Movement Meditation in the Garden

Last Sunday, Embodied Movement facilitated "Movement Meditation" based on the discipline and principle of "Authentic Movement" in the Nature.  It was a lovely beautiful weather!  It was a great start to our debut of movement in the garden.  Every $50 sign up has been donated to the Shanti Rani Project in Nepal. In the next visit in July/August, some sessions of Authentic Movement will be held at the Botanic Garden in Singapore.  Thank you for the support!  Below is a sharing of testimony of a participant and photos of the day.  ~ Elizabeth

The movement meditation was a 1.5 hours session conducted by Elizabeth in the beautiful botanical garden, amongst the tall trees, wet grass, gentle breeze and strong sunlight. The session could be divided into three parts. The first part of the session was focused on centering into the self and being in tune with the natural environment, our breath, our thoughts, our motions, our awareness, our emotions; our senses in relation to the external environment – the sounds, the smells, the sensations across the skin. We breathed, we walked, we looked, we felt at ease. The second part was the movement meditation, we brought out own mats and were encouraged to find a comfortable position; to close our eyes and surrender ourselves to the will of our body. The last part was a sharing of our personal experience.

Elizabeth provided us with some guidance on how the movement meditation was like. Ultimately, when one transfer the control from the mind to the body, the body will naturally move to its own tune, its own rhythm, its own wishes and desires. Movement has always fascinated me. Being able to move is like telling a story, my story. It wasn’t easy to be able to move from within. It took time, it took efforts, but it was worth it. Through movement, I came to understand myself, and the world around me. It taught me self-love and to love the world, to live authentically, and be true to the heart. Sometimes, this movement (from within; the heart and the soul) can be difficult to achieve. 

The idea of movement meditation, if I may share how I view it:
1) being able to completely surrender the reign of control from the mind to the body
2) have a sub-conscious awareness of what the mind and the heart/soul wants
3) the body is our tool of expression and ultimately we want to achieve that peace by integrating the mind, body and soul into one. 

Moving is a joyous thing on most occasions, but moving amongst the nature is another thing entirely. When one physically in contact with the earth and surrounded and loved by the skies and trees, the inner, oldest, youngest, most authentic self from within will be re-awaken, one will find renewed love for nature once more. People can tell us, share with us and provide us with the best in the world, but ultimately the only time change will occur is when we grab that opportunity and to try everything new that comes our way.

In summary, being able to move freely in the gardens was a liberating experience, and the sharing session was also lovely. Kudos to Elizabeth for always being so supportive and always encouraging us to monitor our personal journey with movement for self-growth.

~ Wan Ting

 I am always neutral to the nature in term of trees and garden. I was not very keen on the idea of waking up early in the morning to go to the garden at all. However, when you are there, it just feels different. The breathing exercise which Elizabeth helps to facilitie make me realize why waking up at 7am in the morning is worthwhile.

Surprisingly, the way that my feet feel under the wet grass is not that bad either. Elizabeth is a wonderful facilitator. She helps me realize what is happening around my surrounding, something that I usually never pay much attention to due to the busy schedule of mine.

 Next, she began her lesson in the authentic movement. The instruction is clear and precise. I followed the instruction and execute accordingly. True to what she said, my body actually knows more than what I give it credit for. Through this 1 1/2 hour authentic movement in the botanic garden, I have discovered a deeper myself through my own body movement.  ~ Guo Yi

Sharing by participants Singapore 2014

It was a magical time that I could momentarily put aside my self-consciousness and be submerged in the space where all my senses were fine-tuned to receive the pulses of my my inner self. We were asked by Elizabeth to close our eyes and sink deep into our soul, and then let our bodies flow freely in a relaxing, non-judgemental environment. As a person who is rather weak in the controlling faculty, I have been very cautious in running my mind and letting off my feelings. Especially when I am getting older, my natural defense system tries to keep me away from all the potential "dangers" in society. I think, I reason, I act, without much time to feel and have an honest conversation with myself. It is not easy to be given the freedom to express my feelings in a direct, spontaneous and non-verbal way. It took me a while at the beginning to build trust in myself and translate my emotions into movements. I was surprised at what I could do and what I have actually done in the end. The sharing session sheds lights on my understanding of myself. I wouldn't say that I have since transformed for I have only attended this one session of authentic movements, but the experience does give me a different perspective in approaching myself in relation to the world. Thanks Elizabeth for your guidance. The workshop is fun and rewarding! ~ Stella, attended "Moving The Rhythm" and "A Call for Dance" workshops

* On 13th April, Sunday, we are running the "Movement Meditation" in the Botanic Garden.  Registration is still open.

* "Authentic Movement" will be offered and re-run in July/August 2014 in the next visit.  Interested to be updated in our mailing list,  welcome to visit our Embodied Movement website to Contact Us.