Listening to the Layers
One of the reasons I am drawn to somatic work and to depth/dream work similarly is the acknowledgment of and working with layers. Whether it’s layers of meaning, layers of experience, layers of interpretation, layers of how we take in information, layers of personal and collective, both worlds (somatic and depth/dream work), invite in the truth and reality of layers. Recognizing and engaging with layers is one way to deepen our relationship to ourselves and the world around us.
Somatic Work
When I am doing somatic work and listening to someone describe sensation, I may also be listening to how they show up in relationships, or how they feel about their work, or what their hopes are for their future. Perhaps what is showing up as an impulse or sensation in the body evokes an image for someone or for me that links us to another aspect of their experience and how to work with it. Our bodies and psyches can speak to us often in non-linear and non-verbal ways, and if we can catch that communication, it may offer us more information about what is going on in that moment.
Even in dreamwork, we have the layers of the action and characters of the dream, but there is also what they represent in us and to us, what they speak to or embody archetypally, what they are bringing to the surface that has been unconscious in us. There may be more than one answer or one frame to what is attempting to speak to us, to get our attention, and to be known.
And why not live with more meaning, more potential for depth in our lives? What could open up for us if we listen to the way our dreams show up in our lives, or the way we experience connections in conversations or podcasts we hear, or images that we see? When our body is having an experience, can we listen with ears of depth, listening for what it may be communicating?
Like a poem, with layers of expression and interpretation, from ordinary to mythic, can we listen to the poetics of our lives, let there be meaning beyond the first layer we meet? Maybe it will bring what has been in the shadows, the dark, out of sight into view. It won’t always be pleasant, or easy to navigate; in fact, opening up to more of ourselves will likely lead to some disruption of our equilibrium and organizing impulses, but we might also discover more aliveness in ourselves and our connection with others and the world.
What could you create in your own life by listening more deeply to the layers of your being?
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