Greetings.

This is a centering exercise in the lineage of generative somatics that I want to offer folks in this moment, this moment of reparations summer. It helps me to ground in the purpose of reparations and also locate myself within a larger river and movement, a history of people who have known that we need reparations and who have acted upon that knowing in different ways. 

I hope it can offer you that same grounding and purpose. 

So before beginning, choose a position that’s comfortable for your body and that will allow you to take in sensation. This might be standing or sitting or lying down – whatever feels best to you in this moment. 

And from that position, start to feel for sensation. Are there parts of your body that feel more alive or more numb, hot or cold? Are there particular places that you can feel your clothing touching your body, maybe a sense of openness?

 And just start to drop in to those places, offering some breath to the places that might feel a little bit more numb or stuck, and breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth if that’s available to you, just beginning to get more present. 

The first dimension that we center in is length, so feel for the sensation at the bottom of your feet, or your sacrum, and that sensation running up your spine and through the top of your head. The line of connection from top to bottom of our body represents our dignity and that same dignity that we extend to all life, both human and more-than-human. Reparations is a process of repair, and a reminder that no being has more dignity than any other. So the repair process of reparations can help us restore this sense of dignity in ourselves, and our collective dignity. 

So really just feeling –maybe it feels right to play around with straightening your spine, and just noticing where length might be more available to you today. 

The next dimension that we center in is width. So starting from that center line that we just identified in length and moving outwards across your shoulders and collar bones and hips, knees, the tops of your feet, feel yourself get wider, taking up more energetic space around you. You might place your hands on your sides if that helps you find where these edges are. And also, soften your eyes. Part of what we’re doing here with keeping our eyes open is being able to stay centered in ourselves and also taking in stimulation in the world around us. And soften your gaze, just see if you can take in more on either side of you, visually as well.

In the dimension of width we remember that we have agency in how we connect with ourselves and others and that we are part of a larger collective of beings who believe that the future of reparations is possible and attainable. You might try imagining people or ancestors who care about you, who you care about, standing next to you, maybe they’re touching your shoulder, or maybe they’re just a few feet away, widening your circle and helping you feel more. And width reminds us that we’re not moving through or towards this process of reparations alone, that we’re doing it collectively. 

And then taking another deep breath. 

The third dimension that we center in is our depth. You can place a hand on your belly or your lower back if that helps you feel the full 360 of your body, your full dimensionality. You can imagine a wide V extending out from your back, that contains your history, what’s happened today, this week, this year, this lifetime, and also all that has come before, your ancestors, our movement ancestors who are guiding us, and whose work allows us to be where we are. And you can rest back into that, knowing that we’re not starting from nothing, we’re moving as part of a long history and river of activism and movement. And you might try resting back on your heels if you’re standing and then forward and finding a place of center in between the back and the front of your body, and also awakening your front – your heart space, fronts of your thighs, maybe your face, and feeling that in depth, we can locate ourselves in the present in relationship to both the past and the future. 

Another few deep breaths here. 

And the fourth dimension that we center in is our commitment, our purpose, so you might have a commitment statement or declaration that you’re working with. And today I’m focusing this centering, dedicating this centering practice to the future of repair-ations, repair, and rebalancing of all energies and spirits towards the highest benevolent outcome. 

So you might say a commitment statement out loud if that’s in your practice and if not, just sealing this practice with a few more deep breaths, and thank you for going on this journey with me today. I hope it was helpful.