Hello friends, today we're slowing things down even more than we have in previous sessions. There's very little movement suggested and lying in bed or on your couch would go very well with today's practice. I'm sharing with you a combination of a body scan and metta meditation for an embodied experience with loving-kindness.

This is our last session together and the end of this podcast series. Sharing these recordings has been an offering from my heart and I'm honoured you chose to spend time with me and these gentle yet profound teachings.

A somatics practice—as I understand it and have hopefully conveyed to you—is first and foremost a conversation with one's own wisdom and, as I'm so fond of saying, it's witnessing and honouring your embodied consent. Throughout these sessions I have been inviting you to follow your enthusiastic "yes" and to allow your definite "no" because this practice is for you alone.

This podcast will remain online and you can dip back in at any time. May you take from these sessions an experience of peace. May you sense within your being a place where you can find refuge at any given moment. May there be at least one place that remains untouched by the sorrows of the world and a place that is yours alone. And may that sense of relief take root and grow.

Alright, let's begin our practice. Gather whatever you need to find deep comfort and rest. Perhaps some warm socks, a blanket, a mug of tea, soft candlelight. Whatever it is you require, gather it in and let's get into some Somatic Solace.

Hello friends, today we're taking into consideration some of the ways we communicate.

We communicate across species, socially, within relationships, and with ourselves. Sometimes we use words and often we don't.

During our practice we give some attention to the throat and jaw, and hang-out in a few different twists to see how it is to communicate while all jumbled up.

This is our second last session in this podcast series and like you, I would like our practice time to continue. I've enjoyed hearing your feedback and requests for live sessions as well the option to choose between a recorded video or audio.

Your suggestions have brightened my days and I've been thinking of ways I can do all these things.

Here's where you come into play: I need to hear from you! I do. Let me know if you would like to continue with Somatic Solace by heading on over to my website to communicate your preferences.

This will give me an indication of interest and will inform my decision as to whether or not I continue at this time.

If I don't hear from you then I'll assume there's no interest and will let this podcast rest as it is.

My website is "fully woven dot com" or if you prefer email, then contact me at "monique at fully woven dot com", or another option is to send me a direct message at Instagram and my handle there is also "fully woven".

Thanks for communicating your hopes to continue with this practice. I appreciate your voice.

Alright, let's begin our practice. Gather whatever you need to find deep comfort and rest. Perhaps some warm socks, a blanket, a mug of tea, soft candlelight, a purring kitty.

Whatever it is you require, gather it in and let's get into some Somatic Solace.

Hello friends, today we're exploring how small precise movements can bring significant relief to all the tension that tends to pool in our necks, shoulders, and upper back. We also chased some dragons out of the forest.

We have today's practice and then just two more sessions in this podcast series. I've enjoyed hearing your feedback and requests for the sessions to continue. I've also heard your request for live sessions and videos.

I'd love to do all these things and need to figure out a way that is accessible and sustainable with my disabilities. I'll figure out a way to do these things so that our Somatic Solace practice can continue.

Let me know if you want to be added to the live practice waitlist. I will be sending out a registration in the next few weeks. And just for reference, the time of this recording is March 2024. My email address is "monique at fully woven dot com" and you'll always find up-to-date info at my website "fully woven dot com".

Alright, let's begin our practice. Gather whatever you need to find deep comfort and rest. Perhaps some warm socks, a blanket, a mug of tea, soft candlelight. Whatever it is you require, gather it in and let's get into some Somatic Solace.

Hello friends, for today's practice we're continuing to seek flowing and fluid sensations as we contemplate the qualities of water.

I was inspired by Sister Otter and offer lots of rolling, spiralling movements. You know how otters roll around in the water? Slide down muddy embankments? And float on their backs with snacks perched on their tummies? Well, let's be playful otters for the next hour or so.

We've got today and then four more sessions in this podcast series. I've enjoyed hearing your feedback and requests for the sessions to continue. I've also heard your request for live sessions and video. I'd love to do all these things and need to figure out a way that is accessible and sustainable with my disabilities.

Please stay tuned and feel free to email me any of your suggestions; I do enjoy collaborating on solutions. My email address is "monique at fully woven dot com" and you'll always find up-to-date info at my website "fully woven dot com".

In this recording, I share the lyrics from the song "The Lost Words Blessing" from the "Spells Songs" album which was released in 2019. There's an accompanying art book full of absolutely gorgeous watercolour and ink images.

This album and book brought me significant peace during the early days of the pandemic and perhaps you'll also find refuge in them. The artists have generously shared the album on multiple platforms. Here's the link to album playlist on Spotify.

Alright, let's begin our practice. Gather whatever you need to find deep comfort and rest. Perhaps some warm socks, a blanket, or soft candlelight. Whatever it is you require, gather it in and let's get into some Somatic Solace.

Hello friends, for today's practice we're continuing with all the many metaphors water gives us. Water allows and flows. A small and persistent drop of water can erode rock. Water is life.

Like a little boat bobbing on a lake, we explore soft rocking movements while being aware of the ebb and flow of our internal sensations.

We engage with a bit of catch and release of the wild psoas. One of my teachers, Liz Koch, is fascinated with the psoas and she refers to it as wild. Wild as in untamed or feral or perhaps even a little uncivilized. The psoas will not be domesticated.

Are you familiar with the psoas? It hugs your lower back and connects your legs to your hips. It's got a big job; it's a very strong muscle and kind of elusive or wild. It responds best to releasing and allowing rather than force. Doesn't that remind you of water?

So please, gather whatever you need to find deep comfort and rest. Perhaps some warm socks, a blanket, or soft candlelight. Whatever it is you require, gather it in and let's get into some Somatic Solace.

Hello friends, welcome to another session of Somatic Solace. I've said it before and it certainly bears repeating: this time we spend together, this practice we're about to engage with, is one of embodied consent.

My invitation to you is to listen to your body and notice the yes and notice the no. And then honor that! Honor your yes and honor your no. Let your somatic practice be one where you are true to yourself. Consider my suggestions and then sink into your own decisions.

As with previous episodes, this one is also a recording from a series of classes I shared in 2020 and the focus is on the many qualities of water.

Its tenacity to reshape rock drip by drip over great eras of time. Its ability to diffuse and bend light. How we're largely composed of water. We seek to embody water as we flow through today's practice.

Gather your blankets, pillows, warm socks, and mugs of warm tea. Bring in whatever will deepen your comfort and support you in easing your weariness. Let's get into some somatic solace.

Here in the Pacific Northwest some of our spring flowers are already starting to peek their heads out of the soil. It's typically very mild at this time of year but it's usually another month or so until the spring flowers begin to return.

But this is what's happening and as such, today's practice is a playful exploration of some Spring salutations. We'll bow our heads to the ground like the Hellebore and stretch tall as we reached for the sky like colorful Tulips. We'll tuck into folds and expand with fresh perspectives.

At the end of our session I read from the opening chapter of Padraig O Tuama's book "In the Shelter".

I suggest having a big mug of warm herbal tea or some water nearby as well as any other things that support you in finding deep comfort. Maybe some blankets, pillows, and warm socks?

Alright, let's get into some Somatic Solace.

Today, we're reviewing the basics of somatics as taught by Thomas Hanna. Those basics are movement with engagement, release and drifting back to neutral, followed by pausing to notice. Thomas Hanna based his therapy on pendiculation which is an intuitive movement—think of yawning or stretching upon waking—it is a response to energy build up in tissues.

Let's give it a try. Like most people, you probably have some tightness in your shoulders. Am I right? Okay, engage your shoulder muscles and draw your shoulders up towards your ears as you sqeeeeze those muscles. Open your mouth and exhale as you let go of the muscle engagement and your shoulders slowly sink down to neutral. How do you feel? Do you want to do that again? I do. This is the type of stuff we'll be exploring today.

Please note, this is a recording from 2020 and my announcement of this being our last session because I'm taking a break for a few weeks is not relevant anymore. There will be another Somatic Solace session next week and I look forward to sharing space with you again.

For today you will want to have a blanket, or some pillows, or a bolster as this will be helpful for propping up your sacrum during a movement I offer at the end of our session. Alright gather whatever you need to achieve maximum comfort and let's get into our practice.