tofino yoga

Living in Motion: A Body Awareness Project

Excerpts from a dvd produced By Sarah Platenius

A definition of the word "somatic" is "of the body." By combining this with the root word "psyche", the translation becomes the study of the body- mind.

A definition of "awareness" is "consciousness". Consciousness is a gift given to humans making us the best known learners in the solar system; It allows us an ability to examine how we live our lives, gives us an ability to bring attention and intention to our daily actions and allows us to intellectualize and embody how we relate to other people and the planet.

Ideally, consciousness brings a learned desire to appreciate and acknowledge that which we become conscious of.

There are many ways to become conscious and likewise, many ways to practice becoming conscious. The body is a tangible, physical reality. It is a telescoped landscape from which we breathe everyday offering an ideal place from which awareness can be practiced.

What is the purpose of studying the body-mind?

What does being embodied offer people?

How can body awareness reach the everday Joe on the street?

Body awareness is a fundamental but essential aspect of Somatic Psychology. Having a body awareness connects us to ourselves; We learn how our intuition, energy, physical biology and spirit intersect and overlap. This offers us information about who we are and the story we choose to tell about our lives from which we can grow and change.

The body is a place to begin to practice awareness. Understanding our bodies can teach us how to live more ecologically; we understand the interconnectedness of all life.

Body awareness can be achieved in many ways other than through Somatic therapy although this is a good place to begin but perhaps only a stepping stone for realizing our natural ability to be conscious on an everyday level and to become our own awareness facilitators.

I believe that dance, meditation, exercise and even tattooing may be ways of relating to our bodies. What makes a difference is the awareness we bring to these activities.

We can learn to celebrate the body and acknowledge our bodies as nature, as the wild, to accept the unpredictability of our feelings and use our awareness abilities to make healthy change in our lives and on the planet.