I reflect on the experience of practicing Conscious Embodiment with Robin Athey at a workshop Jen Cohen and I took together last weekend. My partner and I are in ‘a grab’, a gripped tug of war, and patterns are revealed. We intervene with the work of Wendy Palmer.

I force

I push

I lean in and whine, seek re-assurance

I beg

We lock, nothing moves, static cling

Then, I re-member

I lean back into my center, drop into the river

My knees bend, my hara pulls up, in and out at the same time

Soft and strong at the same time

My heart moves over, my head follows

I am vertical

I am upright

The front of me opens

My back has the support of 2000 years of wisdom, forces I can’t even know yet

Then, my arms, once hardened with urgency and fear, open from the inside out, and widen

I invite in the force opposite me

I open open open my arms

The pressure moves out, disperses

The fight is replaced with inclusivity

The current carries us both

Ease

Flow

Wholeness

Sufficiency