Witnessing Anaiya learn to trust her body wisdom in new ways.
We moved into a new home this month with a full flight of stairs. Anaiya has never seen or explored stairs before or seen any baby climb stairs before. She crawled up to them and immediately reached her arms up to crawl up them. One by one she climbed up, effortlessly using the wisdom of her body.
When she reached the top, I could feel her satisfaction. But she didn’t stop there. She turned around and peered down at the stairs. I stood close, curious what she was going to do. As she looked down at the descent I could see the wheels spinning in her head as she deduced what was needed to do. She then promptly turned her body around facing the stairs and began extending her foot behind her, feeling for the next step. When her foot made contact, she slid her belly down to the next landing, resting her butt on the stair. As she rested her body there I watched her lean her body weight towards the inside of the stair, aware that if she leaned the other way she would topple down the stairs. As she found her bearings on this stair, she then extended her leg behind her again and touched the next step below her. One by one she went down these stairs all by herself, in her perfect pacing, as her body felt it’s way through the entire experience.
Of course, there’s the layer in me of being a proud mama in her successful exploration. But, what delights me more is witnessing pure intelligence at its finest. Her trusting of her body’s wisdom to navigate a new experience. Her proprioceptive awareness of where her body is in relation to her surroundings.
I’ve been all about her using her body to its fullest right from the start of her arrival to this planet. Yes, it comes from my own love and value (as a dancer) of knowing the body in all its potential and to enjoy our embodied experience. And it’s also been responsive to what she has wanted to do with her body.
She birthed out of me and was pretty readily rooting her way up my body to find her nourishment from my breasts. She would push and grunt and squeal, exploring her edges of coordination, cooing in satisfaction when her mouth found my nipple to suckle and drink. Witnessing her over these 10 months as she explores her body continuously, as the ley lines of coordination develop in their perfect timing, has been awe striking to observe. She is learning her body. The seamless connection of brain and body development (because they are not separate from each other) allowing her to explore her edges more.
"This is the process of becoming a human, again. Allowing for the determination and struggle so that new awarenesses can develop and the brilliant explorer and problem solver that she innately is can emerge."
This is the process of becoming a human, again. Allowing for the determination and struggle so that new awarenesses can develop and the brilliant explorer and problem solver that she innately is can emerge.
So as she fearlessly ascended and descended these stairs, I celebrated that innate intelligence that she is, that we all are. Here’s to the many more apexes she will know.
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