May Unwind
Photo by: MB
Returning to the Body
Listening Beneath the Noise
I recently read a line from one of my teachers, Manuela Mischke-Reeds, that I want to share with you
“We think we live in our bodies. But how many of us really inhabit full-body awareness?”
I wanted to share because the privilege of my work allows me to meet and treat so many people, and what I often notice is how easy it is to lose connection with our bodies amidst the demands of modern life.
And if you’re of my vintage, when you hear the phrase The Body, you might immediately think of Elle Macpherson, the body seen through the lens of aesthetics, performance or appearance.
But when do we stop and appreciate the body for something deeper?
Not as an object to be evaluated, but as the vessel, the place, the home through which life is experienced.
When you come in for a treatment, I’m often curious about what life has been asking of you, because life is experienced through the body through the shape it holds, through lifted shoulders, a tight chest, a clenched jaw, shallow breathing, or the feeling of being unable to fully relax.
While I deeply respect structural and clinical approaches to the body, I find myself increasingly interested in the emotional, sensory and relational experience of being in a body, and helping people connect to themselves beyond the sore muscles.
This is why at the end of a treatment, I often invite you to thank your body, listen for the response, and think of one thing you appreciate about it.
Why such an invitation?
Because we can so easily forget to acknowledge all that our body does for us.
As Thomas Hanna wrote:
“The human body is not an instrument to be used, but a realm of one’s being to be experienced, explored, enriched and thereby educated.”
I am also aware that for some people, this invitation can feel surprisingly difficult.
For some, the body may feel like a place of grief, frustration, exhaustion, illness or betrayal. It may not feel like a safe place to be.
As a midlife woman who has spent much of her life deeply connected to my body, I too have been confronted by its changing nature. It has been its own reckoning, a daily practice of softening criticism, leaning into discomfort, and developing a deeper reverence for the body as it is now, with all its stories, wounds and wisdom.
This is why, when you come into the treatment room, I’m curious about what you are carrying.
I endeavour to create a space where, for even a moment, you may feel safe enough to soften.
Safe enough to let go of the effort of holding everything together.
Safe enough to allow the body to release some of what it has been carrying.
In those moments, the breath often becomes a bridge between what we’ve been holding and what we’re finally ready to let go of.
The breath deepens without being forced.The shoulders drop.The jaw unclenches.
Sometimes there is relief.Sometimes there is emotion.Sometimes simply a feeling of coming home to ourselves again.
And sometimes there is something far deeper than words can not describe.
It is these moments that continue to leave me in awe of the body’s capacity to heal when given the right conditions.
This curiosity about the body is one of the reasons I am currently immersed in further study through Embody Lab’s Somatic Coaching Certification and the School of Breath Science. While the pathways are different, both continue to deepen my understanding of how we experience life through the body, and how simple practices of awareness, breath, movement and presence can support wellbeing.
The more I learn, the more I appreciate that the body is not a problem to be solved, but a relationship to be cultivated and so if you like, below is an offering to connect to the body!
An Offering
If it feels right, put some music on a song that stirs something in you, evokes a feeling or invites curiosity.
One suggestion is All Melody by Nils Frahm.
Find a quiet space, perhaps with headphones on to help you immerse yourself. Close your eyes if that feels safe.
Begin very simply by moving a finger. Then a shoulder. Allow the movement to become a sway. Notice the breath. Let movement emerge from within you. No choreography.
Just an experiment in allowing the music to move through you.
If you have a favourite song to move to, I’d love to hear it.
And if you try this practice, hit reply and let me know what you notice or what comes up for you.
Because sometimes, I think one of the gentlest ways back into the body is through music.
UNWIND FROM WITHIN
A somatic coaching resource, curated for moments like this.
This playlist lives on the website, to move to, to soften into, to settle by. A place to explore the deeper work of coming home to your body. Return to it whenever you need a quiet invitation home.
IN THE STUDIO
Southern Swan Products
On the side shelf, just above my beautiful plant, is a small selection of Southern Swan products, many of which you’ll often experience at the end of a treatment.
Lately I’ve been especially loving the Chamomile Oil. At the end of a session, I often apply a little to the chest and invite you to simply pause and inhale.
It’s such a small thing, but I notice how often that moment becomes an opportunity to soften.
To simply notice the breath and the body.
I’ve also been using it at home after an evening shower as a small ritual before bed. A simple reminder to slow down, come back to myself, and prepare for sleep.
Sometimes it’s the smallest practices that help us return to the body.
The body knows how to restore itself.
Sometimes it just needs help feeling safe enough to begin.
As the world outside becomes increasingly loud and intense, know that there is a place within this studio that endeavours to be one of softness.
A space for reconnection.
To self. To the body. And to the quiet wisdom that already lives within you.
Please share this newsletter with anyone you feel might need or appreciate it.
Because some people need someone to say — go, rest, you deserve this
Photo by: PT
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