I was in a Butoh class once—Butoh is an experimental dance art form originating in post WWII Japan.  In the class we practiced being in the present moment, the moment that just was, and the moment about to be.  We practiced doing all of this at once.  It felt like spreading and suspending time.

Urgency feels like the opposite to me.  Perhaps urgency is a pull into the future through which the present moment becomes insufficient.

We’re in a society that often instigates feelings of urgency in order to motivate us to take action.  Whether or not any particular moment truly requires urgent action, might it be helpful in all moments that feel urgent to take the Butoh lesson into account?  Can we stay in the present moment while noticing what we just did and what we intend to do momentarily?  

I have a process I call Somatic Ideation in which I use the flow of my movement to help me think clearly about a question.  Once the question I’m considering is clear, the next step in the process is to notice and articulate my gratitude for the question:  Why am I glad this question is here?

Often I find that this step is a frame shift, taking me from a position that might feel stressful to an expansive sense of possibility.

Question:  What shall I write about this week on my blog?  

Gratitude:  I’m honored that [you] care so much to read what I write.  Writing these posts brings me a feeling of connection and purpose, and keeps me on my toes.

Somatic Ideation is a central tool in the Somatic Coaching I offer if you’d like to try it.  We can work together via video chat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trauma is relational—we create it together.  When war veterans come home with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) it’s because of the kinds of interactions they’ve been a part of.  It’s the same with rape victims–they’ve experienced a damaging interaction.  So it follows that trauma is healed together.  We need rituals that bring us together to address our social wounds—whether they’re as severe as PTSD, or as common as relationship patterns that aren’t serving us.  We all have those kinds of patterns.

Dance and group somatic practices are healing rituals composed of movement, awareness, and inter-action.  I had the incredible privilege of bringing SomaWorks to doctors and medical students at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona a week ago. I saw how deeply art and medicine intertwine. The technology of physical inter-action is ancient, and the recognition that we greatly benefit from it is at the cutting edge of medicine.

I have a short video to share with you, dancing with my dear friend Callie Ritter. I could not have done this 20 years ago…I am so grateful for the healing and learning I have experienced.

I have a tradition of dancing in public places.  It’s a healing ritual.  I dance for my own expressivity, and also to call others into the Brave Space of their bodies where we simply can’t hide.  I practice smiling at people when I catch their eyes, and I also practice staying whole within my own self.  Airports are one of my favorite places to dance because they’re already so surreal.  Gateways to everywhere, airports blur reality.  They are also sources of time—I spend longer simply waiting in airports than most other places I visit.  

What are your healing rituals?

Here’s a minute of me dancing at the Phoenix airport Friday night, with a bit of narration.

I’ve spent some long drives listening to Ervin Laszlo’s Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything.  An essential concept he offers in the book is information, more specifically written as in-formation.  Life and the universe are in a constant state of change—always becoming something new.  In-formation represents the through line of this change, and the Akashic field is like of map of in-formation over time.  Laszlo draws connections between quantum physics and the Akashic field, presenting evidence that all matter is dimensionally imbued with information.  For example, a wooden chair of a particular length, width, and height also carries characteristics reflecting the life of the tree that became the wood, the person or people who built it, those who have sat on it, and even how those people may have felt while doing so.

Physical movement is change; quite literally the process of being in-formation.  This is why movement is such a direct path to consciousness.  Often when I work with clients who have not previously engaged with somatic work they are surprised by emotions that surface, or the depth of the changes they experience through subtle shifts in movement and awareness.  Information of any sort offers the potential for transformation.  In a world that seems to move ever more quickly in the realm of information, and often at the expense of our bodies, choosing to move our bodies consciously can be a powerful tool for becoming more in-formed.  When I do this I experience timelessness, and my mind softens.  My friends speak to this too—and I think you can see it in our movement.

Sexuality isn’t the same as sex.  In the ‘ity’ lies a metaphysical and perhaps universal expressivity.  To me sexuality speaks to the inherent pleasure and discomfort of our drive towards creativity and connection.  Living systems are generative, organizing energy into vitality.  This generative force opposes entropy, the universal law by which energy disperses.  Sex is certainly an aspect of this creative power—effectively offering us the ability to continue life into future ‘generations’ among other benefits.  Yet, while the actions of sex are appropriately limited in their context and scope, the expression of sexuality can bravely permeate our lives and relationships.  We can engage with vitality by bringing pleasure and creativity to connecting with ourselves, each other, and our living world.  Such sexuality is not needy, doesn’t attempt to control others, and remains whole in the frame of desire.  I consider this to be a sovereign sexuality.  It is like meditation—a challenging and rewarding practice.

I am teaching CI and holding BraveSpace at a micro-festival/retreat called EmbodyFest that consciously engages with sexuality.  Check out the website—the video footage on the front page is pretty amazing:  Let it run past the food scenes and watch for the men pole dancing!  Frankly I’ve struggled over the years with my own judgment of sexualized dancing.  It has been a steep learning curve for me over the past few years as I’ve invited sexuality into my own dancing and teaching.  And, the more I drop my own neediness in favor of sovereignty, the more my judgments and resistance dissolve into joy and grace.  Brave Spaces for sovereign sexual expression are rare.  When I look at these videos on EmbodyFest’s website I see skill, respect, and creativity. I’m curious what you see–please write me back with your thoughts.

If you’d like to come to EmbodyFest let Mikka know I sent you for $50 off.  I’ll look forward to dancing boldly with you in the frame of sovereign sexuality.  And if you can’t make it but would like to explore this topic together more deeply please join the SomaWorks BraveSpace Facebook Group!