Bodies of Rock Movement Meditation

Is it time to slow things down? Do you want to mindfully get to know your body through breath-lead gentle movement? Are you interested in how we can ‘be more rock’? Would you like to explore your relationship with time?

What is a movement meditation?

Meditative movement is designed to help you connect mindfully to yourself and your environment in simple and resourcing ways. We can contrast this with ecstatic dance, for example, where we might be more interested in losing ourselves, cathartic release or fast-paced connection.

The focus of this class is all about bringing our whole bodies into awareness, in a way that supports presence, resourcefulness and quiet vitality. The session is facilitated by me as a fellow mover, and will include elements of the following:

  • steadying breath work

  • breath-led gentle movement

  • creative expression through movement

  • thoughtful prompts

  • pause & stillness

My movement classes are built uniquely from the ground up, and from my own movement practices and this class is offered as a slower and more intentionally mindful alternative to my popular, creative and expressive Animal Movement Classes.

Why slow down?

The rush in my own life recently has given me a hunger for movement practices that deliberately bring me to ground, bring my attention back to my inner experience, while still being creative, authentic and not held rigidly into other people’s movement formulations. Rock shows us how to slow down, and so we come to this movement class ready to intentionally land.

Why Bodies of Rock?

In my professional, personal and artistic practice at the moment, I am in a lengthy enquiry about the ways we can become more ‘rock related’ through geosomatics, writing, therapy, mentoring etc. I am asking, how can we draw on the quality of rock to support healthy, grounded living, as well as root us more deeply into place and a loving relationship with the living planet?

I am fascinated in how we can take things further from the foundational practice of standing still with our feet on the ground, which is so often where we begin and end our embodiment of ‘becoming grounded’. But what if we take this exploration further? What if we playfully reclaim the idea of ‘bodies of rock’ as something not only about chiselled abs and biceps, but a softer, breathing thing.

When I was writing my second book Weathering I came across the work of artist Jemila MacEwan who had created a fabric, solar powered ‘breathing rock’ that expanded and contracted during the day and the night, respectively. Her idea deepened my own curiosity about how we are all, in our own ways, ‘bodies of rock’ - prone to shaping, dissolving, misbehaving, but also bodies of substance and gravity capable of adapting and weathering the lives that we are living with.

Why is this class different?

I like to explore big themes in my work, to borrow inspiration from the natural world, and to thread back through some deeper enquiries that we can pay attention to in our bodies. My agenda is always to improve better relatedness with ourselves and the rest of nature, and this class is no different.

In this session we seek personal awareness and unprompted self-expression, but also a connection with what is substantial within ourselves and the world outside of us. We will connect with a sense of deep time, and perhaps be resourced by it. We will settle into ourselves, explore surfaces and what it means to rest in-situ. To become placed. We may end with a ‘prayer’ for the earth foundations that support all of us.

Details:

Wednesday 5th June ONLINE

6.30-7.45pm (75 minutes) GMT+0

£15.00

Please note: the time zone is UK. I do not offer refunds for these classes so please book mindfully. If you cannot make the session you are more than welcome to transfer the registration to someone else. I do not record these sessions.

You will be sent a ZOOM link for the session after booking - if you haven’t received this by the day of the class then please drop me an email.

  • We will spend time on the floor and on our feet so please bring a yoga mat or similar if the ground is hard. You might also like to bring a blanket or warm clothes for the end, as well as a drink and notebook for when the session is finished.

  • The class is suitable for most people and is focused on gentle, simple practices. Fitness is not a prerequisite, and everything can be self-adapted by you for your own mobility limits.

    We will be bringing a lot of focus to the breath, so if breath work is uncomfortable for you, or in any wa triggering, then you might want to chat to me first :)

  • I don’t record my movement classes as I prefer to cultivate an in-person community as much as possible despite the online format.

    I do not offer refunds on my classes because it becomes hard to manage with the number of people attending. With this in mind I encourage everyone to only book on when they know they can make it.

  • Absolutely I can. This is a gentle class that translates well to retreats and workshops both inside and outside. If you would like to include it on your programme, just drop me an email: ruth@whitepeakwellbeing.com :)

While I am a body and movement informed, nature-based psychotherapist at foundation, I offer my movement classes as a previously ‘scared mover’ who had no confidence or language for the things we feel through our senses on the inside. I have done a lot of professional somatic and embodiment training and personal exploration since then, but in many ways I am still that scared mover so all of my classes come out of this awareness. It is brave to move into new shapes, and it is a process of discovery that never ends. We are all, always beginners.