For many, summer is a season of play, creativity, rest and renewal. For our bodies, it is a time to rest and yield into contact with the earth, basking in summer’s warmth and vivid colours, whether on a beach, grassy field, forest or garden.
Yielding is the foundation of the five basic developmental movement patterns. The others are: pushing, reaching, grasping and pulling. We experience the fullness of yielding in utero and as infants. But in our culture it is quickly dominated by the others as we grow up. Fundamentally, yielding allows us to be at rest in contact with what supports us, whether it is the earth, a chair, a bed, or another person, neither collapsing nor holding with unnecessary tension. Yielding is a state of being and is the foundation of all the other patterns. It teaches profound trust.
This little boy is yielding into contact with the ball underneath him. There is a slight pushing in his feet to stabilize. I had the privilege of seeing him held by his mother as a young infant, in a complete state of surrendered trust, enveloped by her arms and body.
We can practice yielding in many ways. Let your hand rest on a surface and sense the surface’s presence under your skin. See if you can feel this into the substance of your whole hand. Experiment with pulling your hand away from the contact, then letting it release. Notice what happens in your whole body.
A more full-bodied experiment is to lie on the earth, feeling how the earth meets and carries you. Notice what changes in your mind, your body and your spirit. Enjoy!
With love and blessings,
Tannis