Skin Release Technique

Skin Release Technique

Our beginning of familiarizing with this particular technique was by reading some articles about it. However, the very first impression wasn’t strong enough for me to really understand what it is until I’ve started to explore it by moving during the class with a cover teacher Florance. I really enjoyed it from the very beginning, because we started laying on the floor with an image of melting (which meaning I found more and more by exploring this technique further), disappearing, giving up, etc. The nice thing of this is taking off all your stress, giving for you body some time to relax. Standing on our feet and moving the weight from side to side, moving the weight thru all foot by really soft, articulated and slow movements I also liked as an effortless work with my body. As we came to a wide moving and phrases I noticed how easily and effortless my body came into that active state and became ready to work, became vital. I found the feeling of openness, freedom, “ready to go”. I felt how I came so light and soft as well.

Working with Florance Peake phrases I liked the fluency of the movements and she also explained some technical things that widen my knowledge and made my moving easier and more fluent.

The next time we worked with Skin Release Technique was an IPP1 class with Polly Hudson. As always, I really enjoyed the beginning with finding the nicest places to be in the space. Later on, we worked in pairs by releasing laying person’s body by touching, squeezing, brushing, giving pressure on the flat spaces of the body like shoulders or hips, rotating joints, etc.  or even placing hands on the body. It is interesting, that even only placing hands can release by reminding that particular place of body and by warmth. It also helps to find a breath, notice small things happening in your body. As I was laying, it was really impressive for me, because even I felt tired before the class, by this exercise my body and mind came into some strange and interesting state between sleeping and being awake. And when my partner Alex tried to take me on my feet to have a walk in that released state, he found it quite difficult and he even needed Polly’s help to do that because I didn’t hear the instructions that we are going to come on our feet so I came back on the floor several times until they finally took me up. And then, when Alex took me for a walk with my eyes closed I felt something that I have never felt before, like I was walking somewhere out of space, imagined some walking on the clouds or something. Only things Alex gave me to touch like curtains, wall or pen gave me the feeling of reality.

Another thing to mention, is when I was leading Alex and releasing his body, I found interesting noticing how human body gets released. I mean it is visible in some way. It becomes so soft. As a feedback, me and Alex decided, that it was better for me to be the second one who was leading, because I already knew how much pressure I should give in different places of the body or how to touch.

Warmth

At the same day, we had another class with Polly, and during it I went into that interesting state between sleeping and being awake again. I am not sure, but it is a possibility that I fell asleep for a moment this time. This time I have tried to notice my breath more, soft tissues of my body, especially fingertips and the power in releasing of it. I took a very little drawing after this class which somehow shows my feeling and understanding of this technique and the feeling of melting.

We also explored the feeling of space, the awareness by noticing that somehow our body feels and reacts if somebody is coming behind you, even couldn’t hear or see it. It shows how powerful our sensations are.

February 9^th, 2012

   SPONGY Skin Releasing class with Polly

We worked imagining our body being spongy, spongy tissues; in my minds varied different images of my “spongy” parts of body, spongy parts of bones, spongy bones as a whole, spongy muscles, spongy moving, etc. It made me moving so soft and effortless, however, it felt like my body was ready to move, warm enough.

These pictures are taken from my artist journal, my reflections and first thoughts about this class and my feelings, the images that came into my head .

As we moved with an image of river, I really could imagine the river, especially witnessing, watching other people moving. In my opinion, the floating, wide, continuous moving thru the space at the same level made this image so similar to the river. It was so playful, sensitive, delicate, vital, childish adorable, free. It was like a fly. It was so refreshing and this exercise had a color in my minds – blue. So this is a picture from my artist journal about that. And some other pictures I found in the internet, which shows what I imagine somehow, in some way.

A little, but important notice about alignment and posture, that we noticed during the same class with Polly. This is about a shape located from the bottom of upper back to the knees, or even lower. Polly compare it to horse back shape, which made a clearer image for me. It is like similarities of the tails between human and animals and about releasing it. Working in pairs we released this space by brushing down using the back of hands (I think we used the back of hands to avoid any intimate associations or just to make receiver feel more comfortable) at the same time as receiver rolls down and back upwards. It was amazing technical notice for me, because feeling the edge of your back and a shape of it rolling helps to find how to do that correctly, to keep a right position, position of pelvic at the same line as heels and not giving weight to much backwards.

My further thoughts and questions, things to explore are about what is happening in your body keeping practicing, noticing how different people take that technique, thinking about the reasons why it can be something really challenging or unfamiliar for the others; how this somatic practice can be used having injuries, if it affects healing, etc.