"Allowing" or "Ahh-llowing!"

Our theme this month is "Allowing"...
We have been sharing thoughts on this idea with our Happy Body tribe and the following are some snippets from our ongoing conversation...

"I used to feel deep, desperate consternation about being a human. Ortho-Bionomy has helped me embrace that it is true and ok to be human, and that embodying my human-ness can also be a fascinating, sustainable journey when I recognize, cultivate, and call upon my many resources." - Sarah Schuetz, Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner®

When I heard Sarah speak to my AB Tech students recently, she said the words above and it really resonated with me. It struck me how many of us, myself included, probably are going through life in a near-constant stage of resisting that human-ness, battling against resting in non-judgement, and struggling against simply allowing things to be as they are and to unfold as they happen. Ortho-Bionomy is a prime example of Allowing, and letting that Allowing guide toward healing. There is no point in resisting, in holding to a preconceived notion of how things "should" be in receiving bodywork. We simply rest in our human-ness and Allow the body to have its reflexes, to self-correct... and that Allowing wisdom goes so much deeper than our frenzied cerebral minds that want to "solve" problems for us. - Anna Szymanski, Pilates Instructor

"...By simply allowing myself to show up for myself cloaks me with the resilience to continue to show up for others.
To imbue my sessions with ideas of awareness, compassionate honesty, integrity, cooperation, acceptance, and forgiveness.
To lead the investigation of bodies in relationship to space and time.
To allow all of my selves to show up.
This is I why I do what I do.
To be but a a drop of aqueous initiation that whirls into a maelstrom of change.
So as to have a hand in influencing more companions in this life; those that I can rely on, to add to a universal tribe full-up of movers and shakers, dreamers and believers.

This is why I do what I do.
It is what I will allow myself to do."
-- Jessica Smith, Pilates Instructor

This presence, and intention to be in the human-ness of it all, to truly allow onesself to Be is the practice. I can feel Jessica's words in my heart because the ultimate practice is how we can show up for ourselves each day. Whether we are working, moving, in conversation with friends, cooking, driving from one place to the next, we are softly seeking to Become more of who we are. Every time we show up for ourselves, we land more gently, yet firmly in our bodies and in our essence. It is from there that we can speak, share, love, and be the most authentic and compassionate truths of our selves. As Christa also said perfectly:

"Ahhhhhh-llowing! I dig an extended ahhhhh at the beginning... like a sweet surrender to all that is...exhaling the wants and tries and what was and ambitions for what may become.
An initial recognition of the pure truth in the present moment... nothing to resist, nothing to do, no other way to be than to surrender to what is.
Allow ...innate embodied inclusiveness... all..ow..ing... let ourselves Be with ALL that IS. honoring that deep inner compass that when we listen, truly listen, is undeniably just so right. "

-Ashton Peters, Studio Manager