“Is the source of your movement arising from the effortless flow of fluid through your tissues or is it restricting the internal flow due to hardness, dryness, stagnation, collapse or pressured effort?
The movement of mind through thought, emotion, sensation, feeling, creativity, awareness, and relationship, follow the same pathways as physical movement.
What are the fluid patterns of the movement of your mind?
What is the relationship between the external movement of your body through space, the internal movement through your tissues and the movement of your mind?
How are these patterns manifested in your relationships with others and with the environment?”
- Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Thursday, May 19, 2022
This past weekend I had the most rich and nourishing experience in the first of three modules of Shake Your Soul training. This training is part of the 500-hour SomaSoul somatic therapy training I am doing towards becoming a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist (RSMT). Shake Your Soul is a dance practice that is largely based on the fluid systems of the body and grounded in Body-Mind Centering, which is the work of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Over the course of the next three months I will be learning movement repertoires for the major fluids systems of the body: synovial, intercellular. Blood, arterial blood, venous, lymph and cerebrospinal fluid.
 I love this exploration of fluids for many reasons. First, our bodies are comprised of anywhere between 50-70% water. We are fluid beings. Our lives began in the liquid space of the womb and as we grow we begin to fill out our body tissue, skeletal system, muscles, ligaments, etc. Often, especially socially and culturally, we become over identified with a more “solid” self. Sometimes that solidity is seen or felt as hard, rigid, tight, “held together" and muscled. My own sense of rigidity is often expressed through stubbornness, fear (clinging, clenching), and defensiveness. My fluid self often comes out more easily when my nervous system feels safe, restful, spacious, and absent of any fear of judgement, criticism, pressure or getting it “right.” It’s very much like being in a flow state - a zone of inner connection and full body presence. It is absolutely essential to find a balance between fluidity and solidity and for me, this work could not have arrived at a better time.
Image above: Source unknown
As I look at the chart above right, I wonder where we ever got the idea that we need to harden and toughen up?
This past weekend, I learned the patterns for the synovial and intercellular fluids. Synovial fluid is the fluid of our joints, the places where two or more of our bones come together. We explore synovial fluid by loosening, relaxing, and finding carefree and even jiggling movements. It feels like I am allowing my joints to take a nice lazy vacation from holding me together and yet I don’t fall apart - and that is some awesome power! Intercellular fluid is the fluid within each of the cells in our body - an inner oceanic environment for each cell. There are layers of liquid inside of us. Intercellular is the ocean deep within - nourishing the inside of our cells. Like the ocean, this fluid allows each cell (and thus, us) to move with fullness, strength, resistance, flow, vitality and power. In this repertoire exploration, I felt my vastness and the power of my inner fluids to flow out from my center into and through space.
I find that exploring these movements helps me access my own inner space - how fluid am I with my ideas, thoughts, hopes, fears, and all of my emotions for that matter! Does my movement originate and initiate from hesitancy and ragged fits and starts or from my center - the source of my oceanic self? Can my power move through space like a wave or does is it jabbing and piercing like a sword? Do I hug the edge or flow over, around and between? Can I yield to my liquid self or do I force it into solidity? Can I make space to share power, to expand my fluidity to a community of others? How does my fluidity shift and change as I become more fluid from the inside out and outside in? I hope you will join me this weekend! Class this Sunday will be a blend of Somos Luceros and Shake Your Soul. I am still learning this practice (Shake Your Soul) and it’s truly an honor and joy to share this world and learn alongside you.
I have already incorporated a bit of these learnings into my Wednesday Embodied Movement Explorations class and am thrilled to introduce some of these movement patterns/qualities in this Sunday’s Somos Luceros class :)!
Updates on family:
-
I am so happy to share that abuela is off IV and oxygen and is doing well - nearly entirely recovered from pneumonia. Everyone in the nursing home swears she's Superwoman!
- My brother, his wife and their two sons were down with Covid for almost two weeks and have made a full recovery. None of them want to experience Covid again. So many thanks to those of you that said prayers for them.
- Many of you know (from Sunday's class) that my husband and I learned last Friday evening that one of our cats (furry children) has cancer. Trudy is just two months shy of turning 20 and so we are deeply grateful for these two decades with her. She is not going anywhere yet but we know our time is with her is truly limited. So many of you watched her sleeping in a corner on our Zoom dances. May we have just a little longer to receive and give her our love.
- My mother turns 80 next week and I will figure out a way we can celebrate her in community before I leave for NY in June to celebrate with her!
Classes this week!
Deeply grateful for this community,
Jennifer
Schedule Going Forward:
- Somos Luceros on Sundays at 10AM PDT
- Embodied Movement Explorations in Body Wisdom & Wellness on Wednesdays at 4PM PDT
- ArcanaDance - next workshop TBA
Somos Luceros
 Somos Luceros is a somatic dance practice designed to illuminate the wisdom of your body and cultivate deep embodiment of archetypal qualities that offer lightness, depth and joy. The dance moves are simple and guided by the language of storytelling, opening new chapters in our bodies where we can see and feel our most luminous potential. Release the stories in your body that weigh you down and reclaim your light. In Spanish, Somos means “we are” and Luceros means “bringers of light” or “bright stars.” This name honors my father, my paternal indigenous ancestors in South America, my heritage, and our collective oldest ancestor, the stars. We are dancing bodies of light.
With immense gratitude for your continued support,
Jennifer
|
|
Somos Luceros - Dance of Relaxed & Fluid Power: An Embodied Exploration of our Synovial & Intercellular Fluids (via Zoom)
Date: Sunday, May 22, 2022 at 10:00AM PDT
Time Zones: 10:00AM PDT | 11:00AM MDT | 12:00PM CDT | 1:00PM EDT
Pay what you can in exchange for the class experience ($5-$25)
Register for class:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcuiqqTMtGtA0pU3swV0lHcz9PEEXewIe
Join us for Join us for the Dance of Relaxed & Fluid Power: An Embodied Exploration of our Synovial & Intercellular Fluids
 This class is a fusion of Somos Luceros and movement repertoires based on the fluids of the body from Shake Your Soul (Leven Institute).
Our invitation in this class is to move the fluid between our joints (synovial) and the fluid within our cells (intercellular) so that we feel both relaxed and fluid in the expression of our inner and outer power. What happens when we soften any areas of rigidity, tightness, clenching, and hardness?
Let’s sense and dance both our free flowing and our voluminous oceanic selves.
The dance moves are simple and guided by the language of storytelling. You are invited to receive the choreography, bring it into your body and make it your own.
Somos Luceros is a somatic dance practice designed to illuminate the wisdom of your body and cultivate deep embodiment of archetypal qualities that offer lightness, depth and joy. The dance moves are simple and guided by the language of storytelling, opening new chapters in our bodies where we can see and feel our most luminous potential. Release the stories in your body that weigh you down and reclaim your light. In Spanish, Somos means “we are” and Luceros means “bringers of light” or “bright stars.” This name honors my father, my paternal indigenous ancestors in South America, my heritage, and our collective oldest ancestor, the stars. We are dancing bodies of light.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the class/meeting.
Pay what you can in exchange for the class experience:
Embodied Movement Explorations for Body Wisdom and Wellness (via Zoom)
Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at 4:00PM PDT
Time Zones: 10:00AM PDT | 11:00AM MDT | 12:00PM CDT | 1:00PM EDT
Class is 75 minutes
Pay what you can in exchange for the class experience ($5-$25)
Register for class:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpc-6spzgrGdBc9kWHhBGbXuYlp291VG5e
Join us for Embodied Movement Explorations for Body Wisdom and Wellness
(Formerly Coming Home to Ourselves Somatic Yoga-Dance)
 Body wisdom is being aware of and attuned to what our body needs to feel well. This somatic intelligence and tending can be accessed and cultivated in many ways.
Every week we will explore a variety of somatic movement practices that include somatic dance, yoga, QiGong, archetypal expression (mainly tarot), and other modalities that emphasize mindfulness and that guide self-knowing.
Classes for the month of May will focus on navigating ups and downs. We may know this in our lives as peaks and valleys, moments of victory and defeat, or the uprising of energy for the battle and the downward pull of the clean up.
In this class we center the experience of living, feeling, sensing and moving in our bodies. We learn practices to know ourselves more deeply, cultivate joy, restore from stress, explore creative self-expression, and ways to nourish the various systems (fluid, muscular, skeletal, organ, nervous, and cellular) of our body.
This is not a “fitness” class. This is a wellness class. Come to move your body, develop a deeper appreciation for the intelligence and wisdom of your body, and to learn practices to be well in mind, body, heart and soul.
Wear comfortable clothes to move in. No shoes required. Feel free to have a yoga mat, blanket or towel for floor-based practices.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the class/meeting.
Pay what you can in exchange for the class experience:
|
|
Access/rent recorded classes
Video recordings of previous classes, from Somos Luceros and Coming Home to Ourselves Somatic Dance-Yoga Practice, are available for you to move to at your own time.
Simply make a donation and email me with the class(es) you want to rent. I will then send you the link and password. Click on the images below to be directed to the webpage with the list of class recording options.
 
Donate and then email me:
|
|
Tarot Sessions - Now mid June and beyond
 I am now scheduling into mid June and late July 2022.
These sessions are my lifeblood and I so appreciate your continued support in scheduling appointments and referring your loved ones and friends to me. As you know, I don't advertise. All of my client work has been via referral. For that I am immensely grateful.
To schedule a session, choose the session type at www.jenniferluceroearle.com/tarot-with-me/sessions and email me your questionnaire.
Tarot Consultation Packages
There are several tarot packages to choose from, including options for multiple one hour to two hour sessions throughout a one year window.
Huge thanks to Brooke Lowe Johnson for the photo (top) above!
|
|
Dance with Janice on Saturdays!
For those of you interested in a Saturday 10AM PDT Zoom class, I highly recommend Janice Steinberg's Nia classes! She is one of our beloved Somos Luceros community members and I dance with her whenever I can. I love her classes and know you will too.
This Saturday, May 21 at 10AM PDT, Janice is teaching the Nia routine Source, a beautiful routine created by Kelle Rae Oien to music by Lis Addison.
To join Janice's Saturday Nia classes (10AM PDT), email her to get on her mailing list. She sends the Zoom link for class via email on the day of class. And like my classes, Janice's classes are donation-based as well.
Email Janice at: janicesteinberg@cox.net
|
|
Mary Lenox's Poetry
Following is the beautiful poem, Joy, Mary wrote and shared with us after class this past Sunday, May 15.
Oh,
The glory of the morning
Aglow in heavenly light
Oh,
The glory of the golden sun
Beaming to planet Earth
Oh,
The sound of silent clouds
Echoing Hallelujah to the warmth of the Sun
Oh,
The glory of divine light
Welcome my soul to the banquet of love!
©Mary F. Lenox
To join Mary's email list: mflenox69@gmail.com
|
|
|
A few nights I go I watched an episode of Now Hear This "New American Voices" from Great Performances on PBS. The episode featured two composers who were inspired by their immigrant roots to incorporate the music of their heritage and homelands into their musical compositions. The featured composers were Brazilian-born Sergio Assad and Indian American Reena Esmail.
It was inspiring, wonderful and awe-inspiring! If you love music, you will love this episode.
If you have PBS you can watch the full episode: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/now-hear-this-new-american-voices/13515/
The clip above is from the segment of Reena Esmail's music.
"Composer Reena Esmail breaks down the difference between raga and tala in Indian classical music, and how their function compares to scales and rhythms in Western classical music. Host Scott Yoo then gets treated to a performance to illustrate how this works."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
