The Visioning Body

Have you found yourself wishing you could hibernate just a bit (more) before winter is over?  Do you ever feel anxious or overwhelmed that life is just moving too fast?

In our technological age it can seem like we need move much faster than is supportive to our internal biorhythms.  Expectations for productivity and communication can be way beyond what we have been evolutionarily and developmentally prepared for as humans.  This creates stress, anxiety, burnout, and a variety of stress related ailments.

Slowing down, even just in small degrees, helps us access some of our deepest and most creative sources of energy.  We can experience more joy and enjoyment, ease of movement, and mental and emotional agility.  We can create lives of well-being and sustainable alignment with our passions.

I have seen this to be true for so many people, and I know how difficult it can be to slow down when all around us messages of working more, harder, and faster abound.  I’d like to take a stand against patterns of overworking that sabotage our brilliance and wellbeing so…

I’ve decided to start an official “Slow-Volution.”

And I’ll start it out slow ;).  Every Monday on Facebook through April, I will post an inspiring story, piece of information or question to begin a community dialogue on slowing down even amidst busy, passionate, or demanding lives.   I will also send weekly email reminders of our Slow-volution Mondays to anyone who signs up here.

Won’t you join me?  The best ®evolutions happen when we move together…

Since we are now a few days into February, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all the different feelings you and others in our community may be experiencing in our still relatively new year.  Are you excited, or nervous about what lies ahead for you? Perhaps overwhelmed by lots of activity, or the physical challenges of the cold? Are you enjoying any aspects of your experience so far?  Frustrated or disappointed after having high hopes for a delightful new year?

Yesterday, participants of our Somatic Wellbeing for Visionaries and Leaders course explored the seeds and expression of emotion in the body, and I”m feeling inspired to widen the conversation by asking:

However you are feeling in this moment, or about the new year, where are you noticing this feeling flow in your body?  What sensations or movement impulses in your body are telling you ”I”m feeling (… scared, or excited, or frustrated)?”

At a basic level, feelings can flow very quickly from one to the next.  What happens when you take a moment or two to notice your sensed flow of your feelings?

I welcome your responses, here or on Facebook!

Looking back at an invitation for a Visioning Circle I held earlier this year, I stumbled accross the following definition:

A vision is an image, feeling, or idea
that is beckoning you into dreaming or action,
dreaming being a powerful action in its own right.

At the time that I wrote these words, they felt more like a proposition than a confident knowing — something that at least felt right enough to try on for size.  I am amazed at how much truth they hold for me now.

There has been so much change in the air, literally and in so many ways, in these last few weeks.  Storms passing through and the big election day tomorrow could be disorienting on their own.  From conversations I’ve been having, it seems that there’s actually so much changing for people internally and personally as well.  I know that movement and change is part of the nature of being alive, but what can we do when the level of change and uncertainty is, well, really uncomfortable?
During moments of uncomfortable change, I recommend a few somatic methods of finding support:

1. Slow down and pay attention to sensation.  Ask yourself, ‘What am I sensing and noticing in my body right now?’  Allow yourself to be curious, and even surprised.

2. Follow what feels good.  There is certainly value in feeling into what is uncomfortable, but it is equally worthwhile to notice and/or create neutral and pleasurable experiences.   A good place to start is to ask, ‘What else am I noticing?’  Or do something simple that you can enjoy — give yourself a foot rub, lie down, walk, hum, smell something yummy…

3. Connect with others who inspire spacious awareness and listening, or invite someone to join you in doing something (eating, walking, just being together) slowly and with awareness of sensory experience.

Finding support internally and through community is just what we are going to be doing in the Somatic Well-being for Creative Leaders and Visionaries workshop series starting in January.  I am so excited for the group of delightfully inspiring people who are beginning to gather for this course, to deepen into their bodies and visions together.
I am going to be announcing this offering to the wider community later this week, and I want you to be able to participate — so, please let me know ASAP if you are considering the workshop or would like to reserve your spot.

Click HERE to read more about the Somatic Well-being for Creative Leaders and Visionaries Workshop Series!

With you in all of the moving and changing,

Lee

Earlier this week, I gathered at a nearby river with friends to practice one of my favorite rituals for the Jewish New Year.  We tossed bread crumbs into the flowing river to remember anything we wanted to ask forgiveness for, and to mark intentions for what we would do differently or let go of this year.

What came up loud and clear for me were two main intentions:  To be forgiving ‑and even pleased- with myself, and to remember how connected I am to other people!

I wonder, when you think about your work, life, goals, and challenges, how do you feel?  Pleased?  Frustrated?  Rushed?  Curious?
And what happens for you when you consider your connections to others in your work and life?
Your responses to these questions can give you a lot of information about what you’re needing at this time.

As you do the fabulous work of sharing yourself with the world, The Visioning Body’s programs are here to support you in knowing and receiving what you need for your whole being.  You do not have to do this alone!  … and there is plenty to be pleased with already. 🙂

I encourage you to get in touch today to learn more about how The Visioning Body can serve you specifically.

many blessings,
Lee

For now, Here’s a fun Dream Seed Exploration inspired by Susan Harper’s work, that I invite you to try…

1. Recall in detail a brief scene or image from a dream, daydream, or striking waking moment.
2. Notice any sensations, movement impulses, or thoughts that arise in your body in this moment.
3. Choose a figure in the dream (an object, the landscape, an animal) to “enter into” and imagine becoming.
4. Notice how and what this figure senses, feels, sees, does.…  Allow yourself to play with this and see how you yourself feel in the moment.
5. What do you notice in your body now???

I’d love to hear what you experience!