Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Allowing for a grounded inhalation between sounds, explore extending the duration of a /s/ or /ʃ/ without compressing the ribs, spine, or throat. Maintain awareness and curiosity about your surroundings as you expand into the sound. Add some voice if you […]
Author: jsortore
Arm Swings 1
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Begin to swing the arms in opposition, one forward and one back. Build up some momentum, and allow them to swing overhead, beginning the cycle again on the second side. Make sure that you’re connecting breath to movement here, exhaling on […]
Squat Breathing
Begin in a low squatting position. Take a few breaths to feel for release in the pelvic floor and expansion in the lower back, and release a few sighs if it feels good. Begin to explore an extended /ʃ/ sound as press the legs toward straight. Each low inhalation takes you back into the squat, […]
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Starting with a hand near the middle of your torso, bend the knees slightly and drop the palm toward the floor as you allow a breath to drop deep into your belly. On the rebound of the exhalation, count “one” as […]
Begin in a lunge position, with the right knee forward. Move the left arm overhead in large circles, feeling for movement through the whole side body. Make sure you’re connecting breath to the movement here. Stay playful and imaginative: perhaps your arm is painting the walls and ceiling, or maybe you’re moving through an underwater […]
Hula Hoops
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Begin to spin an imaginary hula hoop around your middle. Allow your whole spine to respond, and notice that if you release your head, it will move in opposition to the hips. You might imagine that you have multiple hula hoops […]
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Stretch the arms overhead on an inhalation, feeling for a pleasurable stretch through the torso. On the exhale, simply release your effort and return to neutral. Try several different angles for your stretch. After a few repetitions, add a generous bend […]
Stargazing
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Cradle the back of the skull in the palms, with the thumbs extending downward alongside the neck-spine and the elbows spread wide. Gently lean back into this “pillow,” allowing your gaze to travel upward and your jaw to release open. Stay […]
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Touching the wall for balance, shift your weight to the leg farthest from the wall. Begin to swing the leg closest to the wall forward and back from the hip joint, allowing the free arm to swing in the same direction […]
Stand upright, sensing moment by moment for a dynamic, active alignment in your bones. Allow the chin to fall toward the chest. Slowly, breath by breath and vertebra by vertebra, allow the spine to follow the crown of the head downward into a forward fold. Make sure that the joints of the legs are bending […]