Maia Well Being

The symbol of life, the koru, a fern uncurls, opening & lengthening, supple above ground, strong roots below.

One point I really like to highlight to people, is that when force, stretching, tension, strengthening, treatments, operations or drugs have been used to deal with physical issues, there has been a shutting down, or a covering over (denial) of your situation, and an ability for a range of motion greater than was good for you at that time. Whilst there are many studies, labels, concepts, theories, around human health, what I am working with, is how we function as a complete natural human organism, without any doing to achieve… and certainly no doing to be.

At some point all of the doing becomes exhausting or disease, all the seeking a fix to your failings as a human, in health, strength, energy, they all become confusing & repetitive. So, when you decide you cannot keep doing & seeking something outside of you for health, when you decide you have everything you need to heal, and that what you have been doing does not serve you anymore… It is time to do the opposite, and that starts with you feeling yourself, you find these limits built with force, and you unravel tensions that covered over what you felt, your physical messages (symptoms), you become OK with who you have created, you be OK with these limits you are now listening to, you are OK as you are!

You may also experience the Pins & Needles Principle… as you release tension, you begin to feel that which you have hidden, and with your understanding of range of motion, you are now moving respectfully within your personal limits. Using your knowledge of gravity & earth force, complete natural breath rhythm & range of motion, you move yourself safely, healing as you go, continuously unraveling tension, always gaining more of yourself for less.

We spend time on the ground, in positions of supported, nervous system recognized, safety. Whilst your body enjoys deep rest here, your mind can use this time to observe the quality of two things… your weight released into the floor, which allows for awareness of habitual postural tensions; AND awareness of your current breath rhythm.

First, identification of habitual postural tensions is done by you feeling yourself feeling the floor. The quality of your weight release into the floor is correlated with your muscles doing exactly what they are meant to do, contract & draw your bones together. Habitual postural tension is when they are no longer letting go between use & are holding joints under pressure & consequently out of neutral alignment. Lying on the floor gives you the ability to feel where bones are being pulled into the floor, or held off the floor. Whilst this can be uncomfortable, physically, emotionally, psychologically or spiritually, you have this opportunity to release tension on any of these levels, as you feel safe to do so, and by creating a safe physical situation, it makes releasing tensions a little gentler.

Awareness of your breath rhythm involves honest observation, free of judgement, here you get to know your rhythm, length, areas of/needing direction to ease/improve your breathing experience.

We really get to know ourselves when we start looking for our range of motion; how much movement can you get into a joint without force, interrupting your breath rhythm, or compensation from other areas. We look for the honest freedom of your joints, and once you know it, you will be able to expand it safely.

For me, feeling your breath rhythm moving your body is knowing the ocean tides, or the swell in a surfzone. I have spent a fair amount of time in the surfzone swimming, surfing & scuba diving… I am a mermaid at heart, and I really like this imagination for how your bones swim in the soft tissues, the joints responding (like surfers linked by hand rolling over the swell) to your breath rhythm.