Tag Archives: movement

Jan14

the herd

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I went to see Nelson, and toward the end of our time together, my friend came down to say hello.  As she and I stood outside his paddock, he hung out with us, nuzzling the fence, poking his nose through – participating in our conversation.

Nelson is a lonely stallion.  He does not get to hang out with a herd.  In captivity, we usually isolate stallions because they can hurt each other.  We don’t want them to work out their territorial, sexual stuff on our watch.  So for the time being, we humans are his herd.

I have been thinking about why I am so much more comfortable with an equine herd or a dog pack than I am with most human herds.  Maybe it is because I feel so clearly the lack of agenda or concealed intent with the horses and dogs.  Maybe it is that as a dancer, movement and touch are my first language, and that is where the horses live.  Language is not weaponized, and the communication feels more honest.

It is not always simple.  I sometimes have to spend a lot of time parsing what my Andalusian gelding Amadeo is saying.  He is a flighty boy, and like some humans, his language (a hoof, his teeth) sometimes fly out before he has really thought things through.  Nelson is more straightforward, more willing to tell it like it is.

I am also thinking about what is essential to me in a day.  What I come up with first is four legs and a soft nose.

What about you?

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Jan10

what they teach

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“The greatest language is that without words. Communicating with a single touch that which delivers the energy of a message is always understood, a vibration of the vocal chords to gestures of the body. The forgotten wisdom in this primitive relationship we share with animals is so important. We tend to take advantage of our ability to communicate verbally with each other and often ramble on aimlessly without purpose and thought in our words. “It’s okay to be quiet” I often hear myself say while others addictively babble on. I seek refuge in the company of my teacher, the spirit of the horse who quiets my mind down, for I have learned to communicate calmly with love and attentiveness.”   Ariana Waite

 

These words were written by a young woman who volunteers at Blue Star Equiculture, a loving sanctuary for retired or rescued carriage horses in Palmer, MA.

Today when I was with Nelson, I opened the gate to his catch pen so that we could continue our movement conversation in the big six-acre field where he lives.  He started to leave, and then I raised one hand, really just a shadow of a gesture, and he curved his path around and came back to me.

Then he did something surprising.  Without my asking, he walked into the big round pen that is in his field.  He stood there quietly while I untied and then closed the gate.  Understand that Nelson does not like any kind of confinement. I then began to signal him to move around me and then come back to me – a continuation of last week’s dance.  Today, my hand signal was subtle: a kind of light, curving whisper of a movement, which, brilliant decoder of movement that he is, he read perfectly.

We did a sequence of moving away, changing direction, coming back to me, moving away a number of times, each time, I could feel the dance between his body and my hands and body become more like a quiet, elegant, listening tai chi.

I remembered Anat Baniel’s words:  “More force is the definition of less differentiation.”  And Linda Tellington-Jones urging us to feel more by making our touch lighter, slower, more subtle.

And here is Nelson, telling me, “Yes, that is right.  Less is more. I understand you perfectly.  When I don’t, I will show you.”  And indeed that is true.  When I am unclear, he mirrors that.  When I am nervous, he mirrors that.  When I breathe, slow down and feel, so does he.

Who mirrors you so perfectly?

Jan5

Nelson’s dance

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This morning when I was grooming Nelson, he rested his head on my shoulder and I could feel his soft breath on my cheek.  We stood like that for almost a minute in the cold January sun.

I have been working with Nelson on going away and coming back.  On being able to respond to hand signals to ask him to walk around me in a circle, change directions and then come back to me, turning toward me.

This may sound like no big deal, but it is.  He is saying “OK, I feel safe to come back to you.”  What I especially appreciate is that he is calm throughout.  Even when I asked him to move off more briskly (not on this clip), he was still not anxious.   How I can tell is that he settles immediately on a subtle hand signal.  He is more interested in reading my movement than getting upset. (I was not able to be so clear with my signals because of holding the camera.)

This is a yoga:  opening to more movement, more awareness, more attunement – one breath, one day at a time.  Laying down a path of trust and communication, in what feels like little improvisational dance phrases.

Did I mention that I love this horse?

Dec1

to be clear (I hope)

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Yesterday I launched a new offering.  A number of you have expressed interest and confusion.  Obviously that is my lack of clarity.

So here it is:  For some time, I have wanted to offer a class that has a wider reach than my local demographic.  Something that you can do with me if you live in L.A. or Juneau or Paris.  (I will come to Paris to teach, of course).  So this is an online class.

I also wanted to share more of the work that I have been doing privately and in classes and workshops.

For  five weeks you will receive two lessons a week.  This is some but not all of what they will contain:

  • writings and teachings from people that have inspired me in the world of improvisational living
  • specific strategies for opening more doors to creative, full throttle living.
  • suggestions for new ways of discovering “ordinary magic” by using improvisation in your work and your daily life.  This is about learning to be non-habitual; stepping out of the rote.
  • writing prompts to help you open new creative doors.
  • assignments to help you dig into the details of your own goals and practice. These are more of a cafeteria of choices rather than a fixed menu.

You can use what appeals to you.  I won’t be checking your work.  The intention is that this an alive offering, as opposed to archival.  That is why we will engage on Google+ in a private forum.  For those of you not familiar with Google+, I will help you get started there.

My goal for you is that by learning to see and live your life more improvisationally, and by becoming more intentionally embodied, you will find new and delicious ways of experiencing/approaching work and play.  

Finally, yes, some of the exercises are movement-based.  However, they can be done by anyone, regardless of background or fitness.

Let me know if you have any more questions.  The full course description is here.

The link to sign up is here.