As I wrote here recently, collecting and facilitating felt experiences of interconnectedness is what I dedicate myself to at the moment. Hence, this series of somatic experiences on Wednesdays, that from now on will be bi-weekly.
This one: sensing into our animal selves had been on my mind for a while. I’ve facilitated bits and pieces with the theme. But coming up with a brief storyline took more space than I had imagined.
I’d be delighted if you share it with me. You can go straight to it or read the backstory.
I’ve always been a somatic creature, primarily experiencing the world through sensing. Sensing pushes you into the embrace of your animalistic parts: in the body, psyche, soul. That remember much more than a couple generations your conscious modern human self does.
On the one hand, this animal presence echoes across multiple disciplines. On the other, we fiercely distance ourselves from it.
Sighing?
Yawning?
Sweating?
Smelling?
Burping, god forbid?
And whatever is hidden becomes a monster, right?
What happens to a sigh or a yawn that’s blocked and embarrassingly brushed away? Instead of helping us regulate and flow, it turns into a rock of built up tension.
“This vision is emerging of human consciousness as this little surface layer on top of deeper layers. The timescales are just a story, but still, we can picture this human surface layer as maybe half a million years old.
Beneath that, a hundred million years of primate layers, then several hundred million years of reptile anatomical structures and behaviors, then another hundred million years of fish, and at the very depth, three billion years of bacterial colonies floating in the ancient oceans. Beyond that lies even greater mystery. —Simon Thakur, founder of Ancestral Movement
So there’s this sense of ancestry as learned ways of engaging with the living environment around us - shaped by family, shaped by culture, and ultimately shaped by this immense heritage going all the way back to the very beginning.”
Simon Thakur, founder of Ancestral Movement, from an interview on the Emerald podcast.
And, all those multiple layers that we carry in us - from elements and rocks to plants and animals start weighing us down. When they are meant to be a source of wisdom, joy, inspiration, and connection.
So, hence the intention behind this experience - sensing into out animal self in a playful way.
Warm greetings,
Yulya
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