Written by Alice May Redmond
Our bodies carry a wisdom that can completely transform our path.
A wisdom that if listened to closely enough and connected with regularly, can guide us to the most remarkable depth of intimacy with life itself.
Our bodies can move us through pain, past and present.
Our bodies can move us through doubt, fear, worry.
Our bodies can transform our trauma into our greatest power.
This body we inhabit is present throughout every single moment in time across the space of our life, every love, every loss, every pain, every gain, and yet we can be incredibly negligent to its whispers, or even still the larger slap’s in the face in the form of anxiety or physical illness for example saying;
“Hey! Wake up! Start spending time looking within me and after me!”
We store every trauma in our body until we choose not to anymore.
I suffered for many years with body dysmorphia and a very low state of self-worth, until one day enough was enough. I was sick of allowing the outside world and its heavy, unrealistic expectations have power over my everyday life.
Over what I wore, what I ate, what I shared online - I would spend hours debating with myself if I should post an image, judging it to its most minuscule details! For what? For who?
One day I deleted every social media page and decided I was going to meet with Alice for the first time. The Alice I was born here to be. I radically committed to her inner world, and from that moment the deepest healing emerged through the doors of cathartic and somatic modalities.
We have the power to dismantle ourselves from the restrictive hold of pain through a deep connection to our inner space, and here I would love to share with you tools on where you can begin your own journey of healing through movement.
1. Easy morning practice - hip & heart opening - Particularly as women we store a lot of emotion in our hips and womb area. I love to begin mornings on the floor (grounding with mama earth). Music playing to create ambience, eyes closed to tune into the heart space, 5 or 6 super deep, intentional breaths to fill the whole body and release out of the mouth exhaling any tension.
From this space of ground, begin circling the hips slowly, sensually connecting with every part of the movement, stretching the whole body from the root of the spine to the crown of the head.
Intuitively circle around, fast, slow, soft, strong, let your body guide you where it wants to go, and make sure to breathe. Spend a few minutes journaling after, how did you feel? Did anything surface? Notice what shows up in any form it wishes to.
2. Think high-intensity sweat, with your heart being held whilst screaming through your recent breakup - welcome The Class
The cathartic release I have experienced time after time in this space is literally like having 200kg’s of old energy lifted off.
They have an online digital studio that you can get on at any time of your day to shift stagnant energy and release what is no longer serving, whilst simultaneously getting your cardio fix in.
Make sure to get in on Soeureya’s class, she guides from radical authenticity, compassionate love and is just other-worldly.
3. After becoming very familiar with shifting emotion and energy through movement, I was ready to go into a deeper exploration and Mana Mei’s Wisdom Body 6-week Immersion found me.
This experience is for the woman ready to explore the most intimate parts of herself through embodied movement practice.
Mana as a guide has the most incredible power to dance between the undeniable strength of a warrior and the nurturing softness of a mother. I met with parts of myself in this container I didn’t even know existed, and from the emerged a whole new kind of love for myself.