In this fascia community class, we begin in an embodied meditation followed by a recap of movement explorations that we practiced in the earlier classes. These movement explorations span across the body, from head to toe, sensing into the fluid continuity of the myofascial slings. We also harness upon the use of visualisation and sound to create the unwinding of the body-mind, integrating the nervous system to create safety, grounding, and presence.

Click the link in bio to watch the full video on youtube.

Props required:
1 yoga mat
1 blanket
1 pair of socks (or 1 soft, squishy-like ball)
1 yoga strap (or 1 scarf/towel)
1 cushion (optional)
1 yoga block (optional)

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For this final class, we tap into more movement sequences (expansion, contraction, spiral movements) to help guide us towards a deeper sensing of our navel space. The navel space, which as mentioned in the previous 2 classes, lies at the centre of intrinsic and extrinsic movement. We also explore how this navel centre, on a macro level, can be extended to the idea of a bigger source – the earth’s centre. The class ends with exploratory movement and a short restorative exercise.
When we are able to move in an embodied manner from our navel centre, we will find greater grounding, ease, connectedness and a sense of being.
​
Props required:

• 1 yoga mat
• 1 pair of socks
• 1 weighted ball (or water bottle)
• 1 cushion (or bolster)
• 1 blanket

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on December 24th 2021.

The post Somatic Workshop Series: Navel Radiation (3/3) appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

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Much of the work I do is also teaching people how to get on the floor and get back up.

I train my clients to not be fearful of the ground beneath us.

A big part of somatic coaching is to lean into the support of gravity so we don’t have to do all the work of tensing all our muscles and be in fight / flight mode constantly.

In today’s society we spend way too much time in the vertical plane, and on elevated platforms such as chairs and couches. We slouch into them and then collapse into our elevated beds at the end of the day.

Ease your way onto the floor and uncover your inner child.

Your spine will thank you for it 💃

#spinalhealth#somaticmovement#preciousmoments
#getonthefloor#somawithdaphne#yogawithdaphne
#yogatherapy#embodiedintelligence#somaticcoaching

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on September 24th 2020

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The concept of a neutral pelvis is a topic every movement educator across different modalities would passionately debate over.

This week on #SomawithDaphneandLucy, we’d like to share our take on the neutral pelvis as an embodiment PROCESS, rather than just a shape or a form.

One of the most logical rationales to this principle is that – When the pelvis is in its neutral position, it allows for the most amount of space between each vertebra, as they are then aligned in their natural curves (i.e primary and secondary curves or kyphosis and lordosis). A neutral pelvis means that our spine can act as a “spring” in our bipedal form, to provide a buffer for the compressive forces moving through the body as we navigate through space and gravity.

A simple approach to finding a neutral pelvis is to experiment with the anterior and posterior tilting of the pelvis in relationship to the bony landmarks – the ASIS (hip points), and the diamond-shaped compass of the Sacrum, Coccyx, Ischium, Pubic Symphysis – to find the place in the centre.
These landmarks are incredibly useful in bringing awareness to a vital and yet vulnerable part of the body that we often ignore. Even though we spend so much time sitting on our bum, what we do with our pelvis and pelvic floor are often only brought to our attention when we are experiencing pain or discomfort.

From the bony landmarks, we can begin to explore the intrinsic movement of breath within the inner body, in particular the relationship between the ribcage and the pelvis.

Our respiratory diaphragm sits just beneath the ribs. As our primary breathing muscle, the diaphragm contracts and descends during inhalation, and releases to ascend during exhalation. The heart and lungs rest above the respiratory diaphragm, and our internal organs are below this diaphragm. On the other hand (end), the pelvic floor (also a diaphragm) supports the weight of our internal organs, in addition to sexual and elimination functions.

The respiratory diaphragm and the pelvic diaphragm (not just a floor!) is actually one continuous integrated “being” that modulates our life force! Their ability to move in resonance with each other is important in the healthy and intricate functioning of all our biological processes, such as oxygenation, circulation, motility of organs, digestive and reproductive processes etc.

Creating an embodied awareness on this symbiotic relationship of the intrinsic rhythm of our breath pulsating through the different diaphragms will not only create optimal alignment and ease in the way we move, sit, stand, walk, but also help regulate our nervous system, return us back to health, and cultivate a sense of grounding and safety.
​
In the next video, we would like to invite you to explore a short practice to sense the resonance between the 2 diaphragms to come into the “state” of a neutral pelvis.

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on June 19th 2020

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In our quest to move up the evolutionary ladder, we expose our vulnerability to the world through the front body, which contains our soft and vital organs. The front body also forms a big part of our #selfimage (refer to our previous post on this topic) of how we see ourselves and how we want others to see us. Therefore, our nervous system is wired to “think” and “predict” danger to preserve our survival. This sense of vigilance can literally move us away from our anchor and grounding.

When the world we live becomes too much for our nervous system to handle – too much stress, too much uncertainty, too much stimulus, too much grief, can we take this as a signal to retreat, to withdraw, to exhale?

The flexion state takes us back into our embryological being – a time in which we are nestled and suspended in the warm fluids of our mother’s womb, a state where cells divides and organise, a state of balance and homeostasis, in which the order of nature grants us nourishment and protection.
If you’re experiencing physical symptoms like migraine, neck and shoulder tension, back ache, shortness of breath, excessive gas, acid reflux, or even sleep disorder, your body is sending an invitation to marinate yourself in this restorative state.

Check out this video as Lucie explains her experience and a little demo to retract the front line and open up the back line of the body.

Allow your organs to soften and drape over the support of your cushions, bringing breath into the back body and releasing the adrenals from its state of vigilance to one of yielding. 

​Welcome home.

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on June 7th 2020

The post Flexion state & the nervous system appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

The relative distance of our feet from our brain often causes us to disregard the health and care of our feet. We tend to ignore the messages coming from this very distal part of the body. We wear shoes that are too tight, too loose, too flat, too high… For some culture, there’s even a certain element of shame attached to the feet. Some people might go through years of suffering from sore feet before paying any attention to this part of the body.

The health of our feet is instrumental in our overall health.

Our two feet are made up of 52 bones, accounting for about a quarter of all the bones in our body. They contain 60 joints and 200 muscles, tendons and ligaments that hold them together for mobility and stability. Most of the myofascial matrix crosses through the feet as they are fundamental to our evolution into bipeds. Our feet establish the foundation of our vertical relationship to navigate through gravity and 3 dimensional space and create movement continuity through all our body’s systems.
Embryologically, our feet and toes grow out of the limb buds before the legs are fully formed, essentially making our feet an extension of the pelvis, and hence its close association to our pelvic health.

Keeping our feet strong and nimble means stronger grounding and stability, more movement choices and increased neural pathways and plasticity! Training our feet to be able to articulate through different loads and tracking its relationship to different parts of the body will not only alleviate conditions like plantar fasciitis, heel pain, achilles tendinitis, it can also prevent knee injury, relieves lower back pain, soothe neck and shoulder tension and even migraine. Its close relationship with our pelvic diaphragm also means that strong and flexible feet will bring awareness to our core being as we find support through gravity and levity. When we establish better proprioception and interoception we can also help to regulate our nervous system so we are less anxious and stressed!

This post was originally posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on May 28th 2020

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Please check it out and let me know how it goes 🙂

This post was originally posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on April 26th 2020

The post A grounding practice (audio lesson) appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

Within the space of an hour, the change in his temperament was profound. He smiled and engaged with me and others verbally, his body language was one of openness. He also gave me a number of big bear hugs and walked me to my bike to bid me goodbye.

The central theme in the trainings I facilitate is on the regulation of the nervous system. In Body Mind Centering, our nervous system serves as a recording device, it records every phenomenon in every moment and red flags events that might potentially threaten our perception of safety based on our biopsychosocial memory bank of experiences. Using Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory as a basis to approach therapy, we can create a container of safety and compassion to mindfully titrate somatic awareness for our clients and students who suffers from anxiety, trauma or disassociative syndrome, allowing the body-mind to slowly reintegrate into a present, embodied moment.

In cases of autism spectrum the nervous system is often overwhelmed. This boy was in shut-down mode before the class. What I observed was through a container of safety activation of movement, breath, and touch, his nervous system could be shifted from one of shut down and disassociation to one of presence and engagement .

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on May 19th 2019

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