Finding the way home - creating the conditions for embodied presence
Practice : Restoring embodied presence, Moving body scan, Gratitude connection
Hello dear ones, I’ve been deep in the unfolding of Spring. Dancing between the end of Winters grasp and the desire to stay hidden and the palpable urgency of April asking us to burst into life.
There’s also been lots of reasons (too many to go into in this post) that staying hidden has felt nourishing and deeply needed. Through this hiding time, I’ve been relying on certain things that help me to keep coming ‘home’
My survival tendency in stretchy times is to disappear from myself and the world around me, I find ways to distract and numb. This is incredibly helpful and needed, for a time, but as with all things there is an internal and natural rhythm that cannot be denied. After contraction, there is expansion and so on and on and on.
The practices offered here are ones that I’ve been returning to frequently to buoy myself and encourage a more engaged connection to my body. I wanted to share them with you too in case you’re also in need of reconnecting to your own body home.
I’d love to know if you play :)
(an early PS - scroll to the bottom for a discount on my paid subscription!)
1. Restoring Embodied Presence (felt sense)
One of the most frequent responses to acute or developmental trauma, overwhelm or chronic stress is to disassociate from the body. This isn’t necessarily a defective response (read more on that here)
But these challenging experiences can create a sense of fragmentation, disconnection, or over-coupling, where life begins to feel too much.
In a fast-paced world, it can be challenging to slow down enough to deeply listen to the body and make space to honour what it needs.
This practice offers a bridge to what might want attention and is a gentle way to invite in a sense of embodied presence and closeness with ourselves.
2. Coming home through movement
The body scan practice is a powerful tool for restoring embodied presence. To get through the day, many of us have become very good at overriding what our body is saying and asking of us. This practice strengthens your capacity to notice and honour your body's voice by offering breath and awareness while tracking sensations.
Play with the moving body scan practice here
Did you have an experience of resonance while doing the body scan? Were you able to practice following it?
How could a body scan practice be a supportive practice for you?
3. Finding nourishment through nature and a way to offer thanks.
When you're feeling overwhelmed, imagine bringing your attention to nurture yourself by connecting with nature.
Begin right where you are. The shape of the leaves of the houseplant in the room you are in or the vista of the mountains in the distance out the window. Look for the light of the sun and where it falls or the clouds that cover it.
Contemplate your body as an extension of earth, your tears like rain or slow down enough to feel each breath. Notice which aspect of nature holds the most resonance for you.
Find a way to express your appreciation and make an offering. Offerings could be something physical like a flower, something from your heart, like a poem or a song, or physically connecting with touch and offering your presence.
Follow your body's resonance as you navigate what feels right to offer from your heart. In giving, you create a space within yourself to receive. Remembering how to align with the healing forces of nature is a powerful medicine in these times of accelerated transformation.
I really enjoy finding space for gratitude practice to feel the reciprocal relationship we all have with nature and each other. I invite you to try this recording and then see how you might make it your own. How could life feel different if you offered your gratitude to the wideness of our interconnectedness every day?
(this practice is taken from my short course Moments of Connection, you can find out more about it here)
"We learn to regulate our emotions in relationship, not all relationships are human to human. When we access regulation by grounding through our senses, we are co-regulating with the natural world." Marike Heinrichs
PS… Starting next week (15th April) I’m taking the brave and nail-biting leap of committing to creating paid content. The biggest change is that aside from some sporadic posts these ‘practice’ posts will no longer be publicly available.
I’d love you to join me in creating a cohesive community here at Reclaiming Home and I’ve decided to offer 25% off monthly and annual memberships Until Summer solstice (20th June)
I have lots of plans to be unravelled as we move more into the year with many possibilities to connect live continue the journey of Reclaiming Home together. Use this link to get your discount! ⬇️
Wow Sara! It’s so good to reconnect with your writing and practices that help me to check in and reconnect. Looking forward to going slowly through each of the practices you’ve shared. As I read the nature one, I looked up at the skylight in my room which casts light on all my plants but also lets me see a glimpse of the world outside. It’s raining softly and there’s something warm and cosy that invites me to stay and rest a while in the quiet. Which is exactly what my body is crying out for today. 🧡