That in every movement or gesture that we perform, the Nervous System is listening to the Fascia System and talking to the Musculo-Skeletal system.

Our body of intelligence is always trying to figure out how to respond to the environment. The nervous system is our safety barometer – it perceives both our internal and external environment and everything in between to scan for potential danger. It records every phenomena and labels them as good or bad based on the imprints of historical experiences.

Our connective tissues via the self-organising fascia matrix give us a sense of where and how we’re moving through space and gravity across multiple joints. Every muscle, every bone, every organ and even every cell lives embedded within the sea of a unitary fascial matrix. It gives us a sense of continuity and integration of our whole body. 

All these information is then related back to our brain to control our musculo-skeletal system for both volitional and sub-conscious movement and action.

These trinity of system then form a feedback loop – The Neuromyofascial Web. These processes and the way in which they dialogue with each other define our responsiveness / reactivity to our environment, our defensive mechanisms in which we view the world as safe or dangerous. It shapes our emotions, our posturing and our body language. It creates the container in which we experience life and conjugates our reality.

DM to find out more about how we can tap into these somatic inquiries through our trainings, workshops and private sessions.

The post Neuromyofascial Web 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.

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.

The first class of the navel radiation series.

In today’s session, we learn about the core of our body. In the fitness realm, there’s so much emphasis on the core. Most of the time, the core was associated with the much desired AB(S)dominal muscles. Many modalities also explore pelvic lumbar stability, and the iliopsoas complex.

Through the years of teaching and exploration into Body Mind Centering (BMC), I’ve began to explore the concept of the core as the centre of our “being-ness”, located behind the navel space. It is the space in which the umbilical chord connects each of us to our mother during in-utero fetus days. From a developmental perspective, this very core is also the seed in which all the other limbs of our body (arms, legs, head and tail) develops from. It is the centre between the front and back, the top and bottom half, and the 2 sides of our body. It is the centre in our 3-dimensional body moving through 3-dimensional space.

We start off the session with a navel radiation meditation, followed by sensing how the quality of conventional vinyasa movement changes when we initiate such movement from the core, and end off the session with exploratory movement with the weighted ball.

Props required:

• 1 pair of socks
• 1 weighted ball (or water bottle)

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on December 11th 2021.

The post Somatic Workshop Series: Navel Radiation (1/3) appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

I force my lungs into space
Push into verticality from gravity
Search the upswell for a reason
to try again

Today
Another day like yesterday
Start over again
So tomorrow will be better

Put on my gear
Put on my smile
Put on my gig
For time is commodity in the roulette called Life

Lingering there in the shadows
Heavy, looming darkness
Taunting, mocking
Spinning tales

Of un-belonging
Of never being whole
Of never being met
Of being just too much

Darkness says
I’ve been in your dreams
I’ve been in your wake
Time and again you’ve looked away

Now I’m in your head
Now I’m under your skin
Now I’m screaming in your ears
Now let’s see you plead!

In the deafening silence of suffering
The graveyard of hearts, wings clipped
Drenched in the dense cold liquid of fear
Shackled by the rusted chains of wants

Undress your armour of pretend courage
Untether from your longings and heartaches
Put out the fire of your rage
Let it go let it go let it all go!

Let’s plunge … Into the darkness of metamorphosis
A realm dense with void
A playground of pain to revel in
Till there’s no more …

Oh, the relief, the catharsis!
Of never having to care again
Of never having to try to do better
Of never having to seek an-other

But there…in the distance
A glint of an ember
An echo of reason
In the balm of being
​
Through the dark cold swamp of shadows
I got down on my knees
And offered my mangled heart for keeps
For Love still deserves a place by the light

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on October 30th 2021.

The post Unbeatable (a mental health piece) appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

For a year I tried to learn how to grieve from afar.
Away from family and friends, removed from the sights and smells of the memories we once shared.
I realised my body needed to feel the loss.
Not just in my head, but to physically, viscerally, mourn his absence.

When I made the decision to move back to Singapore, I had to battle with another loss –
Leaving behind the person that I was going to share the rest of my life with.
Someone whom I thought was everything I could ever asked for.

And now another year has gone.
2020 felt like a year of resets on steroids.
Heartbroken. Letting go and letting in. Belief systems crushed. Hopes dashed. Fears transformed. The impossible made possible.

My father taught me to keep things simple, to always look for the silver linings, to move pain into joy, suffering into compassion, fear into hope.

So today I light another candle.
For you, dear Papa.

In this flame we journey together,
into a space
where it’s timeless and boundless.

~~~

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity
It asked a crumb – of me
​
~ Emily Dickinson

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on December 29th 2020.

The post Another year… appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on December 2nd 2020.

The post First Covid Training Completed appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

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

On the other hand, muscles do the work of mobility, muscle fibres fire and contract to help us move through / across space Muscles and our bones work symbiotically for optimal functioning in stability and mobility.

However, what happens is that we often get stuck to trying to achieve a form or a goal, or we are rushing to get somewhere, or to perform a task based on what we think it should look like and if it fits certain mould. When our nervous system is constantly wired to react to stress and the constant need to “try harder”, the muscles take over the direction of the bones. We tend to get set in movement habits that are driven from the perspective that we are a machine made of parts rather than an relational organism.

This is a little somatic practice of exploring the support we can create if we bring awareness to our bones / ligament and movement continuity. The dynamic fluidity to respond rather than react. So we can create more healthy bone and joint health, as well as regulate our nervous system to come into a sense of being rather than having to do more all the time.
​
#bodymindcentering#somatics#somaticmovementeducation#somatictherapy#somawithdaphne
#yogawithdaphne#movementinquiryembodiment#bonehealth#osteopathy
#yogatherapy#somaticyoga

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on November 9th 2020

The post Finding support from your bones appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.

Lucie is taking a little hiatus…

When Lucie told me early this year that she is venturing into the decluttering profession, unlike most who know her, I wasn’t at all surprised at this career choice she has chosen.
In working with her the last 3 years from teacher-student to movement collaborators, Lucie is always able to demonstrate her presence in understanding the nuanced concepts in movement, and also in the creative ways she’s able to apply them in real life.

We share a common deep love affair in the work of somatics and embodiment which goes above and beyond just being healthy and fit.
It calls upon us to do our inner shadow work so we ca clean out the cobwebs of our somatic imprints through relational inquiries.

There is no demarcation between body and mind. The body is the mind. The mind is the body.
The body is the canvas upon which our experiences are wonderfully written with movement as its language. Within the microcosm of the body we inhabit in – a universe of fluids, cells, organs, breath – belies a magic we can lean into, a harmonious balance of space, gravity, support and surrender.

As a movement teacher and body therapist, our work parallels each other’s. What I do is to guide and hold sacred space for these storylines to be organised, to be told, to be released or reframed. Through this co-creation, I help my clients uncover their authenticity for expression and agency to live more fully.

Keep in touch with Lucie at Your Space as she embarks on her adventure too in the alignment of inner and outer spaces.

How does your home reflect your inner state of being?
It goes beyond just inquiring #doesthissparkjoy.

Till soon Lucie! ​

This post was previously posted on Yogawithdaphne.com on July 29th 2020

The post Space Within. Space Without appeared first on Somatic Therapy Asia.