creativity & movement

All of my work is essentially movement based. With client work on the table it is about listening (verbally and nonverbally) to figure out what needs to move....bound-up tissue, restriction around a nerve root, an idea or emotion. In other words, where is it that the flow of life has come to a halt. What is stuck? And, always...what piece is ready and willing to move in this moment.

In a different way of working this concept, with students, I am on fire about the understanding that all of our joints need to move through a wide range of motion. Varied throughout the day. Everyday. We used to have to move to stay alive. Think hunter-gatherer ancestors. In order to survive we had to work physically to procure, carry home, and prepare our food. We had to walk a lot, everyday. We had to use our arms to reach into bushes and trees for fruits and berries, and probably even climb them at times.  We had to flee from harm. Our feet, ankles, and hips were strong and mobile from squatting and sitting in a vast number of positions on the ground. 

Fast forward to our present experience were things are a drive, a click, or a phone call away. And our chair sitting puts our hips at around a 90 degree angle. Not a bad thing, except for the frequency (number of hours a day, every day, year after year, decade after decade) at which this is the case.

So, I discover that although we don't have to floor sit and squat and walk a bunch to get our living done, we actually DO have to do those things for the cells (tissues, joints, organs, etc.) of the body to get the oxygen and mechanical stimulation they need to function as designed.

And that there is a direct and tangible relationship between not only how much we move and how curious, open, and creative we feel, but how varied and natural that movement is. To be barefoot on the ground (literally, to ground); to feel the strength and mobility of the hips necessary to drop to a squat to more closely see a bug or a flower, or comfortably play with a little one. It means something. Down deep in our bones.  It is a movement on a cellular level that connects us to our past, and to a healthier version of ourselves in the modern world. Literally our creative juices can flow better when we incorporate natural movement along and along throughout the day.

So this is the idea that we need to work with. How to make this happen? Come to class to start doing some of this stuff. And/or stayed tuned for more in the way of online help to come.