The Inverted Tree: Living from the Spine Through Movement, Meditation and Mantra

Engage the body’s sensorial continuum as a site of somatic inquiry and exploration. Work with breath, the senses, movement, sound, words (mantra), imagination, and feeling to curate somatic experience. Sensitize yourself to the subtle rhythms and energies of the cerebrospinal axis which influence our moods, states and quality of our attention and relationship with the outer world. Attending and awakening to the spine can become a powerful tool in anyone’s personal path and repertoire of psychosomatic practices.

Together, we’ll play with the metaphor of the spine as an “inverted tree,” an organism with its roots “above” (the immaterial realm) and branches “below” (the material body), inviting us to initiate a new relationship with our bodies, senses, and sensorial environment. 

Components include:

• Sensitizing to and living from the spine.
• Sessions on breath and energy work (prāṇāyāma).
• Choreographing breath, movement, and attention. 
• Exploring somatic dimensions of sound, mantra, and voice.
• Intensive on sitting to meditate (āsana) versus meditative movement.
• Visualizations and readings from ancient texts of yoga and tantra.
• Integrating words and poetry with yoga and movement. 
• Finding stillness, curating pleasure and immersion through movement and posture.
• Incorporating inspiration, imagination, and creativity into your own practice.
• Asking and reflecting upon the purpose and promise of your practice (whatever it is).

This workshop is designed for anyone engaged in or experimenting with some form of embodied practice, including meditation, movement, yoga, breathwork, energy work, voice work, journaling, and writing. Come ready to experiment, reflect, and connect.