I want to share a practice that I do when: I want to get deep rest in a short period of time, or when I have trouble sleeping, or when I'm feeling stressed or worried or in a thought loop that won't resolve, or when I just want to feel more whole, awake, embodied, fluid and integrated! I call it Brain Floating.
This is a practice that I teach my students as a way to get in touch with the expression of cranial wave motion and be able to experience and witness our body's natural process of slowing down into the deeper Tides of Primary Respiration where we resource the healing potential as we drop in to that miraculous feeling of Wholeness. We witness an emerging process of regeneration or re-organizing around fulcrums of stuck or stagnant places in our body consciousness.
I started experimenting with this on a daily basis as a way to learn more about the patterns of flexion and extension of my membranes/fluids, bones.... the expression of the layer of cranial wave- or Cranial Rhythmic Impulse (CRI).. that can be seen as an expression of our patterns of reaction or compensation to stress and trauma. I soon discovered that if I gave the process a lot of mental and energetic "space"- the way we do in a biodynamic cranial session for our clients- that my system dropped into a delicious fluid reality where I got to witness the profound wisdom of this potent force within, that knows where to focus or organize into stillness to bring Balance and Clarity on all levels!
The practice involves stimulating the motion of flexion and extension to trigger or exaggerate the motion pattern. One way to do that is to press the back of your neck into the bed or massage table on your inhale, then relax and release it on your exhale, stimulating and tiring your muscles. Do this several times, then let go and observe the inner motions of membrane and fluid, allowing the response to that stimulation to unwind and eventually wind down into a slower more organized motion. Once you get a feel for it, it becomes easy to drop in without having to do the voluntary exaggerated motion- but just drop into relaxation- feeling supported by the bed, massage table, or floor- it helps to let go of tension at the back of your neck, relax your whole body, and relate to yourself as a FLUID BEING IN A SPACIOUS FLUID UNIVERSE. You may fall asleep. That's fine. You will probably wake up very refreshed.
Here is a brief video to give an example of an approach to this practice.