Hello, I’m Anne-Gaelle. I did the In-Body invitation called Passages - Portals to the senses a little while ago.
I am happy to meet you again for the eleventh In-Body invitation; it is called Following a Thin Thread.
In it, I hope to invite you to let your intuition guide you for a tactile image to be imprinted in your experience. Leading to a visible or an invisible tattoo.
I would like to suggest you take part in this invitation in one session, taking a break if you need, but staying with the practice if you can. It will take approx. 30 mins, unless you wish to stay with certain moments for longer.
It is in 4 parts.
For it you will need:
- Some space to move
- Comfortable clothes.
- Pen and paper
- Some bit of your own skin
- Your phone or a camera
Optional:
A drawing/writing pen you are happy to use on your own skin (preferably, one that is not permanent!)
This invitation could be nice at the beginning of the day, as you are just out of bed, if that is available to you. But any other time will do too.
1. Spine as a string of pearls
(Movement meditation from a Qi Gong exercise, 8min)
Start in a place that is good for you to stand, or sit, whatever is most comfortable for you. Take a moment to pay attention to your breathing. Your breath traces a thread between past and future, between one sec and the next, or minutes, hours, days, years. Last year and next year meet in your breath right now…
With one finger of one hand, start drawing the shape of an 8, and keep drawing it over and over.
Please do the movement as softly and pleasurably as you can, with as much of yourself (flesh, bones, soul) as possible.
And do take your time, with no need to make it too big; enjoy the quality of tracing in the air.
Can you change the direction of your movement so that your 8 is orientated forward and backward, up and down?
Now let your finger not be the main mover, but the companion of the spine, initiating the movement of the 8 from the head.
Over and over.
Notice how it goes forth and back. Up and down. How your head, with its movement, can softly pull and engage the spine, like a string of pearls; from the head to the back of the chest, back of the pelvis, down to the tail.
How your arms can follow, hanging and suspending, shoulders softly opening and closing.
How knees are soft and the soles of the feet too.
In particular notice the places of gap, where the movement seems to blur; when the movement ends and the next movement hasn’t started yet; where your breathing stops or changes.
I will let you go on for 3 more minutes, without my voice but you will hear me again at the end. Feel free to change pace or size of movement as it fits you.
After 3 min you can bring this to an end, and you are invited to find a comfortable place to relax with your pen and paper close to you.
2. Letting arise
(as much time as needed)
Which parts of you are touching the floor in the position you are in? Where are you between earth and sky?
What are your sensations coming up for you?
Could you let an image come slowly before your eyes, just under your eyelids?
Take all the time needed for this image to have the time to arrive.
3. 3min writing // thread of words
Please set a timer for 3 min to write or audio record a thread of words, starting from the description of the image that came before tour eyes, letting sensations and any associations guide you. If you prefer you can also draw this image.
If you can, please go without stopping your flow, repeating words if needed.
They don’t need to make sense logically, or to represent or mean anything.
When you are done, listen back to or re-read your writing, or examine your picture. This might take a moment, that’s totally ok.
Out of it, pick three words or a sentence that you would like to remember.
4. Visible or invisible tattooing
(as long as you wish)
Choose a place on your body where these three words would fit nicely.
Write your chosen sentence or words.
Enjoy the feeling of the words imprinting on the body part you chose, the slight press into your skin as a shorter or longer thread.
Feel free to visit any or all of the following options:
- Using a pen or your fingertips
- With the lid of the pen on or off: letting the ink meet your skin, or feeling the imprint but leaving no mark
- Writing in Latin-script alphabet or in Braille
- Drawing rather than writing
- With several fingertips at a time, like several invisible pens at once
- On any surface around you, floor, wall, table, paper, etc. or in the air
- As small or as big as you like
This part can last as long as you wish, until you feel satisfied.
Maybe, when you are finished, you can record something; take a picture of this writing on your body or make an audio recording describing your invisible tattoo – what words did you choose?
If you feel like it, please send your recording to us.
From there, let it infuse.
I hope you spend a nice rest of your day.
