Skin serves as our boundary between self and other.

Our skin is our armour and shield against the world.

As it is porous to what can infiltrate and absorb.

Movement and touch are like the Yin & Yang of our skin.

Movement touches the skin from the inside out.

Touch moves the skin from the outside in.

From the universe within, to the macrocosm without.

Beneath and beyond.

Skin is both the Unifier and the Segregator.

Who do we welcome, and who do we reject?

The skin does not lie.

Are we braced tightly upright bound by its borders?

Frozen ropes wrapped around our organs.

Or loosely in a puddle, a sludgy strife against our pain.

Can our skin yield without hesitation?

To the support of gravity.

To be held in the spaciousness of life.

To be welcome in the container in which no one comes before you.

To belong in … our skin.

• • • • • • • •

DO YOU KNOW?

Our skin and our brain arises from the same germ layer in embryology.

Skin is our brain turned inside out.

Skin is the conduit between our nervous system and the outside world.

Skin is the barometer that reflects our relationship with our self, and the environment we are in.

Our lymphatic system also follows the veins along the skin of our periphery, and culminates in the mid section of the body – forming an integral part of our immune system.

Most rashes, hives, eczema, and skin conditions follow these lymph / nerve tracks.

Taking care of our skin, and paying attention to the different qualities of our skin in different areas of the body can help to improve our immune function, regulate our nervous system, and retain suppleness of our skin.

The post The Skin appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

Join me in this upcoming somatic workshop series for a nervous system reset, as well as to reconnect with self and others through creative embodiment practices.

Somatic movement therapy is an accessible practice for anyone looking for a meaningful reset to the body-mind. Tap into the wisdom of the body through gentle guided movements, visualisations and breath work to hone your sensory awareness. Journey into a parasympathetic state of intuition, deep rest and connection.

Each session in this series of 2 will begin with a movement practice to tune into our deeper awareness and subconscious. As we learn to listen to our being at a cellular level, our nervous system moves into homeostasis to restore health, as well as create space for openness and curiosity. We can harness the power of deep listening to take stock of who and where we are, what we want to let go and nurture – through the simple practice of journaling and dialoguing.

This series of 2 can be taken in tandem or individually.

~ Details ~
Saturday March 5 & 12
2.30 – 4.30pm
Yoga In Common Singapore
$45 per class or $80 for both
Studio pass holders may pay 2 classes per session

Click link in bio to register.

The post Nurture & Nourish Embodiment Workshop appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

This overwhelming desire for control often hinders our ability to be, to meet our self and other, to arrive just as we are. Our minds become rigid as we brace for control. We are afraid to fail, to disappoint, to upset, to fall. 

We forget that to PLAY is our birth right. 

Even as we play, notice how frequently the desire for control intervenes itself with play – we no longer play for play’s sake, but play within the confines of what is deemed right or wrong, good or bad. Play becomes competitive, territorial, divisive. 

The post The Power of Play appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on May 14th 2021.

The post Let’s get real appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

We are told to believe that we can outwit nature by constantly doing doing doing, setting ourselves to always be in fight or flight.

What if it’s not a binary process of the last man standing, but a recognition of our innate relational ability to co-exist. That to thrive is to create symbiotic relationships with self and others. That resilience is not so much about resisting, but to let go. That transformation comes through our vulnerability to BE, to rest, to digest, to adapt, to connect, to trust.

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on February 23rd 2021.

The post Survival of Fittest? appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

The post Sweets with Mum appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

​
~ written by Lucie Krobova, edited by Daphne Chua 

This post was originally posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on May 25th 2020

The post Our embodied self-image appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

Life is Non-Linear. To be relational to our environment and sustainable in mind-body, we train our reflexes to respond rather than react. Non-linear, multi-planar, 3-D spiralling movement emulate the complexity of life and trains our nervous system to regulate – safety in the body.

Movement begins at the moment of conception. The moment in which individual existence becomes relational. Space, fluids, and the inexplicable order of nature that propel cells to differentiate, multiply, organise…

Our vestibular system begins in utero, orientating us to within the three-dimensional womb space, connecting us from our intrinsic being into the mystical otherness. Form arises through movement. Birth’s ignition thrusts us from the safe cradle of fluids into air and gravity, into self-sufficiency and cognitive volition.

From then on, the pathways in civilised life conditioned us in a reality stipulated by polarities – right or wrong, good or bad, success and failure.

Our cognitive frontal lobe drives the speed engine of societies. We are taught to always think before we act. Sensing and feeling belong to the frivolous. Our linear mind drives our body to function in two-dimensions, i.e means to an end. Our goal-driven ego is always looking for results and achievements. We move through life chasing ever greater highs. From substances to social media to Netflix, we have forgotten the nuances in the spaces of stillness and being.

The study of somatics calls upon us to take a break from constantly swimming upstream, to let go of the belief that no pain = no gain, to surrender into the frivolity of sensing and feeling into our three dimensional body that’s still 66 percent fluids.

Can we become curious again during this time of introspection? To come back into our relational being that is kept atop Planet Earth, to remember our multi-dimensional existence that has traversed space and time to come into form.

The connective tissue within our body – an embryological matrix that becomes our blood, lymph, cellular membranes, nerve wrappings, muscles, tendons, ligaments, synovial fluids… FASCIA! They love being moved in novel ways, through different planes, into different shapes. Our nervous system needs this multi-planar movement to stay flexible so it can differentiate and self regulate. Our immune system needs consistent fluid flow to flush out toxins, our musculo-skeletal system needs to be nourished and hydrated to ensure we get through old age without too many fractures.
​
We spend so much time in front of a screen, especially in these strange times of self-isolation. I invite you to step away from your 2 dimensional blue light reality and step inside your 3 dimensional body – wiggle, roll, shake, jump, dance, play! Forget alignment, forget what you’re supposed to look like, and just MOVE!

This post was originally posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on June 5th 2020

The post Variability of movement appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

The post Proprioception & kinaesthesia appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

The post Dual Awareness appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.