Running as conscious movement

What does your mind do when you walk or run? And also when you are standing or sitting to wait for something. Are you listening to music? That can be pleasurable but for me as a body nerd, I often tune into my body and explore the sensations and feelings. Here is an example during my run today. As running, I meditated on my domes in the body. These domes are horizontal shapes you find in the body. The domes give the sense of three dimensional volume (back and front, side to side), that contributes to dispersion and balance of tones. I have learnt about the domes from Patricia Bardi of VMI Somatic Practice.

There are more domes but the ones I thought of today are;
1. arches of the feet
2. abdominal dome- the superior surface of the bladder, uterus and rectum.
3. thoracic diaphragm
4. thoracic inlet
5. roof of the mouth
6. top of the cranium

What do I do with these domes?
I check in if I feel each dome and how they are responding to the running motion. If any of them are not very responsive, I place my attention there and see if I can soften and let go of the inhibited tension. And then I would expand my attention to the relationship between two domes, three or more, towards including the whole body. I may continue to expand my awareness to the surroundings like wind, surface under the feet, trees, people and any presence around me.

It is fun, and pleasurable to feel the body in this way. Running becomes more like the whole body massage rather than torturous exercise. Give it a try 

 

110_Dorsal_Ventral_Body_Cavities

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