My feet are walking because I’m telling them to do so. Or because I do so.
I believe that our connection with the body is fundamental: Being embodied in the world in order to balance. When we separate body and mind, sit still for hours or days, energy stops flowing. Emotions get stuck somewhere and the body starts complaining, soon crying or screaming. Anxiety is such a thing that can frighten you, make you distance yourself even further from the heart area where it hurts.
Many children, teenagers, young people, adults and elderly people have complexes with their body. In society there has been created a narrow body ideal that is far from reality… an ideal about how bodies should appear in the world; what body surfaces should look like. It seems to me that many people tend to draw their attention towards body ideals rather than real sensations in the body… But what if we were all blind?
The more we bring our attention to our body, moving from the body rather than moving the body from the outside, the easier we get in touch with our sensations, emotions and feelings… The easier we know where to put our feet, in what direction to walk (move, danse, crawl, look, sing, point), and we don’t get surprised or frightened by the body suddenly speaking without our permission… Likewise, body awareness makes thoughts flow easier; it seems to me that I relate more freely to my thoughts when I’m in my body than when I feel separated from it – the body as a filter that filtrates unimportant thoughts and leave back those to notice.
During the Take Over in Nova Academy, I’d like to focus on body sensations and awareness. I’d like to experiment with different kinds of being in the body; working with repetitive patterns, dynamics, endurance, blood pressure, sudden changes and awakening through blindfolding. I’d like to share feelings and thoughts with fellow teachers and students, with other curious body minds. How we feel connected with or detached from our bodies.
/Flow