Listen… Remember The Evolution Of Movement. Awakening Cellular Breathing

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This Way of movement exploration was performed in the beautiful beach of Cala Saladita in Ibiza Spain. I did it after doing a few rounds of Cellular Breathing and sounding the out-breath. Both are works coming from movement researchers as Emilie Conrad author of “Continuum Movement”, and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen founder of “Body-Mind Centering”. They shared the understanding and clarity of  somatic explorations emphasising the awakening of body awareness, where to sense, to feel, and to move become the means to self-knowledge, and self-regulation.

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Our Origins

Life on planet earth began as we did in the womb, in a watery environment and from the union of two cells to create a fertilised egg cell, which divides and multiplies over and over again in a continual growth and renewal. The development of humans began billions of years ago with the evolution of the species from the one-celled organism like eukaryotes, to multicellular organisms, through invertebrates as tunicates, to vertebrates as fish, then the jump in evolution from water to land with amphibians, reptilians, and finally mammals. The cells of our bodies hold the memory of all this different evolving states of consciousness throughout the evolution of the species (Hartley 1989)

Grounding in Simple Presence

We can make contact with our body at a cellular level using the most powerful tool we have, intention, but to use intention we need to have first awareness. When we focus in a part of our body we direct the mind to that area creating an energetic pathway. Using imaginary or direct touch, and sending the breath, we move at a cellular level.

Where the mind moves the energy gets directed, the movement of the body will follow then the breath can travel trough the channel we create. This is the principal of many practices as Thai Chi,  Qi Gong and Yoga. When our energetic body paths aren’t open the functioning of the cell in that area will be weakened. In other way the energy can be trap and unable to express itself.

Cellular Breathing

According to Body-Mind Centering there are two types of breathing: Internal and external breathing. External breathing is through the medium of air; as you breathe you can feel the wind movement in your lungs. Cellular breathing is through a fluid medium (blood, lymphatic system and fascia) As the oxygen has been absorbed through the capillaries in the lungs goes through the blood stream to be pumped by the heart. The arteries carry the reach oxygenated blood to the periphery where each cell helps in the absorption of oxygen and removal of waste matter, is trough the veins that deoxygenated blood returns to the heart ready to be purified by the next in breath, (this is Cellular Breathing)

When you breathe in and out, your cells breath in and out as well. Being aware of this fine and subtly process you can feel that the movements are very close to the composition of water. Awakening the watery essence of the body, is like to feel the waves, tides and currents of the oceans and rivers of planet earth inside you.

We can direct the energy and the rhythmic movements, the inflow and outflow of external respiration to each cell, giving a constant supply of fresh energy and blood. Each cell breaths, cellular awareness can give you a feeling of being complete and present in your body this state it may be also be experienced in meditative practices.

Exploration: Cellular Breathing.

Let yourself be carried by the currents of your inner waters.

Start in constructive rest position, or laying down on your back with a pillow under the knees.

Feel the places where the body makes contact with the ground, take a minute or so to feel how the body starts to settle, observe how the muscles start to soften and relax. Rearrange your position if is necessary to allow more parts of the body to droop down towards the floor. Feel gravity and imaging the sensation to be supported by the center of the earth. Let your body soften, and the breath deepening. Now open your door senses, start to observe and register sensory information, as the warmth of the blanket, the air on your skin, smells and sounds. Are there areas of your body out of your awareness? Perhaps areas that may feel obscure or difficult to feel.

Now, notice the rising and falling of the breath, observe the changes of rhythm, feel the filling in of  your inhale and the empty out of your exhale. Be aware of the passage of the breath inside your body, the air coming in trough your nose, passing down to your throat filling in and emptying out your lungs, notice the expansion and contractions of your ribs. This is external respiration.

Now sense the pulsing of your heart pumping the blood trough your arteries caring the oxygenated blood trough out your body, each cell breaths in the clean blood and exhale out the waste material trough the veins ready to reach the heart and get purified by the new inhale. This is Cellular Breathing.

Allow the breath to move you, feel this filling and empty motion down your pelvis, abdomen and chest. Can you imaging it going up to your arms and down to your legs? Maybe as far as your fingers and toes? Feel the movement behind your back, under your hands, up to your face and head all the way to your scull. Feel the flow trough your thighs, knees, calves and feet (as you observe the movement trough out you body observe if there are areas that seem difficult to contact. Don’t force the breath, just observe)

Sense the continuity and constancy of the flow through of the whole body. Become aware that you body is made up of billions of cells which are 70 to 80 percept water and the membrane of each cell is semipermeable and they are constantly breathing in the same flowing and rhythmic way, expanding and contracting. As you sense the breathing of the cells this may give rise to a tingly sensation in parts of the body where cells are starting to fully breathe, perhaps pulsations or warmth in some areas; or maybe an undulating wave sensation as the breath-awareness travels down that path.

After a few minutes of Cellular Breathing see if you can now sense the areas that were dark or out of contact, and allow the cells to breathe there fully.

Feel the body as a whole, every part is alive, your body is one connected identity made up of individual breathing cells, let the cells to breath, to relax, to expand and contract, let them be free, each cell is been release to feel the support of gravity, your whole body is a breathing entity, it has become breath.

Then after a few minutes of Cellular breathing put some calm music and sense your body movement impulses, follow them and move!