Simple somatic practices
for greater wellbeing.
We can be more of ourselves, more of the time.
Embodiment is not simply something to talk about. It’s something to practice and experience. This is present-moment work. When we choose to be present, we change not only our own lives, but the world around us.
Join me for Quiet People in the Wild on Thursday, December 12, 2024 at 12 pm eastern. This hour-long, embodiment workshop blends lecture, practice, and discussion. We’ll meet on Zoom. Registrants will receive a link. Afterwards, you’ll receive the replay.
REGISTER
ABOUT SIMPLER: A SOMATIC LEARNING SPACE
Imagine creating space to be, breathe, and notice. Imagine making room for a wordless, experiential realm—and infusing relational moments with the rich depth of somatic awareness. This is embodiment work, present-moment work, “right now” work.
Take your time. Take up space. Move slowly—slowly enough to notice where you are. Feel the air move through your nostrils as you breathe. Carve out new rules for a new rhythm.
I’m Brigitt Thompson. Welcome to Simpler. This is my virtual slow space—a place to practice embodiment and the quiet power that comes with it.
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Questions? Send an email.
I’m your host, Brigitt Thompson.
I’ve been experimenting with adjusting my pace, posture, and rhythm, as I move through life. I’ve noticed that slow melts the freeze response I experience in the face of difficulty, uncertainty, and the unfamiliar. Slow has deepened my capacity for life and connection. I’m convinced that practicing slowness, even in tiny ways, is practicing power. Power and agency are somatic. When we adjust our pace, posture, and rhythm, we reposition ourselves inside of our relationships, obligations, interactions, and experiences.
I have a daily embodiment practice. I relax my body throughout the day: while at rest; while in motion; while observing unwanted things; while in conversation; while feeling physical and emotional tension; while experiencing the shock of unexpected bounty; while being loved; while being rejected; while feeling shame, discomfort, and injury; while grieving; and while deepening into joy, capacity, and knowing. I use slowness as a technology.
You can read more about me here. A portion of my story is also captured in my book, Trust Yourself with Money. I host a podcast called Thriving in Plain Sight. My slow space, Simpler, was born there.
As life becomes more complex, we can become simpler.
The Power of Slow
Trade the quick fix for lasting change.
by Brigitt Thompson
I took two-and-a-half years to get out of debt, but the real work took another six. No one told me that staying out of debt was another task entirely. Year one, year two, year three, year four, year five, year six: I found my way through, uncovering new ways to think, and live, and be. My frustrations overwhelmed me at times. My choices didn’t always make sense to others. I began to develop my own understanding of how habits materialize and take hold. In time, my new way of being began to feel “normal”—but only after somatic practices were in place.
I took five years to change my blood chemistry. A visit to the endocrinologist, and a subsequent blood test, revealed an antibody reading of 212 for a thyroid marker that should have been between one and nine. The likely cause? An autoimmune response in my body. What did that mean? I had to learn. I tried things. I was ecstatic when the number dropped from 212 to 141. In the following years, I was humbled by a quiet understanding of the ecosystem that gave rise to autoimmunity in my body. My symptoms began to diminish and disappear. Clearly, something was happening—but I didn’t want to expect too much. I avoided taking another blood test for more than two years, afraid of disappointment. When I finally had my blood drawn, my new reading was hovering just above the normal range at 16.
These are my personal miracles. I share these stories not to convince you that good things need to take a long time, or to tell you to suffer and be patient, or to be satisfied with less. No. I share these stories to encourage you to establish deep roots. Make room for process. Make room for gestation. Make room for organic growth. Trade the quick fix for lasting change. That is the power of slow. A lot can happen in five minutes—but the irony is, we miss it unless we slow down.
In a frantic world, “slow” seems unbearable. When we’re faced with difficulty, we want fast, instant, quick wins. We want the pain, fear, and unwanted things to disappear—yesterday.
We want to run. We want to escape. But consider this: the way we relate to unwanted conditions is directly related to our ability to thrive. Life will always hand us challenges, curve balls, and things that feel like a “no.” We can orient to these moments of discomfort and pain in a way that helps us to progress and evolve. A huge part of this process is slowing down.
I tell people to drop their shoulders and this is why. Letting go is both literal and metaphorical. We can reorient to moments of constriction, moments of “no”—moments of I can’t, I won’t, or why me? We can relate to ourselves in a new way. When we do, we melt freeze and morph time. In my somatic slow space, Simpler, I invite you to explore this further.
Join me on 12/12.
Questions? Send an email.