by Kate Wester
As I opened the program guide for this Fall at The Well I was struck by the truth of Bridget’s message and its alignment to my own personal vision. She said that “The Well exists not to take us out of our lives, but to plunge us more deeply into the sacredness of our living…into the sacredness of living in awakened awareness of our deepest identity.” One avenue into this sacredness and aliveness is through our connection to our body. For many of us, this avenue was not encouraged or taught, yet it is our most basic way of being human. We all have bodies.
When we experience stress, anxiety, and unacknowledged emotions they live on in the tissues of our body. Tension starts out with good intention, to protect us from anticipated danger. But it can become armor inhibiting the flow of joy and aliveness of our spirit. Most of us live in our heads, either worrying about the past or anticipating the future. We may not even be aware of the intelligence and aliveness that’s going on below the neck.
I have noticed lately that I often say yes to things before I even know how I feel about them. Sometimes I find myself resentful and wondering how that happened! Perhaps like many of you, I was raised to be a people pleaser and put others needs before my own. There is nothing wrong with being of service and helping others, but we need to learn to include ourselves in our compassion. We can awaken to our “deepest identity” by learning to listen and feel what is going on in our bodies. We become present to ourselves and we begin to trust the messages we receive.
Over the past 25 years I have explored the connection between mind, body, spirit and soul through yoga, dance, meditation, art, nature and prayer. I am thrilled to be able to bring some of what I have gathered to The Well this year! I really hope that you can join me.
Shake Your Soul (beginning October 24) is a joyful movement class with lively music from around the globe. I’ve often seen great big smiles on people’s faces that remind me of what they must have looked like as children. To me, this class is about connecting to yourself and then to each other, through movement and dance. It’s also a great workout and stress reliever. If you don’t like to sit still and meditate, I’ll be finishing each class off with movement meditation. Some of the most sacred moments of my teaching experience have been in the quiet space of the group after we have just spent the past 30 minutes moving our bodies in playful dance.
Two new offerings for me this year are Destress and Your Body’s Wisdom. In “Destress” (beginning October 6) we’ll be exploring some simple movement, breath work, and long guided meditations and deep relaxation to really let your nervous system slow down and heal. I’ll also be bringing a series of workshops to the Well. “Your Body’s Wisdom” will begin October 8 with an introduction to somatic awareness and expressive arts therapy.
You can begin to be more present to yourself through your body today. The next time you are faced with uncertainty or anxiety, take a sacred pause. Take three slow conscious breaths, feeling the air move in and out. Tune in to your physical experience. Can you feel this uncertainty resonating anywhere in your body? Place your hand on that part of your body with a gesture of compassion and say with kindness, “I’m here.” With practice you will learn to soften into the experience and perhaps gain insights you were not able to hear before.
