In this final workshop on head tension, we continue to expand on new movement explorations that target the vestibular system, engaging in movements that involve the 3 dimensional planes of the body (front/back, top/bottom, left/right). We will explore different positions of the body in relation to the gravity and space, and play with dynamic balance. In doing so, we delocalise head tension away from the area of our eyes and regulate our nervous system through connecting with our proprioceptive feedback.

Props required:
– 1 yoga mat
– 1 blanket
– 1 yoga block (or book)
– 1 strap (or scarf/belt)

(Note: Due to some technical mishaps, there would be a short pause in the video)

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In this second out of three workshops on head tension, we engage in a series of movement explorations that target the vestibular system. Being able to land and locate through our vestibular feedback helps to regulate our nervous system and thus bring relief to head tension. We learn to delocalise intense sensations by paying attention to the nuances through interoception and safety – tuning into fluids, body rhythm and non-linear movement to facilitate curiosity and a sense of play. We continue to also explore the jaw and eyes to release tension of the cranial sutures.  

Props required:
– 1 yoga mat
– 1 blanket
– 1 yoga block (or book)
– 1 strap (or scarf/belt)
– 1 pair of socks (or 1 soft, squishy-like ball)

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Introducing a new theme for somatic exploration – head tension. In this first out of three workshops, I touch on how the head does not exist in isolation but rather, shares connections through multiple systems in the body. One area we will explore is the skeletal system, i.e the head’s connection with the pelvic diaphragm through the jaw, spine, pelvis, legs and feet. From an energetic point of view, when we experience head tension, there can be an excess of energy concentrated at the cognitive level (we are literally very much “in our head”). Through a series of exercises, we ease tension by sensing into the relationship between our head and the base of our spine, all the way to the feet – bringing the energy back to earth. We also delve deeper into the relationship between the cranium and the pelvis. 

Props required:
– 1 yoga mat
– 1 firm cushion
– 1 yoga block

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This is 2 out of 3 classes of the Creating Safety Workshop conducted last year.

This second class of the creating safety workshop starts off with exploring a sense of integration between our individual bodies (the micro), with that of the earth (the macro). We tap into body weight, and the forces of gravity and rebound to find a sense of ease, support and body awareness. I also speak about yielding and collapsing, and how through the somatic exploration exercises, we can strike a healthy symbiotic relationship between these two states. In this sense, yielding would not equate to the over-activation of our nervous system, and collapsing would not equate to the total lapsing or shut down of our nervous systems. The ability of our nervous systems to calibrate and shift itself flexibly between these two states translates to a greater sense of being. We also explore feet work and a somatic play exercise with a chair.
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Props required:

• 1 yoga mat
• 1 blanket
• 1 yoga block
• 1 weighted ball (or water bottle)
• 1 chair

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on November 26th 2021.

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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

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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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~ 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.

It was played up dramatically across the media, and triggered a lot of fear mongering as to whether Yoga (as a physical practice) is indeed as beneficial as it purports to be.

Yoga is an ancient practice on a mind-body connection. However, what seemed to hold true in contemporary postural yoga is the emphasis on the end game. 

1. In a group class format, students are instructed based on pre-conceived notions of shapes or aesthetics, i.e what a pose should look like in mimicry of the form. In social media, we scroll through contortions performed by hypermobile yogis hailed as an advanced practice.

2. There is so much speak in terms of alignment principles and how to get into poses successfully. These supposed universal principles sees the body as standard human architecture of parts that fit together.

3. In an attainment-focused, you-snooze-you-loose society, we are consumed by the notion of Mind over Matter, of what we’ve got to show to the world. It’s about pushing harder in everything we do, from our career to the exercise regimes we choose. It’s about 5-steps programs and quick-fixes and how to lose weight in a month. We want everything packaged and delivered.

In the trainings I facilitate, I often go on ad nauseam on this line – It’s not about WHAT we do, it’s about HOW we do it. It is not about placing your feet here and turning your head there, and voila, you’re in a yoga pose programmed for bliss. It’s not about getting deeper into a backbend so your heart can be wide open. And it’s definitely not about the teacher coming in to push you into what is considered as the correct expression of an asana to add compensatory patterns upon compensatory patterns.

It’s about what happens as we’re moving from point A to point B, it’s the moment-to-moment attention our mind affords the body during the transition. It’s about noticing what we are holding on to, or what we have disassociated with. It’s observing what is happening to the breath, what runs through the mind? And once we arrive in the pose, it’s the continuity of how each moment is unfolding, what is the body informing us? What do we sacrifice in order to persist? How many other possible ways can we explore?

Rene Descartes’ famous theology of I think, therefore I am,  led us into believing that our body and mind are separate experiences that are relational only in the ways that the latter reigns supreme. This body and mind duality leads to a conundrum of us thinking that we need to outdo our body in order to attain what our mind tells us to. And our body does abide, it finds creative ways to work around limitations such as fatigue, stress, anxiety, until it can no longer….

Moshe Feldenkrais said, “You can’t do what you want until you know what you’re doing. Once you know what you’re doing, then you can do what you want.” It is often easier to do what someone tells us to do than to actually notice what we’re doing.

To self-inquire is arduous and dangerous, as it often defies dogmas. It requires us to let go of old beliefs, step outside the comforting realm of familiarity. But what it will unleash is the courage to be true to our authenticity, a reimagination of perspectives, unearthing a wisdom through learning how to listen to a deeper and more subtle consciousness . 

It’s not about What you do, but How you do it. Someone once told me this is a heavily-loaded statement. And indeed it is. It puts us in a volatile position of not knowing, of beginner’s mind, of not trusting our fabricated storylines that are rooted in fear. It requires us to actually have to slow down enough to glimpse into the spaces in between. But it brings us to a whole new level of a grounded, embodied intelligence that gives us back the power to make choices, the right to BE who we really are. 

Embodiment is a somatic experience, an exploration into the deconstructing the phenomenons that have been recorded in our nervous system, conditioned by expectations and ego.
It is the ability to move into an empathic path of coming into relationships with self and others, a relearning of choices, a bridging of the body and the mind. 

If you’re interested in exploring this work, join me on the next Embodiment & Bodywork Immersion this July. 

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on March 29th 2019

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