Holding, Shaping, and Listening to the Pelvis (Practice)

Hello, thank you for joining me.

My name is Kelly and this practice is called Holding, Shaping, and Listening to the Pelvis.

I'm doing this lying down on a yoga mat. You can lie down in your bed for the ultimate comfort. You can stand, sit, whatever is accessible for your body.

I might go a little fast. You could always pause this video and slow down if you'd like.

And let's explore. So start by touching your pelvis and your pelvic bones.

I have some handouts for you, some drawings of the anatomy so you can orient yourself to bony structures and landmarks. But for now, don't need to worry about the words, where things are. Let's touch. Simply touch yourself. Say hello to this place of your body with gentleness and kindness.

If you've ever experienced a bodywork session, you may remember what that feels like to have hands on you that are curious about what's there and what they're noticing. Can you do the same with your touch? Be curious, notice what's there.

Touch the front of your pelvis.

Touch the sides.

Shapes are underneath your hands.

Maybe yawn.

And notice as you touch, the effects — not just in the area of your pelvis, but your entire body.

How are you breathing?

Explore the sides of your pelvis and the front.

What kind of touch do you want? Do you want a hard touch or soft?

How do your hands meet your pelvis? Meaning as you touch your hands and the tissues, the cells of your hands are meeting the cells of your body.

What feels good to you?

What information are you receiving?

And you don't need to think about it. You're feeling it and receiving that information from your hands.

Is it soft? Smooshy? Hard?

Now I'm gonna lie on my side. You don't need to. If you're comfortable on your back, stay there. If you'd like to, roll onto a side. And then begin again by touching your pelvis. And this time the bony landscapes might feel differently.

Notice your breathing and how the touch feels for your entire body.

Now I'm gonna roll onto my other side, but you don't need to, you can stay where you are. I wanna show you also the back of your pelvis and your tailbone, which I'm touching now — my own tailbone — and then the sacrum bone.

And this is the back of your pelvis and the very bottom of your spine. This part of you connects you all the way up through your spine to your head. There's a relationship that's there.

What does this bone feel like to you?

Does it feel different or similar to other parts of your pelvis?

And then touch the top of your pelvis again. Explore with your hands — curiosity, gentleness, kindness.

Now if you choose to, you can roll onto your other side. Feel free to roll from side to side however you'd like to.

Don't need to follow me exactly. Find your own way in.

And touch.

Touch the front of your pelvis and your pubic bone with a lot of gentleness, kindness.

No need to stay there long. And if you are wanting to hold an area of your pelvis and stay, feel free to do that.

You can lie on your back again.

And notice your breath.

Touch again the front of your pelvis. And we're going to explore the sit bones as well. Touch your right or left sit bone and then touch your left or right sit bone, your other one.

How do these bony landmarks feel in comparison to other bony landmarks? What are the shapes?

Come back to your front. What are the shapes?

And then pause there and let's place our hands in our bellies.

With a lot of gentleness and kindness, come into this place and explore with touch. What do the tissues feel like here?

And this is a practice of letting go of judgments from our culture, telling us how we should look, what shapes we should make. Let that go.

Fat is insulating and nourishing.

It surrounds the organs and protects.

And it's connected to your connective tissue and it's fluid, soft.

What information are you receiving from your hands up to your brain as you simply explore?

What lastly do you want to touch here in your pelvis? What needs some kind touch, some kind attention?

And then let that go.

Find a place to rest your hands on your body.

Close your eyes and thank yourself for this time and this practice.

And I thank you for joining me, and I will see you again in another video.