2010 Winter Coherence Calendar

What's a SIMPLE?
[visit http://www.somaspace.org/SIMPLES.html

Winter Wisdom Somatic Seasonals

[visit http://www.somaspace.org/winterwisdom.html printable version or just listen along here]

Winter Whispers
OVI #1, #2 & #3 - DEC 13th, 20th & 27th
Ara 6
Dr. D'Adamo got me using this as way of helping the lungs stay open and giving a boost to the immune system overall. It's a scoop/day dissolvable powder you take every morning from now until mid-JAN to get you threw the holidays & to the Winter accommodation point supported.
order on-line here: http://is.gd/4QLVZ

Elderberry Syrup
This is the best general boost out there...
http://www.wyldewoodcellars.com/PDFs/Elderberry-Phytochemistry.pdf
It was out there in the news in the Spring actually...
http://is.gd/4Frgc (love the vodka mix at the end!)

OVI #4 - JAN 2nd
Tapping Into Water Magic
People spend $M on sleeping pills and no one tells them that their frickin' tap water has the answer. The Winter is all about restoring our core energy. It's about balancing the Water element of our system, for the unwoo, it's called osmoregularity. So everything slows down. If we live where there's sub-freezing temperatures this is more obvious. So the restlessness we acquire comes from years of living out of rhythm with that natural cue. For deeper and faster sleep, apply ice to your throat for about 10-15 minutes to re-route your circulation. The alternative is to soak your feet in screaming hot water for ~3 minutes...

OVI #5 - JAN 9th
Fear Knot
Find a tender trigger point on the calf muscle on the same side as your dominant hand. So the righties poke their right leg, lefties their left one. Once you find one, lightly press down on it with the thumb of your opposite hand. You'll feel a palpable pulse in your thumb pad. Now, close your eyes and picture something you've been dreading or carrying around that is making you hold back. Press down a little more when you feel the fear well up in you. Now take a deep and audible breath in, like you're jumping in a pool. Press down a little more. The pulse should be intensifying. Move your closed eyes down to the floor and when you can't hold your breath anymore, exhale with a deep groan and release your thumb. The pulse will transfer to you calf muscle if you timed it right. The other check is to sense of whatever you pictured is now a little 'further away' from you mentally. Feel free to repeat this one 3-4x. It really helps.

OVI #6 - JAN 16th
CoCo Kinesis
Over the years, I've probably riffed over a 1000 'expercises' over the 19 years I've been doing this stuff. But by and large the one I think has the most shelf life is this one. I think it started when my daughter Sarah was in pre-K and I went in to meet the class and talk some soma. I told the kids all they needed to know about life is in their hands. When you're a kid it's about being told to CALM DOWN and the adults will signal this to you by showing you their hands PALMS DOWN. And when you're an adult, little kids will show you it's time to CHEER UP by asking you to hold them with their arms open and their PALMS UP. So the way to weave that into yourself is to literally sit still and place your hands on your desk, kitchen table or even your lap PALMS UP and breathe in and the flip them over PALMS DOWN on the breathe out. Do 10 or 15 cycles of that and you'll notice a tingling buzz in your body that wasn't there before. That spiraling energy is there for you to tap into as your emotions ride the wave of life.

OVI #7 - JAN 23rd
Fear Filter
Make a mental picture of something you absolutely dread happening. If it helps, write down a few words that would be the caption on that image. Then stop your breath in its tracks. Let the tension build in your body as you focus on what you truly fear. As your impulse to inhale swells allow the picture to expand and get as big as a movie screen. If you wrote down the words on paper too, pull the paper tight so as to stretch the fibers of the material. When it hits you to inhale, allow the image in your mind to explode into smithereens. If you are holding your paper, rip it in half and toss the pieces of it away from you. Feel free to hyperventilate! This is a process you can repeat as many times as you need to feel open and safe in yourself.

OVI #8 - JAN 30th
Spring Loaded
Practice a micro-version of Imbolc by spending a few minutes a day getting more aware of the cusp between the end of your exhalation and the origin of your impulse to inhale. Try to determine if it starts in your throat (internal dialogue), chest (images) or belly (felt-sense). As you passively witness this each morning or when you get a little downtime, notice if the pattern is the same just after a workout or your commute. The aim is to try to root your breath in the belly during the late Winter so you can emerge into the Spring rested and renewed. Once you notice the degree and extent you're in self-talk and images, it'll be clear how much inner work is left for you to do before we get to the Vernal Equinox in March...

OVI #9 - FEB 7th
Last Time I...
This is a memory exercise since we're into the WINTERmind now. What You do is notice a landmark you pass everyday in your routine, whether it's your commute or your beaten path around the house. When you pass it tomorrow, pause and reflect on the last time you felt light and open when you were there. Don't think! Let your body feel. It's not important to figure our WHEN, it's more healing to go ZEN and just know that there WAS a time that you were light and open in your past and you will be light and open again in the future. This makes what was a distant sense of coherence and instant one. Now when you pass this object on your daily rounds, instead of triggering some old dead thought, it'll come to inspire novelty.

OVI #10 -FEB 14th
Antsy Pants
We're in the part of the Winter Cycle where the body's energy is beginning to stir at the core and move into the residual layer where it meets a mess of memories. As a result, our sleep can be more easily disturbed, our concentration gets more fragile, especially after 4pm, and we end of feeling like we never get our tasks done. Try this to soothe your nerves and realize it's just nature's way of preparing us for the turbulence of the Spring, which'll be here soon...Before falling asleep, or even taking a nap...put your hands on your belly so the fingertips are facing each other but not touching on either side of your bellybutton. Breathe in and hold your breath, and feel it in your chest. Lift the heels of your hands and with your fingertips rub the skin up and down on either side while you keep your eyes closed. Stop when you feel the urge to exhale in your chest. Repeat that a good 10-15x before dipping out...

OVI #11 - FEB 21st
Wind Sweeping
One of the elements of the late Winter/early Spring is the gusty, often intense windy days we get to deal with here in the Northeast a lot. But wherever you are the wind is a great somatic resource to converse with as you move around in your day within yourself. Grab a few blades of grass, breathe in deep and hold it. Close your eyes and squeeze them while you focus on a fear you've held that you've been unable to shed for years. On the breath out, open your eyes, release the blades of grass and let the wind carry your fear away. Then thank the wind. If you suddenly feel a warmth come over you inside that's a good indicator it said your welcome. When the Summer breezes of late August and early September surface, remember this practice and notice if the fears you shed in the Winter are fueling you now in the Summer.