Resonance of the Atlas (to get better sleep)
Tune into your nervous system, creating a sensation of resonance through your whole body, so you can rest.
Filtering by Tag: somatic experience
Night Time Ripple Breathing (12 min guided visualization before bed)
Bring this ripple-inducing breathwork into your pre-sleep awareness for deeper rest.
Read MoreA Cartography of Rest
We talk a bit about the four levels of being (and reality) and how metaphors of the earth apply to the body. We tune into four layers of the body and coax each one into a relaxed safe state. Listen before bed and let me know how it feels.
Drift into Darkness while Glowing
The pattern of the mycelium network is around us and within. Let it transform into a softly glowing nightlight that protects you and feel yourself soften into a resting state.
My Body is a Habitat and I am Safe
Your body is a safe place. Coax your spine into this story and let it become something new and generative.
Read MoreSeason Four Welcome
Welcome back to Body Land Metaphor Medicine, an archive of guided visualizations that engage the superpowers of your imagination to help you relax and restore. These salutary stories are informed by Surrealist art, Eastern Medicine, and Somatic methods for self-regulation. I’m your creator and host, Liz Asch Greenhill. I am an author and artist, and the acupuncturist at Night Sky Acupuncture and Ideaphoria.
Fly Free
Feeling a little lighter?
Let’s amplify that sensation with this visualization to help you somaticize the sensation of freedom.
Recharge the Heart
This visualization goes out to the leaders working for positive change. Thank you for your efforts, your passion, and your sacrifices. We use metaphor as medicine to land in our bodies. We send ripples through the body with our breath, ignite the heart, and entrust the pelvis and the mind to support our nervous system so we can rest and recharge.
#boundaries
Feeling a bit drained these days? Working on your hashtag boundaries? We’ve got some six feet of separation self-care for ya. I talk super briefly about how fractal patterns of self:other are part of the body’s defenses from the perspective of Chinese Medicine and then we drop into a super soothing visualization that helps you disentangle your energy from others which ultimately benefits your immune system.
Read MoreThe Down Dial
Turn the dial down on your nervous system to catch some solid sleep and bring your body into repose. When we invite the deep yin into our being, we can surrender our nervous energy and find a sense of peace.
A Room of Their Own
Tune in to my first visualization for teens wherein we do several somatic exercises with visualization to move energy in the ribcage and diaphragm, to land in our bodies with a sense of belonging and connection. Adults are welcome to do this too, of course. It’s really for anyone. Let me know how it goes for you! You can find me at Night Sky Acupuncture or on Instagram at Metaphor_Medicine.
Love Nest for Kids
Our first visualization for kids! This exercise is designed to help kids feel surrounded by safety and tenderness as an experiential antidote to anxiety, worries, and fear. I recommend that adults do the exercise alongside the kids so that they can share their experiences afterwards. Let me know how it goes!
Play that Song
There’s music coming from the ribcage when we use the superpowers of our imagination to turn the diaphragm into a DJ. Sound weird? Give it a try and let me know if you feel different after.
Clear the Lungs
Using metaphor medicine we clear the lungs with a series of varied images and acts of tenderness, practicing how to move energy in the body.
All the Jellyfish Feels
Today’s jam is about poetry and jellyfish and feeling them deep in your being to regulate your Central nervous System.
Read MoreJing-a-Ling!
Juice up your jing, which, in Chinese Medicine, is your deep essence goo, kinda like how oil is the deep essence goo of the Earth. People with BJE (Big Jing Energy) live long, love hard, and run strong.
Read MoreJust Me Being a Tree
No shade in pretending to be a tree.
Let's get basic and be trees together. We'll go through the seasons and feel all the shedding and growing and windfall and snow. Get ready to get leafy and stuff.
Need a Rx of art along with your visualization? Check out:
Stunning Aerial View Photography
Artist Nils-Udo
Artist Agnes Denes
This Here Joint
Let's get wacky all up in this joint. Got a sore knee, elbow, wrist, kip, ankle, shoulder? Let's start at the source of your pain and see if we can use your imagination to shift the way you are holding tension there.
Hey btw, FIRST-- if you don't have an image come to mind when you hear me say: atom shape -- google 'atom' first, so you can see it and have it readily accessible in your mind. :-)
Your Art (and Wildlife) Rx:
Artist Hilda af Kimt
The poem What's Broken by Dorianne Laux
Parachute
This one goes out to your inner child.
We're going old school, all the way back to pre-school for this one, mixing memory into our senses and embracing wonder while we bloom bloom bloom the diaphragm.
Curious for more? This episode's Art Rx is full of delights:
Agnes Pelton (1881-1961)- abstract artist with spiritual vibes
Eiko and Koma's Delicious Movement Manifesto - guidelines for living 4 sure
Using Memory and Sound to Regrow - creative uses of sensory memory on NPR and in the coral reef