Show Notes
our organs are the inner clockwork that keep us moving. Here we explore how we can take care of these vital parts of our bodies.
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Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:00:13 Welcome to trans somatics guts, Take a seat or lie down on your back and take a deep, deep breath. This practice was developed on the sovereign lands of the water entree people of the cooling nations. I acknowledge that I am a beneficiary of the ongoing violence fascinations people experience under the colonial project known as Australia. I pay my respects to their elders past present and emerging and stand behind them in their fight for justice and self determination.
Speaker 1 00:01:15 This series is about fostering a deeper and stronger relationship with our own bodies. And I acknowledged that black and Brown people in particular experience, explicit violence against their bodies, which far too often results in unjust imprisonment and death. While we all have our own struggles, I believe that none of us are free until we're all free. I advocate for first nations black and Brown trans people. And in particular trans women to always be at the forefront of our work. I extend my gratitude and allegiance to all black and Brown trans people and pay my respect to our siblings. Taking from us too soon. May you live forever and our work in culture and rest in power and in peace, I invite all listeners, but especially those of us who are white and white passing. And those of us who are an invited guests on whichever land they're on to take a moment now to reflect on what you've done in support of black and Brown people recently, and what acts of support you will do next
Speaker 0 00:02:52 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:03:16 The purpose of this practice is to offer a different approach to dysphoria. Often our knee jerk reaction is to remove ourselves as far from our bodies as we possibly can. We disassociate. And many of the suggested solutions to dysphoria are focused on changing our bodies to fit who we are. I believe that these things are important aspects of who we are, but I also think that they don't make dysphoria disappear completely. I believe that this practice has the potential to address what I think is the core issue of dysphoria. It's the struggle of finding a home in our bodies. I hope that with this practice, I can offer something that helps us learn how to sink into our bodies instead of trying to Flay it. Trans somatics has the following intentions, safety we're practicing and not judging ourselves or our bodies. We're practicing in exploring bodily sensations. We're practicing and soft observation and experimentation nonviolence, nothing in this practice should hurt. All the movements should be soft at your own speed and to your own interpretation,
Speaker 1 00:04:58 Slow. We are practicing in mindfulness. The practice of sinking into our bodies requires moving away from our busy daily minds. When we let our mind and our body sink, we can unlock and explore bodily wisdom, which we may otherwise not be able to access. It is important to know that this means we may not know what information will be unlocked. And that brings us back to the first intention safety. If you ever reach a point that is uncomfortable for you, for whatever reason, please stop. You may choose just to lay still for a moment, pause the recording, or walk away from it all together. And if you would like to talk to me about it, you always can. My contact details are in the description. I want to emphasize that this practice involves observing without judgment. We want to explore our bodies, but just to understand this part of ourselves and this relationship we have, we want to observe with kindness and with patients, I called this practice trend somatics trends because it's for our community and somatics a term coined by Thomas Hanna. That means the body as experienced from within. Please remember every direction is just a suggestion. There are no expectations for what you should achieve. Most of these movements are subtle and internal and deeply individual to each body. So listen to your body and remember that, you know it better than anyone else.
Speaker 1 00:07:11 In this episode, we'll focus on the gut and tensions that we hold in different parts of our bodies. We'll start by sitting and then we'll spend some time lying on our backs. I do recommend having a carpet, a mat, or a blanket between you and the floor. And you may also want a small towel or a pillar to rest your head on.
Speaker 0 00:07:41 <inaudible>.
Speaker 1 00:07:49 Like I said, the intention for these particular exercises is to release tension that we hold in various parts of our bodies. So when you're kneeling or sitting comfortably start with a soft massage of the jaw, walking your fingers in a circular motion from under your cheekbones, into the hollow of your cheek, through to the bottom of your chore line, and then up to the hinge, connecting your lower Joel to the rest of your skull, explore the sensations in this area and apply pressure as it feels good.
Speaker 0 00:08:33 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:08:37 Softly massage in a circle, Tracing the bones
Speaker 1 00:08:53 And noticing any tensions along your Joel that you may want to loosen, and then letting you all, um, rest on your thighs. So your knees begin to roll your shoulders, coming all the way up to your ears and then pushing them back. So your shoulder blades seem to be touching and then back forward, try to make the biggest circles you can and then change directions so that your shoulders are rolling forward. And then moving back, breathing with each role and then letting your hands support. You slowly find your way to lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet standing around, hit with the pop, resting your arms, wherever it's comfortable for you, and take a moment to breathe into your body. Concentrate on how your body is placed, how it touches the ground, how your weight is distributed.
Speaker 1 00:11:21 And remember to explore these things without judgment with both hands, feel the area between your ribs and your pelvis, moving your hands around, just explore your belly, taking notice what it feels like, what the shape is, noticing how your bones frame this area of your body. And now with one hand flat on your stomach and the other on top holding the wrist, just softly, pressed into the gut in a circle, moving clockwise from left to right gently pressing in like a little massage. Once you've gone in a circle coming back to the right side. Now, if the gut move back over to the left in a zigzag motion, moving up and down across your body and repeat this movement, massaging in a circle and then six sagging up and down a few more times, just really massaging. So organs, the skin, the muscles notice any emotions that arise and acknowledge them with each movement recognize the integral role that you've got placed in your body, how much strength and power it holds. Notice any tensions and let your hands hold them and gently loosen those knots. Acknowledge the feelings that surface with these movements and intentions and just let them be.
Speaker 1 00:14:55 And now still with the flat of your hand, softly rub along your stomach, show your love and appreciation for your body in this movement and let them sink into your belly. And then when you're ready, bring your arms back down to either side of your body, resting them on the floor.
Speaker 0 00:15:29 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:15:39 Let your legs stretch down along the flow and your arms like comfortably, either resting by your side or on your optimism. Lying here. Find all the parts of your body that are touching the floor beneath you. Notice your heels and the back of your legs acknowledged the pocket of air beneath your knees. Notice your bottom resting along the floor. Notice the part of your back that are connected to the ground. Those that aren't feel your shoulder blades, your arms and your head, Feeling all these parts of your body, touching the ground. Let yourself sink a little deeper with each breath, Letting your body soften.
Speaker 0 00:17:00 <inaudible>.
