This is my fourth article on what we are going to get up to on our Yoga Retreat: Feel to Heal 21/3 – 23/3/25 (https://www.yogaunderthebodhitree.com.au/yoga-retreats/) .
All of us have heard the saying: He’s off centre, (a little odd, perhaps a bit eccentric). It’s not an insult. I love odd people, being quite opinionated and odd myself. But the off-centre part is interesting. From a mental perspective being off centre would label you as a free thinker, perhaps an innovator. From a physical perspective however, being off centre would ring alarm bells for me, a yoga teacher. I’d watch how you move; how clumsy you are and if you can pick up any of those subtle internal (interoceptive) cues of moving your body though space with ease. Because in the world of somatic yoga, a body that cannot move with ease through space often signals a very busy, distracted mind or even neurological issues. This assumption of course discounts injury, joint issues, arthritis etc which all hamper our ease of movement. But it’s well known in scientific and psychological circles that poor ease of movement through space is often matched with various mental challenges. The flip side however is: If I can teach you to move better, learn to move from your centre and learn to pay attention to those internal (interoceptive) cues, we won’t just help you physically. No, learning to move from the centre will show up in a subtle enhancement of your mental and psychological health. You will become a more centred human.
The human being is a spine-based organism. Our body emerges from this midline, budding arms and legs. All movement is spine- based and all movement emerges from a supple, dynamic centre. When we sink into our true centre of gravity, both the mind and body are stilled. Your physical centre is also the home of your spiritual centre in the umbilical nerve complex. Known in Taoist yoga as the hara, or in Vedic yoga as your second chakra, svadhishthana. In the womb, the umbilicus was our source of nutrition and well-being. This is also your gut brain, a complex of 100 million nerves associated with the intestinal fascia.
So, what are those internal (interoceptive) cues? Interoception includes all the signals from your internal organs: your cardiovascular system, your lungs, your gut, your bladder and your kidneys. There’s a constant communication dialogue between the brain and the body. Many of these signals are automatic and we are not aware of them. However, in somatic yoga we teach you to pay attention to the signals that count: tension in your muscles, the clenching of your stomach, or the beating of your heart. People with low interoceptive skills are more prone to depression, anxiety, eating disorders etc. They’ve lost touch with this super sense. They either have no idea what their intuition is trying to tell them, or their mind exaggerates a normal bodily sensation, and they panic. People with good interoceptive skills, regulate themselves and relate to the world from a grounded base. Again, this is a skill that can be taught.
We all know someone who is deeply centred. They are nice to be around. They seem to draw their wisdom and kindness from deep within this central core. Your centre is the true home of your physical self: a place of calm, integrity, love and personal power. So come and join us! Its going to be an amazing weekend! Love and namaste Margot