The Gift of Direction

When I worked in theatre, the best directors were those that offered the actors enough containment to allow for creative freedom to flourish. Instead of working with endless possibilities, they would offer creative boundaries, such as "try staying totally still when you say that line". More often than not, the containment (or direction) would actually free up the energy of the moment to flow in a compelling way and a scene would come more alive.

The same is true in movement practice. Sometimes it feels great to simply let breath, and music, and sensuality, and emotional expression take over - to "lose yourself" in the moment and let movement aimlessly flow out of you like glitter tossed into the wind. That can be an incredibly pleasurable way to express yourself through movement and bring you into a more intimate relationship with yourself.

Another way to play in movement is to give it some direction. If embodied practice unlocks the language of your body, eventually you may want to communicate — to come into relationship with the space around you, or another person, or the world at large, or even Spirit. Offering your body the opportunity to orient to the space around you gives the conversation of your body a place to land. The energetic-emotional flow of your body may find comfort in moving in relationship with something — a pillow, a wall, your reflection in a mirror, or the Cosmos. Also, when we practice flowing in relationship, our embodied movement can become a way to practice bringing ourselves more freely into our everyday lives.

When I teach, I invite you to explore both - to aimlessly indulge in moments of pleasure and also to offer your embodied truth directly into the space around you and feel what unfolds...

In this way we develop our capacity to reveal and express ourselves. We’re building tools for becoming more open and intimate with ourselves and with others. Embodiment work is relational work.