Editorial adaptation from Somatic Relating teaching materials.
Sometimes we can be with ourselves, in our own small field, without spreading our presence farther. Sometimes we can move into a larger space, and that space can have different sizes: the whole group, the city we are in, the whole planet. The most basic transition is the transition to ourselves and the transition into a larger space.
Information from a space
Being in a space means receiving information from it. From a personal space, I work with the information that comes from there. In a larger space, I begin to interact with information from that larger space. My attention may move toward the people around me, toward the group, or toward the city and the larger world. Sasha invites us to notice these transitions as they are, perhaps in the way that is familiar to us.
When I extend my attention, I can ask how it is to be there and what happens to the way I am. The information from one space may have a different taste from the information from another. It may change my breathing, my tone, my speed, or the way I look or try to look.
Staying with yourself in contact
The transitions may be very quick, or they may take some time. When I move my attention toward a larger group, perhaps I leave myself behind. Perhaps my attention simply becomes larger and still includes me. I can return to myself while remaining in contact, and notice what happens in the center of the body, around its axis, in the belly, pelvic floor, and breath.
Sometimes attention seems to fly somewhere else. I may have meant to be with myself or with a group and find that I am in a third place, neither here nor there. That place may be familiar, or it may feel more neutral. We can notice where we are, give time to one space and then another, and feel the details of each. A question such as ‘Do I want more, or is this enough?’ can help me notice when I have had enough instead of moving past that moment without sensing it.
The larger space can also be approached as a space where contact is possible. I can come toward it with curiosity about being in contact and about being together. Contact may be a moment in which I exist, you exist, and we notice each other. Something between us may appear through that noticing.
Resting without leaving
I can go into a common space and then draw my attention inward without leaving the common space. I can make a small bubble, a place where I can rest and be with myself, while that bubble remains among the other bubbles. My attention can fold toward me while I stay in the context of the group. Here Sasha offers an image of a child falling asleep on a parent’s lap: the child rests and stops monitoring or interacting, while remaining in the shared space. I can rest, return to myself, and remain in contact without working to maintain the contact or fearing that it will disappear.
The child can go to sleep in their own room and leave, or fall asleep on a parent’s lap. They stop communicating and turn inward while staying where everyone is. In the same way, I can be with myself and know that I am still with you. I am not doing anything with you just now; I am simply in this field. I do not have to keep confirming that I am part of it, convince anyone, perform it, or seek recognition of it. I can be with myself without fearing that everyone will scatter if I turn my attention inward.
Even while I am sitting quietly with others, much can be happening inside: different intentions, thoughts, eyebrows, forehead, lips, breathing, and tone in the spine or belly. I may allow a yawn or hold it back.
This can include noticing what I do when I am with others and whether I am doing something that would make me tired if I continued for a long time. I can be sensitive enough to feel when I want to move outward and when I have had enough. I can be here with the energy I have, without doing what would make me tired. What happens in the center of the body, around the body’s axis, in the belly, pelvic floor, and breath when I am here? What happens when I make these transitions?