down from your head and entering the whole of your body.

Rather than observing the body from a distance, imagine living inside it.

Feel yourself behind your eyes, inside your chest, within your belly, your hands, your feet.

Let yourself become the body. Feel from within. Move from within.

Begin to notice whether any part of you wants to move a little more fully.

Perhaps the spine wants to curve, the arms want to reach, or the feet want to carry you somewhere.

Allow the movement to find its own shape.

Your movement may be fluid, sharp, trembling, playful, or still.

There is no correct way to move. Let yourself discover movements you did not plan.

Expressing

Allow more freedom now. Let whatever wants to move, move through you.

Let it appear, express itself, and become something new.

Become aware of the space around you. Move toward it. Move away from it.

Reach into it, turn within it, or become still inside it.

Notice whether a feeling is present. Joy, tenderness, frustration, or something without a name.

See whether it want to become a gesture. Let the body express it.

Let yourself enjoy the simple aliveness of expression.

Gathering

Now begin to gather these movements into one connected expression.

Imagine every part of your body contributing to a single unfolding story.

When one hand moves, feel how that connects through your shoulder, your chest, your center, and into your feet.

When your hips turn, allow the movement to travel through the whole body.

Let one movement lead naturally into the next.

Many sensations and many feelings, coming together as one embodied self.

Feel the body moving as a whole. Connected. Responsive. Alive.

Returning

Gradually begin to slow down. Let your movements become smaller and softer.

Return from expressing to listening.

Notice the sensations that remain. The rhythm of your heart. The quality of your breath.

Welcome what has moved through you. Welcome what remains.

Slowly return to a comfortable standing position.

As you inhale, feel a natural expansion. As you exhale, a natural settling.

Feel your feet on the ground. Feel your center. Feel the space around you.

Take one final, unhurried breath.

Receive this body as it is. Receive yourself as you are.

And when you feel ready, gently complete the practice.

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