This is an invitation to come home to your body, to rest in its divergent rhythms.
Throughout, I’ll offer a series of prompts, each designed to deepen your relationship to your body and its brilliance. I might ask you to notice a particular area of your body or move a particular portion of your body.
Each prompt is an invitation. You may find some helpful; others less so. I invite you to experiment; extending exercises that are most compelling while altering or ignoring others as you wish. Your movements may be large and dynamic, or small and imperceptible. You may choose to try all prompts, or only a few. You may do something else altogether.
As you explore, I encourage you to notice repetition. Repetition is an important feature of our bodies, and yet, repetition is often pathologized, particularly when enacted by marginalized people. In response, we may learn to suppress our impulses toward repetitive motion, disconnecting from our own bodies in order to pursue safety. And yet, there is much wisdom in repetition. Flapping hands, bouncing feet, rocking torsos—when enacted on repeat, these and similar movements can burn off excess energy, modulate sensory inputs, alleviate anxiety and, perhaps most importantly, produce pleasure. In searching for these moments of repetition, we ask: How can we approach repetition as a form of embodied wisdom? Where is repetition already present in our bodies, and how might intentionally enacting that repetition give us access to embodied forms of pleasure, connection, and care?
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We begin with our bodies.
Notice your heartbeat. Perhaps you place a hand or limb on your chest, your neck, your wrist, feeling for the rhythmic thrum of your pulse. Here is one place where repetition lives in our bodies, moving oxygen and nutrients throughout our form. In this sense, repetition is, perhaps, our first movement. It is the very motion of life itself. Feel that motion.
Where else can we find this movement? Send your attention to your breath. Feel the brush of air cycling in and out of your lungs, rocking your chest in a soft lilt. Here, too, is repetition: in/out, rise/fall, expand/contract—always in motion. Can you deepen this movement, slowly pulling more air in, slowly releasing more air out? Can you linger in this loop, resting in the structure of your breath, its gentle push and pull.
Where else might this repetition reside? Send your attention to the lowest edge of your body. For some of us, this might be feet; for others, our limbs or pelvis. What happens if you move this part of your body? Can It wiggle, squeeze, or wave? Or do you move in other ways? Try to notice movements that just feel good. If you find one, what happens if you repeat that motion—again, again, again?
Bring your attention upward. For some of us, this might be our legs; for others, our abdomen. What happens if you move this part of your body? Can It twist, shake, or sway? Or do you move in other ways? Try to notice movements that just feel good. If you find one, what happens if you repeat that motion—again, again, again?
Again, pull your awareness upward, to the very center of your torso. What happens if you move this part of your body? Can It rock, arch, or contract? Or do you move in other ways? Try to notice movements that just feel good. If you find one, what happens if you repeat that motion—again, again, again?
Send your curiosity outward, to your shoulders, arms, or hands. What happens if you move this part of your body? Does It bend, rotate, or flick? Or do you move in other ways? Try to notice movements that just feel good. If you find one, what happens if you repeat that motion—again, again, again?
Draw your awareness upward once more, to your head. Does it reach, tilt, or roll? Or do you move in other ways? Try to notice movements that just feel good. If you find one, what happens if you repeat that motion—again, again, again?
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Take a moment to stretch your awareness across your entire body. Recall all the repetitive motions you’ve uncovered, from the outermost edge of your form to the very heart of your being.
Here is a vast archive of your divergent rhythms, embodied resources for cultivating pleasure, connection, and care always and already present in your body. Give thanks for these movements, for the wisdom of your body: your breath, your heart,
Rest in this repetition.
Let the rhythm hold you.