Fixed patterns of movement are as vital to an individual as language. They’ve enabled us to reach maturity and develop skills to support lifestyle and family. These patterns feel natural and often an individual is unaware of them… this is the way things are done… but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other more functional ways.
Movement patterns are closely linked to belief systems and concepts. Our body and nervous system developed first in the womb and our mind developed later alongside movement, therefore the way a person moves is indicative of their sense of self or ego, influenced by family and culture.
The mind desires movement and dictates the direction and speed while the nervous system carries out these instructions, a relationship not unlike that between a servant and a master.
However, the directions of the mind are not always in harmony with the body’s sensory organs and instincts. As one ages, the physical and mental effects of these movement patterns used over a lifetime become evident.
The natural instincts of the body become suppressed by movement patterns developed at a young age to adjust us to cultural and social life. Our sensory organs are ignored and it’s not until the messenger called pain can no longer be ignored that we look for help.
Developing new movements means untangling the connections between the movement and the posture of the mind.
Finding a different pathway to make a familiar gesture, a way that’s not connected to pain or fear brings us up against our self and our concepts. What has always been a truth for us is no longer that, so where do we go now? It takes courage to step outside the boundaries we created long ago, to develop a new language of the body and find different truths that allow us to range deep and wide in the possibilities available to us as a human being.
What interests me most and is the defining nature of Natural Body Flow is the process. It’s not about what we do but how we go about it. Piggy backing on the vehicle of our spirit, our body refines our humanity.
I encourage lying on the floor to begin the search for your truth. The ground acts as a reference for how the different parts of the body are positioned and how well you can let go of holding the body. This is the beginning, sensing your body without judgment. There’s no right or wrong, it’s simply a matter of observing the response of your sensory organs to how you move and learning to move in other ways unconnected to emotional history.
Approaching your self in this gentle inquisitive way changes one’s relationship to the primary emotion we call fear. We learn by expanding into new areas of the body and brain that this primal response to danger is there to protect us, an awareness that takes care of us…if we let it.
Participate in your well-being, become familiar with your body without force or judgment and your ego will strengthen, keeping you safe and self responsible.
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