Is there anything as honest as the way we move through the world?

Explorations in the Movement Perspective + Know Yourself Through Movement Week 3

Is there anything as intimate, honest — integral — to a person as the way they move? Anything as clear as the way a body hums, thrums, expands, contracts, cuts through space with limbs and spine and desire? Is there?

How is it that we become so disconnected from movement, the fundamental force of life? While I do have theories, that question isn’t for me to answer, at least not today, and you'd best answer it for yourself anyway. 

What I do want to talk about is why you should care. Why, when there are so many apparently pressing issues in life, movement should be of any concern. You can get from the couch to the kitchen, right? You can get yourself to wherever you need to go, and isn’t that enough? I mean, when you get terribly quiet and ask yourself, is it enough, what do you notice?

I don’t want to try to convince you of anything, because convincing is not the point. I just want to offer a frame of reference — an open invitation to perceive life through the lens of movement — a movement perspective. That is to say, a perspective based on the truth that movement is an irreducible condition of experience and existence. And the nudge that maybe, considering this truth, it would behoove you to nurture your relationship with movement. Which manifests not only through your relationship with your body, but through your relationship with your mind and spirit, too. These relationships, and as such our perspectives and perceptions, are always moving, changing, shifting in response to experience. This beckons the point that, if you begin to perceive life through movement, your perspective will, again, shift. And perhaps shift will become integral to your understanding of perspective itself.  

This shift — the ever present transition — it seems to trouble us. We tend to dissect [life] movement into categories and labels and fads and trends, but when you look through with a clearer lens, you see none of this stuff means anything concrete. It’s a partitioning of “things” that are inextricably linked - so even calling them “things” is a bit of a misnomer. 

We label and brand and categorize because we want to understand “things” better and we want to understand ourselves better through them. We want to belong to the thing, to those others who embrace it, and we want the thing to own us, in some twisted way. We want to identify and be identifiable. We want to know what’s going on in the monstrous mystery that is life, and dogmatizing movement is one way we attempt that. 

If I am a “bodybuilder,” or a “runner” or a “yogi,” or if I am just “lazy,” I have obvious boundaries. I do this, and I don’t do that, and I don’t have to question it because I belong to something. 

I know who I am… 

Or do I?

I don’t want to demonize categories completely, I just want to point out that dogmatic thinking runs rampant and it infiltrates everything we do, or do not, if we’re not aware of it. But, to clarify, categorizing can be useful for learning purposes. How else do we know what we’re talking about? 

Then again… movement is a language all its own, but I digress.  

The question is, once the categorical container for learning has served its purpose (meaning we have patterned that particular thing into our bodies — embodied it, embedded it within our skill base — can we let go of the illusory separation and allow the parts to reconverge? Can we actually integrate that pattern into our movement practice at large — our irreducible way of moving through life, with life, for life, as life? 

Though movement itself is irreducible; and categories are illusory ways of restricting ourselves with dogma, at worst, and helping us focus, at best; certainly we can describe and reflect on our unique experiences. This is how we come to learn. So sure, you can develop a personal movement perceptive without any form of purposeful  training; after all, you are a moving, living creature, and you have a certain base of movement language through which to understand life. Yet, when we want to become better students and practitioners of anything, our best way of doing so is through study and practice — through training to develop skills and experience. 

The broader question of movement, or life, is how do we see ourselves and the environments we inhabit? Through what perspective(s)? Each lens is a container all its own, and there are many useful micro perspectives to explore within the macro lens. 

As movement is our experience through the physical, mental, and spiritual planes, lending it a greater deal of our love and presence, while adding a bit of structure to help us develop into stronger practitioners, is a wise choice. 

Let us not forget that contemplation, reflection, and organization are integral parts of our training and movement practices, too.  And though these are often perceived as cognitive functions, they are physical and spiritual, too. This is how the integrated power network operates. All parts inform the whole. 

It is through embracing this integrative process that we can come to Know ourselves through movement. It is through this movement perspective that we can learn to rely less on our often distorted thoughts about experience, and rather tend to experience itself. From this openness to experience, it is possible to move as an expression of the nature of things — the ever present condition of transition.

Know Yourself Through Movement Week 3 has arrived!

If you are interested in exploring the perspective discussed above through a physical practice, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber to Body of Work. We’ll be engaging in an ongoing study of movement and strength through a wide variety of perspectives, with the goal of you developing an enriching lifelong movement practice rooted in your personal philosophy and values.

Our first series focuses on the fundamentals of movement, where you’ll learn:

• the simple skills you need to build a solid foundation of strength so you can move safely, confidently, and freely

• tools that will help you experience autonomy and self-connection through your movement practice

• the benefits of training in connection with your values and desires

• how you can use simple skills to build a profound, playful, creative, embodied personal movement practice

Paid subscribers, follow the link below to dive into the course:

Know Yourself Through Movement - Members Index

Body of Work is a reader-supported movement school offering a holistic approach to physical education. It is also a one woman show… which means all the work rests on my shoulders. Your financial support ensures my continuing ability to provide the best education possible.

You can become a paid subscriber for just $6/month or $60/year, or send a one time donation. Wherever you join in the journey, I appreciate you being here.