Sensation: The Language of the Body (Naomi Worob)

As a culture, we are disconnected from our bodies. In school, we learn to meet standards outside of ourselves and to listen less and less to our bodies. Messages of a hidden curriculum tell us that the body should be productive, emotions should be controlled, rest must be earned, and time is more important than natural rhythms. A controlled body cannot be a sensing body. Sensation is a way to connect to experience, feel our impulses, and take in information. Interoception is awareness of the sensation of the body. Awareness of sensations helps us regulate. Those attending the talk share about their experiences tracking sensations during exercises. The nervous system connects our internal body to the outside world. Distinctions between self-observation and interoception are considered. Sensations lead to impulses, movements, and expressions. Being a witness to our own experience equips us with tools to be with the fullness of life. As human beings, we tend to open to pleasurable sensations and to push away those that are unpleasant. We can intend to make our relationship to senses more neutral, to open our arms and heart to experience all sensation. Somatic experiencing training developed by Peter Levine uses the metaphor of life as a river. When regulated, our nervous system is in the flowing river of life. Eddies are created where we get stuck when overwhelmed. As we integrate overwhelming experiences, our banks widen and we open to a broader spectrum of emotions and the fullness of life. A simple exercise of butoh, a Japanese form of performance art synthesized in post-World War II Japan, is conducted. Naomi Worob is a student of the wisdom traditions and an artist, choreographer/director, and yoga teacher. She facilitates classes, workshops, retreats, and residencies that invite deep embodiment, creative expression, and authentic relating.