episode one: skin

Speaker 0 00:00:00 <inaudible> Speaker 1 00:00:07 Welcome to trans somatics Speaker 0 00:00:11 Skin, Speaker 1 00:00:14 Take a seat or lie down on your back and take a deep breath. This practice was developed on the sovereign lens of the winter injury, people of the Kulin nations. I had acknowledged that I'm a beneficiary of the ongoing violence. First nations people experience under the colonial project known as Australia. I pay my respects to their elders past present and emerging and stand behind them and their fight for justice and self determination. This series is about fostering a deeper and stronger relationship with our own bodies. And I acknowledge that black and Brown people in particular experience, explicit violence against their bodies, which far too often results in unjust imprisonment and death. We all have our own struggles. I believe that we can never be free until everyone is 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 old black and Brown trans people and pay my deepest respect to our siblings. Taken from us too soon, May live forever in our work and 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 uninvited guests on the led, they're on to take a moment now to reflect on what you have recently done in support of black and Brown people and what acts of support you will do next. Speaker 0 00:02:25 <inaudible> Speaker 1 00:02:43 The purpose of this practice. Transfix is to offer another approach to dysphoria in our community. So often a knee jerk reaction to dysphoria is to remove ourselves as far from our bodies. As we possibly, we just associate many of the suggested solutions to dysphoria focused on changing our bodies, taking hormones, surgeries, and clothing. These are all important aspects of who we are, but we also know they don't make dysphoria disappear altogether. I hope that this practice has the potential to address what I think is the core issue of dysphoria for struggle to find a home in our own bodies. I want to offer a practice where we can sink into our buddies instead of trying to play it, Learning how to live in harmony, without buddies, whichever shape they may be in whatever state of mind wearing. So this practice has the following intentions. First safety we're practicing in not judging ourselves or our bodies. We're practicing and exploring bodily sensations. We're practicing and soft observation and experimentation. Second nonviolence, nothing in this practice should hurt all the movement should be soft and at your own speed and to your own interpretation. By practicing in mindfulness, the practice of sinking into our bodies requires moving away from our busy daily minds. When we let our mind and body sink, we can unlock and explore bodily wisdom, which we may otherwise not be able to access. Speaker 0 00:04:52 Okay. Speaker 1 00:04:52 It's important to know that this means we may not know what information will be unlocked, and that brings us back to our first intention safety. If you ever reach a point that is uncomfortable for you, please stop. You may choose to just lay still for a moment, pause this recording, or walk away from it altogether. And if you would like to talk to me about it, you can reach out my contact details will always be in the discussion. I want to emphasize that this practice involves observing without judgment. We want to explore our bodies just to understand this part of ourselves. So we want to observe with kindness and with patience Speaker 0 00:05:41 It's Speaker 1 00:05:44 This practice is called trends, somatics trends because it's for our community and somatics a term coined by Thomas Hanna, meaning the body as experience from within Other somatic practices that informed this work, uh, hello, work felled in Christ method, the Hakomi method Skinner, releasing technique, the Alexander technique and door in. Speaker 1 00:06:19 Remember every direction is just a suggestion and there are no expectations for what you should achieve. Most of the movements are subtle and internal and deeply individual to each buddy. So just listen to your body and remember that, you know it better than anyone else. In this episode, we'll be doing some repetitive movements and lots of stillness in between. Our focus will be on the skin and sensing the outline of our body. We will start sitting and then we will spend some time lying on our backs as well. I recommend having a carpet, a mat, or a blanket between you and the floor. So let's begin Sitting in a comfortable position. Rest your hands on your thighs or knees. Notice your spine, how it flows from your skull, all the way down to your sit bones. Bring your attention to your breath and notice how your ribs, your shoulders and your belly move with each breath. Bring your attention to the very top of your skull. Imagine a thread gently lifting your body from the back of your head. Notice how your back lengthens and makes more space for your breath. Let your awareness trace your spine down your neck, between shoulder blades. Speaker 0 00:08:16 Yes. Speaker 1 00:08:19 Notice each vertebrae all the way down to the floor. Pay attention to how your belly moves with each breath. Notice how each breath ebbs and flows through your whole body. Feel that movement in your ribs and your shoulders. Speaker 0 00:08:55 Feel Speaker 1 00:08:56 It flow through your arms with each inhale and EB with each exhale. Feel your breath, travel through your legs and through your whole body. As you continue breathing deeply reflect on how that simple act of inhale and exhale moves your entire being. Now slowly bending your head forward. Tuck your chin into your neck, Breathing deeply. He noticed the sensation in your skin. Notice how you can feel it all the way down your back. Lean your head over to one side, feeling the pull down your neck and through to your shoulder. Tilt your head to the other side. To notice the sensation on that side. Speaker 0 00:10:29 <inaudible> Speaker 1 00:10:34 Move to sitting cross legged. If you're not already. And just give yourself some time to settle into the floor, Taking your left hand to your right knee, twist your upper body with your face facing behind you. Use your right hand as a support on the floor. NICU Acknowledge the feeling of your skin up and down your left side and notice how you can feel your skin around your left shoulder and along your neck too. I think coming back to the center, Take a few breaths and loosen your neck with some rolls, going forward to the side, back the other side and forward again, Speaker 1 00:11:48 And then taking your right hand across to your left knee and twisting around your left hand, supporting you on the floor, your face, looking behind you. Take time to notice your skin and feel it stretch all through your body. Take time to feel your skin and how it develops yourself. Coming back to center and take another moment to breathe with your hands on your knees or your clients. Roll your shoulders in both directions forward. And then also back and reflect on how with each movement, you can feel different parts of the same organ, how you can really feel how your skin covers every inch of you now using your hands for support gently lean your body forward and bring your awareness to your lower back, breathe into it and feel how your skin stretches across your back through to your arms and your neck and rest here for as long as you like letting your head become heavy, feeling your spine, Elan Gaye, pressing on your elbows on your palms or even on your forehead. And then walking back on your hands until you're upright. Again, take your time to find your way to the floor until you're lying on your back with your knees, bent, stretching your arms out, be the side of your body with your palms facing down so that your whole arm span is stretched along the ground and gently let your knees fold over to one side and bring your to that pole. Along with salt, whole side of your body, feel your skin stretching across your ribs all the way through your arms and up your neck. Speaker 1 00:15:10 Let your knees come back up to the middle and fall to the other side of your body. Taking your time with this movement. You may want to repeat each side a few times, noticing your malleable and strong skin, feeling it across your entire body, bringing your awareness to the very outline of yourself. Speaker 0 00:15:45 <inaudible>. Speaker 1 00:16:04 Then when you're ready, you can bring your knees back to the middle and then gently let your legs stretch forward until you're lying flat on your back. Bring your arms back down to your side, let them rest. However it's comfortable And bringing your awareness to the parts of your body. Touching the floor beneath you. Notice where there are pockets, where you cannot feel the ground beneath your knees or beneath your neck. Notice the heaviness of your limbs, where they do connect to the ground And notice the subtle changes in the sensations that come with each breath, inhale and exhale. Just take some time to lie here and be present with these movements in your body. Breathing deeply tracing the outline of your shape Being present. Speaker 0 00:17:53 <inaudible>.