Gaylyn AitkenGrace, graceful, gracious. What does grace mean? I looked it up in the dictionary and came across these English definitions – elegance, poise, finesse, dexterity, fluency, flow, respect, adroitness…and in the Hawai’ian language, aloha.
To be in a state of grace for me has little to do with religion and everything to do with how aware one is of ones self, especially when in motion.
To move with grace one moves in full awareness with the entire family of self.
What does that mean? This body we were born into is the vehicle for all we are, spirit, emotions and psyche. The relationship we have with our body is the template for how we manage our self in the world.
As a body worker, I can give an example that relates to massage or body work…if an individual has developed a pattern of movement that isolates the arms from the full participation of the spine and the rest of the body, the massage will mirror this pattern. Maybe it will be jerky and forceful or superficially light and disconnected.
The bottom line is we do us every moment of our life. This I learnt from my extensive training in Kahuna Sciences with Kahuna Abraham Kawai’i and over the years the gradual awakening of how deep this goes in one’s life provides guidance in navigating my self through the ups and downs.
The way we move can inform us as to why we attract certain situations. The key is knowing that our mind or psyche developed alongside our movements.
If we can become more aware of body sensations as we perform tasks we open a dialogue with the primal intelligence that organises us into the positions necessary to complete that task. If we have discomfort or pain as we do things, then the way we accomplish this task is unsustainable and accelerates the aging process.
Resisting change in how we move indicates the mind isn’t ready to change its concepts and belief systems. Not every body is up for change, it’s not good or bad, it’s just how it is, but if a person is looking for a more fulfilling life experience especially as one gets older, then maybe a quick peek at the realness of how the body feels as it’s moved gently into an unfamiliar safe position will encourage more exploration.
When the mind changes the body reflects that change. In my own personal experience and watching others find more freedom and ease in their body, one’s movement become’s more graceful and sensitive as the mind softens and becomes more flexible. Moving with grace is the physical expression of how one feels about one’s self. We don’t have to think about it or try to be graceful. For me it feels like my body slows down and I feel the air moving around me as I create a motion. I feel how my movements are linked to every part of me. It’s not just my hand that types this document, it’s my entire family of self involved and contributing to the free flowing ease of ideas and creativity that arises from being in aloha.
Rebecca-Lee
Jacq Koloski
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