Day Twelve: Integration

READING

Again, a lot of gems were found in this reading. One of my favorites was when it talked about how I am always moving through life. Whether through dance, or just in daily tasks, "I am moving through life--moving as life." This is significant because as I have learned all the Patters of Total Body Connectivity, I need to be able to apply them in all situations, not just in dance.

Another part I loved is when she says, "it is the effective functioning of changing relationships according to context that takes us to the integral stage with our moving." Basically, at this point, I need to be working on using these connections to my advantage when they are most relevant.

CLASS

We were given time in class today to do a journal entry. It's based off a question that she asks in the reading. Basically, what do each of these 6 patterns offer me personally? I'll go ahead and start with breath.
Breath has really helped me come into myself, and see what I have to offer the world. When I have a hard time breathing, I notice those are the times I feel the most disconnected from myself. Breath brings me home, and allows me to make my life simpler. It clarifies my thoughts so I can see what in my life is really helpful and necessary so I can get rid of whatever is pulling me down.
Next is Core-Distal. This fundamental has really helped open my eyes to differentiate between what is a part of me, and what is outside of me. It's starting to become a bit clearer to me the importance of knowing that difference. I think in my past, I've tried too hard to make everything "me", and that's why my Core-Distal connection has always been lacking. Now I see that I can make a connection between my inner self and my outer environment. By doing so, I will come to know better who I am as an individual.
Head-Tail has been teaching me that all relationships are constantly changing, ebbing and flowing. A healthy relationship allows for each end to have their say. If one end is mainly dominant, it stifles the entire relationship and all the possibilities that could happen. I've also learned that there is quite a large element of trust involved. If one end isn't quite sure of what is happening, it may tense up, again closing off several opportunities. I know that's what happens to me in my movement. My head wants to be sure of what's happening at all times, so it goes rigid in an effort to "keep watch", which closes off so many movement possibilities. I've been working on trusting myself, and when I do, it just feels better!
Upper-Lower is kind of a tricky one for me. I've always been one with a desire to reach out for what I want, but without any real drive. So I can definitely see this disconnect in my psychological life, and it is also very apparent in my physical movement. In dance, I've been told, and I can feel that I don't have a very good sense of my Lower. I also have some rigidity in my Upper half, which may explain, to some extent, why I have such troubles with my breathing. Since becoming more aware of this, I've been really trying to work on releasing and trusting.
Body-Half has been very important to me in that it has shown me that it is okay, and important even, to have different sides to me. It used to concern me that I acted different around different people. Now I understand that it is actually important in order to have the appropriate demeanor in different situations. It is through learning about Body-Half that I discovered why I'm such a fence sitter in so many situations. I haven't really allowed myself to gain any strength or clarity in this pattern.
The last one, Cross-Lateral, has provided me with some eye-opening moments. I have come to realize that i haven't really allowed my movement to pass through my center because I haven't really been okay with what is at my center, emotionally. While I'm sure it is going to be a constant journey, I am coming to a greater understanding of how to go about this emotional process.

Day Eleven: Cross-Lateral

CLASS

Today we continued talking about Cross-Lateral connectivity, so there were no readings to do for class. We furthered our discussion on the fact that this connection does indeed allow for complex movements (such as the "not-so-simple" walk), which occur in all 3 planes of motion. It is also through Cross-Lateral connectivity that we gain the ability to change and mold. And again we discussed how we actually become co-creators of the world, instead of simply existing in the world.

Then we delved deeper into spirals and diagonals. We went through the diagonal scale, which can be written using Labanotation. It's kind of crazy how hard diagonals really are, when you do them correctly. I got warmed up straight to the core just by doing the diagonal scale!

Day Ten: Cross-Lateral

READING

I highlighted a lot of things in this section of reading, but again, I'll just talk about a couple of things I found particularly interesting. First, it talks about how if someone goes for walks for health, they may "actually be practicing all sorts of disconnections and body substitutions that are potentially injurious." It just goes to show that ignorance can cause damage, and without efficient movement, the body has to compensate somehow.

I also thought it was cool when it started talking about Cross-Lateral on a Body level, and how muscles actually work best in diagonals because of how they're set up. The body is actually built for us to move through diagonals. So why do we make ourselves move so inefficiently?

CLASS

Cross-Lateral is all about complexity-if we can implement it in our body, we will b far better equipped to relate within the world. It actually allows for a more personal, invested approach.

Through Cross-Lateral, we gain full access to all 3 dimensions. It allows us to become co-creators in the world, and helps us deal with complexities. This is perfect considering how complex this world actually is. So often we spend time in either the sagittal or frontal planes, that we forget how many possibilities are actually available for us. Cross-Lateral connectivity is unique to us as humans, which explains why we have the ability to problem solve.

Day Nine: Body-Half

READING


Right at the very beginning, there was a section that mentioned that "the skill of perceiving and really experiencing opposites comes to its zenith in this body stage. And without this stage, it is hard for an individual to know where s/he 'stands' on an issue." This clarified for me why I've always been sort of a fence-sitter. My Body-Half connection has never been strong, so I've just been lacking physically and psychologically.

I also loved when it talks about how if I fail to "discover and claim both sides I cannot come to an integration of who I am as a full human being, and I cannot tap my full resources as a dynamic mover, because my palette of 'color' and qualities of movement will be limited." Like most people, I've always struggled to figure out who "I" am, not really understanding there was more than one "side" to me. Since I've come to understand this, I have become so much more comfortable in my own skin.

CLASS

We talked about how Body-Half is about organization, sidedness, clarity, and polarities. Kind of a lot of things, but so good! This is a connection that is pretty important psychologically. One of my favorite things about Body-Half is the fundamental of stability-mobility. Even though I've already learned about this, it seems to make a bit more sense to me this time around. I still have some growing to do before I can say that I've embodied it, but I'm getting closer!

The image that has been helping me the most is thinking of those props they have in front of stores sometimes...the guys that have air blowing up them. Because I tend to lock up my hip when trying to stabilize, the image of air blowing through helps a ton.

I also liked the tid-bit of information about how we sleep in Body-Half in order to allow our brains to organize the events that happened throughout the day. I didn't actually realize how much I do sleep in Body-Half until we talked about it.

Day Eight: Lower

READING

Every time I read a chapter, I think that one is my favorite. They all have opened my eyes so much! This one was no exception. I loved how it talked about how "the role of the Upper Body is one of connection." It makes sense that we hug others with our upper bodies. I look at how people hug, and I realize it makes sense according to their personality how they hug. I can gain so much insight from a person now simply based off their style of hugging! And also why I'm drawn to people who are such warm, full huggers.

Probably the biggest thing that stuck out to me in this section was when it said "any blockage of movement in the Upper Body will mean that these organs are probably not getting their fullest support for activating their function." I immediately thought of how I have really had some issues with my breathing for the past while. Watching videos of my movement has shown me that I definitely hold tension in my abdomen/thoracic area. Obviously I am restricting my own lungs from working fully! I'm thinking it's a combination of several different influences, both internal and external. Now it's a matter of allowing that tension to be released.

CLASS

One of the first things mentioned in class today, I think it was by Daniel, was about something in the reading. It was about how if your elbow is locked, you can't give or receive any kind of connection or information. For example, when you're doing swing dance, that's why they tell you to have a loose but firm arm. That way, you'll know where your partner is trying to lead you. We also talked about gradated rotation, which gives the image of allowing a joint to open through rotation little bit by little bit to create more space, instead of putting the joint on lockdown. If I could apply this to my hips, I know I could get such a greater range of motion! I need to start thinking more about it.

Day Seven: Upper

READING

Wow. This was a lage chunk of reading! At least it was only half of the chapter this time. There were lots of things I highlighted! I'll just talk about a couple. Firstly, right at the beginning of the chapter, it talks about how each part of the body fulfills a certain need or specific funtion. For instance, "A spine is important, but without legs and arms, it is hard to travel through space or reach out and realize our intentions in action." It's important to work on each individual part so they can all begin to contribute to the whole in the most efficient way possible.

Another section I found quite profound was the one about ineffective patterning. It says, "Many people in our Western culture reach for goals but do not support their reach with the push which will get them there...on the other hand, some people learn to push but never to really reach out into space." It's all just sort of a half-hearted effort. We have enough desire to accomplish things to go halfway, but are still too lazy/uneducated/scared to follow through completely.

CLASS

One of the most helpful things for myself that we talked about today was how to use your psoas. Someone asked that question, and Sister Hoopes said you don't generally feel anything when you're actually using the psoas. It's more of a matter of not feeling the rest of your muscles being used. That made much more sense to me than trying to "feel" my deep psoas. I'm really hoping for this to cross over in my technique class.

I also loved when we talked about how our body is built to support itself. I don't need to be holding any extra tension to try to keep myself up! My body itself is plenty sufficient.

Day Five: Head-Tail

READING

The first thing that caught my eye in this reading was when it said, "because most people are not actively identified with themselves as 'Body', there is sometimes a certain awe around people who are fully using their bodies, such as dancers and athletes." I had never really thought about it that way before, but it's so true! Even as a dancer myself, when I see an amazing dancer I find myself amazed at how well they can utilize their entire body. And when people see me perform, their comments always mention something about how "they could never move that way." It's just interesting to me that they see the body as something to be tamed and conquered, instead of as their own self, which they should simply work to be united with.

Later on in the chapter is states, "Because the spine is in some sense the bony structural element physically at the individual's core and, hence, core to the nature of the individual, the changes may be thrilling or scary--probably both." I personally think this can apply to changes made throughout the entire body, as I think it all ends up resonating in the spine. I felt it mostly in Core-Distal--changes in the body reflect changes in the being. That's kind of a big deal.

CLASS

Some really cool things we discussed in class today. We mentioned how "my body is me". It's not a separate entity from ourselves. It's evident even just in the way we phrase certain things. For example: "my body/leg/arm is so sore!", instead of saying "I am so sore!". It's almost as if we don't want to take ownership or responsibility for our bodies.

We also talked about "one of the most important things to know as a student of movement." That would be that the head and the tail are in an ever-changing relationship, constantly. Especially in modern dance, people assume that head-tail means a "c-curve". This couldn't be further from the truth! There is so much more movement that can come from this relationship! After all, one of the major concepts behind this Fundamental is "new possibilities". We should be exploring these possibilities! Not limiting ourselves to a still shape!

Day Four: Core-Distal (continued...)

READING


We didn't actually have a reading assigned for today, since we're still on Core-Distal, but I did go back through really quickly as a refresher. There was one thing that I didn't mention last time that I really liked. It does kind of connect with what we were talking about in class last time, though. Anyway, in the book it says, "It is more like a star, pulsating and emitting energy from the center to move the distal ends, or bringing energy and sensory awareness from the ends of the extremities back into the center." That visual really worked for me. I know that I personally love to go out and come back in, but I have always had a hard time with going out in a way that I have new information and sustenance to bring back into myself.

CLASS


At the beginning of the discussion today, Sister Hoopes asked us how we have used Core-Distal since we talked about it last time. For most people, it was more of just an awareness that it's a connection that does exist. That is true for me, but I have also been trying to imagine the colorful highway that I experienced during the movement explorations during last class. By doing that, I was able to think more about bringing information from the outside in. I am still having a hard time with it, but it's a work in progress!

What mostly helped me today was when we talked more about exploring this connection. It was brought up that it's okay to feel like you don't know where you are when starting to open new pathways and removing tension. I think that's part of my problem. I always want to feel secure in whatever I'm doing, so I assume I'm doing something wrong if I feel a little bit lost. But, in order to explore uncharted territory, it's kind of necessary to go out on a limb. In the dark. It's at that point that some light can be shed on our growth.