SAIIER 2013:Awareness Through the Body

Auroville Rainbow Child		Building with Blocks
Awareness Through the Body

"How to increase concentration (single-mindedness) and will-force —
they are so necessary for doing anything."

Through regular, persevering, obstinate, unflagging exercise — I mean
exercise of concentration and will.

- The Mother, 7 April 1965

The aim of my work with Activity::Awareness Through the Body has been to provide teachers, parents and 'adults in general' the opportunity to become more aware of themselves through exercises and games.

As adults we have imprinted patterns in our bodies, minds and emotions that we are often unconscious of. In a process to help new generations to become more conscious of their own being I have been offering a safe space to explore oneself - to increase awareness of body posture, to observe the way we breathe and how we can use the breath to create changes in our being, to see the unnecessary tensions we are holding, to become aware of the reactions that continuously happen in between our thoughts, emotions, sensations and energy levels and also on the reactions we go through while dealing with external situations and the possibility of watching how they then affect our internal landscape. The more we are in this witness position the more we can help ourselves and our children – either in class or at home.

The main focus of the work of this last year has been to develop this position of observer in the adult participants, noticing at the same time what is outside and inside. To find ways to stay present with what is in the moment, and to practice again and again this attitude of witnessing, returning to it whenever the impartial observer fades away and the critical mind takes over. At times, in the middle of a game where they had a task to achieve as a group in a determined time 'as a representation of many life situations', I included exercises where the participants were challenged to keep coming back to the present moment through their breath and to notice how this could help to answer the difficulties that they were facing.

Some feedback from participants:

“It has helped me to keep the practice of sustaining attention and awareness, and helped me to get a clearer sense of the witness attitude and positioning. Since last workshop I developed a clear sensory landmark for the witness that has been really useful from that time on. It has helped me as a teacher.”

“I attended three ATB workshops last year. It really helped me for my personal life as well as my work. During the work stress I practice these methods.... I feel more peace, happy and joy in my life.”

Through the workshops another important focus of the work has been the possibility of experiencing the effects of relaxation as a reality in their bodies, and to create conscious bridges through breath and sensations in order to have the possibility to quickly access it whenever is needed. There were many exercises to explore the benefits of relaxation and the power that an effortless presence brings to the resolution of any goals.

Outside the workshops I have also worked one-on-one with many of the adults who were experiencing unconscious blockages in the body - where they needed help to release and free their bodies from them. During the exercises they were able to experience how a release on the physical level was often accompanied by a deep release in some other plane of their being.

Another goal throughout the different workshops and individual sessions I offered to adults this year, has been to integrate our physical body as a direct experience and not just as mental knowledge. As teachers most of us know about the brain, the nervous system, the ribs, the organs and the chemical reactions in our bodies. However all this is mostly just facts in our brains. In the ATB spaces, the participants were able to experience all this as a sensorial reality through different exercises, after which they were able to notice the effect it has when embodied consciously in their bodies.

“I apply what I learnt when I sit with the computer.... during the meetings, when things are getting complex... and when I do not have any works....”

“Basically I know the benefit of the ATB.... I wanted to feel the peace and inner joy during my works... I had my neck pain... I use the some practice..... I feel better now.”

During each activity I kept reminding the participants that whatever is happening is fine, inviting to accept every experience as an opportunity to watch ourselves, and to notice what happens when we are present as spectators... and to see it as an invitation to extend this awareness to our daily class/home situations with our children - giving ourselves and them the opportunity to use whatever is happening as a precious possibility to get to know and 'to use' ourselves better and better.

Trying out a new experience, I also started to gather parents and children in the same session. The objective was to help them to reconnect with each other through the playful path of ATB, and to rediscover themselves whilst playing and resolving situations, remaining open for surprises. It has been a rich experience, where the teenagers and parents had many possibilities to notice how they use themselves, and to become aware and respect both their own pace and the others´ and to improve their ability to listen with their whole being, through different exercises.

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