Forward, Backward, Inward, Outward

I’m sitting here, the first week of the new decade. Sitting, thinking, sitting, pondering……

What happened in 2019? What am I looking forward to in 2020?

2019 had its ups and downs. Lessons learned, lessons lost, some to probably be repeated.

Mostly, I want to take in the last decade and sit with it for a few more moments. What wisdom might I have picked up? It seems easier to move forward if I look back. I am not thinking about what went wrong or right, but what happened. How do we judge events, ideas that happened? Perhaps what seemed wrong at the time turned out to be right.

As I ponder this, I find myself doing a small bit of an Awareness Through Movement® lesson. Doing these lessons, even for a few minutes, helps me to reset my thinking, my body, and my nervous system.

I would like to share this small lesson with you.

Sit on a chair. Be comfortable. Allow your feet to be on the floor. Sit forward toward the edge of the chair. 
How do you sit? Feel your feet on the ground. Is one lighter/heavier? Do you feel the whole foot?
What part of your “sitting bones” are on the chair? Do you sit more on one side, or the other?
Are you on the front of these bones, or behind, or right in the middle?

There is no right or wrong here. We call this part a “scan.” Where are you? You can listen to yourself. 
Listen to your breath. When do you breathe in and when do you breathe out? Do your shoulders move when you breathe? Do your ribs move? Your belly?
How does your head sit on your spine? Is one shoulder higher than the other?
Is your jaw held tightly, or relaxed?
Where is your tongue. Are your eyes open or closed?

What is happening right now? 
Listen to yourself.
Where are you now? 
What’s happening now?
Just be here and sense yourself.

Gently turn your head to the right and mark a spot on the wall with your eyes. Do this several times.
Come back to the middle and turn again, a small amount to the right, but this time allow your shoulders and head to turn. Do this a few times and mark your ‘spot.’

Come back to the middle.
Keep your head and eyes facing front and turn just your shoulders to the right as few times. 
Now turn your head, shoulders and eyes to the right and see your ‘spot.’ 
You may notice many things about yourself and your body now.

Check yourself with the little scan we did at the beginning.
What do you notice, and feel, now?

This is one little thing I do to get in touch with myself. Give it a try. It may or may not work for you.