Embodied Awareness Practice with Inbar

13/12/2023

It’s been a very long time since I posted here and a lot has changed in the world. I’ve been to Israel for almost 2 months in the autum, hoping to stay there until the end of the year when the war started, I decided to return to the uk where my nervous system felt more safe.

It’s not been easy to return and experience all the grief and sadness from a far. It’s not been easy to witness all the hatred directed at Israel and the Jewish people (and at me personally) during this time, even the kind disguised as pro-peace (I post more about this in my photography account).

It’s not been easy to embody and it’s not been easy to practice awareness.

It’s not been easy to hold boundaries around people, it’s not been easy to regulate, it’s not been easy to self-care or self-soothe.

To experience the grief of war from another land is very isolating and that’s been the experience for me in the last couple of months.

The practice of embodied awareness (via the realization process) asks us to attune and meditate on the quality of self which is a subtle quality we can all experience when we make deep contact with ourselves.

Absolutely every time I remind myself to attune to it - I remind myself that I am human, that I have the right to be here, that I have the strength to be here, that I have the love and the integrity to be here.

I feel it. I embody it. I am it.

I’m slowly coming back to my practice as a facilitator and a guide.

At the moment I have space for 2 new clients for 1:1 sessions (online) and in the new year I will start a group practice you can join in person (in Ryde) or on zoom.

In the private sessions we start to land in the body, allow the mind to rest so we can feel our emotions, and then we find ground within ourselves that’s stable and calm.

If you need some emotional support during this time - get in touch, you don’t have to feel it alone.

With care,
Inbar

17/02/2023

This week I’ve had a couple of conversations with people experiencing Anxiety but calling it Fear.

These are two different energies which are felt differently in the system (somatically), I think it’s important to separate them and become familiar with each of them separately but also, how they relate to each other.

Fear is a response to an immediate threat, it’s there to protect us in the moment, and it has a life force energy - it activates the fight or flight response (which is mobile).

Anxiety on the other hand is a constant and persistent reaction to a PERCEIVED threat. It is a mind-generated fear that has no threat in the “here and now” (it’s imagined), and has no life force energy - it activates the freeze response (immobilising).

When we attune to these two energies and distinguish between them, we notice the aliveness vs. numbness in a visceral way.

Fear makes you want to take action.

Anxiety makes you stuck.

From an embodied awareness perspective, when there is no “real” threat, anxiety is a layer preventing us from connecting with inherent fear.

Fear of what?

It could be a real and felt fear from your past you are not in contact with, and it could also be something bigger than the personal.

Perhaps it's existential fear.

A fear which sees us trying to control life - which in turn creates anxiety - because we can’t control life.

There is a gift in embracing this gnosis of lack of control.

There is freedom in coming to terms with our mortality.

Embracing life with the reverence of death - so we can live 🌱

16/02/2023

I’m captured by this quote from poet Mark Nepo:

"I've learned that loving your self requires a courage unlike any other. It requires us to believe in and stay loyal to something no one else can see that keeps us in the world - our own self worth."

A lot can be said about self-worth.

There is a lot of shame and shadow attached to “loving yourself” in our society.

We learned to serve and sacrifice ourselves at work and in social dynamics as a survival tactic.

I remember growing up and suppressing myself in order to not stand out.

I can still hear myself dismiss others for loving themselves "too much"…. We say “she’s so full of herself” when we want to make someone small (or ourselves big).

The programmed belief that you are “selfish” if you love yourself, or that you overshadow others when you do… is distorted.

This quote -
loving your self requires courage …
to stay loyal to something no one else can see…
your own self-worth.

It blows my mind.

It’s a lifelong practice to untangle and uncover yourself and your worth, it takes a lot of courage to sort through undermining voices in your head and mend the broken pieces of your heart.

Have courage because life wants you to thrive.

❤️

Image lovingly captured by the talented Inbar Gold

15/02/2023

In my personal experience we spend our days trying to get nourishment from an outside resource.

This is something I’ve been unconsciously doing all my life and I think it’s quite “normal” in modern society.

Looking for inspiration and validation from other people.

Looking for comfort in food and other substances.

Looking for NS regulation from TV, and media.

I think this is related to the fact that our survival is so dependant on our parents and the adults in our lives.

Albeit necessary for our healthy development, the problem as I see it, is the way modern society had us become so reliant on outside resources and people that we lose connection with ourselves, and with truth.

It’s fear mongering and energy sucking.

It’s constant comparing and looking for advice.

It’s being emotionally unavailable and busy all the time.

It’s being tired and running on empty.

Sounds like you?

The tool that helped me find myself again is somatic movement and embodied meditation.

Embodied Awareness is a daily practice I dedicate my life to.

It’s a daily practice to notice when I’m not in my body and when I’m not resourced and to rehydrate myself.

So what can you do?

Find a moment in your day to dedicate to “Somatic Hydration” - it can be 2-3 minutes just to notice beauty.

If you can, make it a daily ritual - in the beginning, you might just sleep, but over time you will find more space and more juice, flow, and creativity.

Let me know what you find, and if you need 1:1 support, I’m always here.

With love,
Inbar

15/02/2023

So true ❤️

"I've learned that loving your self requires a courage unlike any other. It requires us to believe in and stay loyal to something no one else can see that keeps us in the world - our own self worth." 💗

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends. Sending you all love, today and always.

11/02/2023

Following the pleasure path:
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Us humans we are very intelligent.
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We like to understand and "make sense".
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We like to connect the dots and be clever.
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We like answers and results.
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I certainly do.
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But what happens when we find ourselves in uncertainty?
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What happens when we can’t make sense of our feelings or we can't explain our way out of darkness?
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My way out of the "thinking mind" is going into the body.
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My way into the body is through the pleasure path.
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Instead of thinking "what's wrong", I think "what's right".
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Instead of going into mental loops in my mind, I go out of the house or move around in space.
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Instead of looking for solutions, I look for beauty.
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Oftentimes, this little adjustment towards pleasure opens us up to spaciousness and clarity.
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It can be a small and faint whisper but pleasure is there - either in the body or out in the world.
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Soften your gaze, relax your belly, feel the movement of your breath and look for pleasure or beauty.
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Let me know what you find

10/02/2023

What happens in an Inner Knowing session?
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Well... that's up to you.
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I believe in client sovereignty 👑
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I know that embodied healing requires trust and time, so these sessions are designed to be navigated by you.
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🌱Some of the time we will talk - I believe speaking helps relieve trapped energy and sometimes all you need is to vent.
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🌿Some of the time we will listen - I believe that by listening to your own words and narrative, you come to a distilled clarity all on your own.
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🌷Some of the time we embody - I believe that dropping into to the body is a resource and a healing ground for our emotional life, so sometimes I will lead us there.
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The think to know is that a session is for you first.
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I offer my guidance and make suggestions.
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I light and reflect back when needed.
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I offer my knowledge and tools when appropriate.

Inner knowing session helps you find YOU.

👑

08/02/2023

I think a lot about the type of support I offer my clients and how to describe what happens in a session.
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When it comes to healing spaces, I think "real healing" happens in dialogue, in connection.
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The way I work is by offering an embodied ground for self-reflection, exploring an inner dialogue and finding a truth that underlines our thoughts.
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One of my clients described her core being as a delicate pearl, forming over time, from a visceral need to protect herself.
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I love this image.
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I believe that our experiences - painful and beautiful alike - are what made us who we are.
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I believe that true transformation happens when we open up to accept and love who we became, without shaming or irradicating parts we don't like.
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What I offer my clients is a space that can hold both:
validation and acceptance, as well as curiosity and potential.
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I believe this is the healing ground for growth and transformation, so I offer a holding hand and embodied guidance to support that inquiry.
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I'd love to hear from you if this sounds like something you would like to explore.
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With love
Inbar.

18/01/2023

If you're anything like me, you might be feeling a little confused or unsure lately.

You might find that what you thought you want is no longer what you want.

You might find that who you thought you were is no longer who you are.

I’m feeling it viscerally,
I find it hard to embody,
I find it hard to stay present
and relax…

There is a sense that something is moving,

but it’s an undercurrent,

not a wave.

It brings up questions in me:

How to stay loving towards my self when “I don’t know”?

How to stay attuned to my needs and my environment when I’m lost?

How to trust when trusting is tested?
The answers are not straightforward, there is no formula.

The questions are the process,
awareness softens the edges,
the answers bubble to the surface
when we listen.

If this resonates with you and you need someone to talk to, feel free to reach out - the January offer of the first Inner Knowing session (online) is still £45 instead of £55 - I'd love to be a holding hand on your journey.

Clarity emerges from within 🌀

With love,
Inbar