Permission not to Grow
PERMISSION NOT TO GROW -- this is wisdom I've been receiving lately, just to let myself exist.
I've had the image of letting all of my cells unfurl. I can feel how parts of me get tight or squeezed, not allowed to be exactly as they are. Can you feel that? Can you let your cells fill out a little bit?
I’m working on letting all the trying parts, the not good enough parts, the messy parts, the shut down parts-- just let them exist.
Taking a break from improvement. No more pushing.
As soon as I settle into this, I realize that growing will of course continue to happen naturally, at an easy pace.
I can just take the pressure off of it. What a relief!
Like a dog shaking off rain
Like a fern unfurling
Like a bird gently opening its wings
This concept is embedded into both Circling and Feldenkrais, and I continue to let it in on a deeper level all of the time.
In both practices we turn up the volume of our awareness to be with what’s happening in the present moment. We intend to notice without changing, fixing or judging. Can we simply recognize it, see it and be with it before taking any action?
I find this practice endlessly useful!
People ask me a lot about how Feldenkrais and Circling relate and this shared purpose of noticing without changing or judging is fundamental to both. In Circling we do this within a social, relational context, noticing our reactions while being with other people. In Feldenkrais we do this with very close attention to sensations as we move slowly on our own. I find practicing both Circling and Feldenkrais compliment my self-awareness and easeful growth in my movement, self-image and relationships.
The practice of being with, without making changes relieves tension socially, in the body and the mind.
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”- Carl Rogers
Would you like a space to just be?
