Freedom may not be what you think

What I learned from teaching non-movers how to move... plus - know yourself through movement week 4 has arrived

an expansive sunrise in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Gentle Reader,

How are you feeling, moving, being? Me, I’m a little tired, but hey, guess what? I’ve got stuff to say so here I am saying it.

A little housekeeping first: we’ve reached week four of Know Yourself Through Movement. Which means there’s just one week left! But never fear, you can hop into the goodness whenever you like by becoming a paid subscriber to Body of Work. If you’re already a paid subscriber, you can access the program here:

Know Yourself Through Movement - Members Index

Now for a super casual life update as I lounge in bed, because as I alluded to, apparently driving for 9  hours and stopping only once for gas and to pee wipes me out a bit. Still not sure how I only had to pee once?! Probably because I was dehydrated AF. Noted. Don’t do that again, Faye. There are 1.3 billion rest stops along Interstate 81 for a reason. Anyway, the big tired may also have something to do with my workout earlier which, until 3 sets of deadlifts in, felt like I was just learning to use my legs again after all that driving. Maybe it’s both. Yeah, probably both. Alas, here I am.

I intended to do a big ol essay on all the lessons I learned teaching a movement workshop called Move to Become this weekend, alongside workshops taught by Luke and his bestest friend, Dave, whose teaching and training wisdom will blow your damn mind if you ever have the opportunity to learn from them. Plus they have mad ninja skills, and are generally the best people I’ve ever met so, there’s that. But I digress.

I did learn a bunch of  stuff, and while I don’t have the energy to wax poetic about it at the moment. I will share this.

We tend to believe that we want complete freedom. But often, when presented with a totally blank space and the invitation to just do anything, anything at all! We freeze. Our minds go wild trying to think of our first move. Have you ever experienced that? The sudden overwhelm of a mind racing at the prospect of having no direction whatsoever? That idealistic view of freedom isn’t exactly what we think it’ll be in practice, especially if we’ve had no experience playing in the wiggly abyss, as I so love calling it. 

In this workshop, I was teaching a group of people who had little to no previous movement experience, and especially not the kind of free flowing stuff I was offering. I didn’t want to throw them straight into the abyss with no anchor, so I gave them just a single idea to focus on for a stretch of time. The creative movement I witnessed emerge from these people was astounding. I mean, these are people who claimed they “couldn’t move,” or “didn’t dance,” or people who just felt generally broken. 

Here’s the thing: the mind loves to grasp something. We can’t escape that. It’s the nature of being human, from what I’ve learned thus far. So we ought to give it something useful to focus on. In other words, replace the stories and beliefs and thoughts and judgements of “I can’t” or “I don’t know how,” or “I’m not creative,” with the intent to try and a single simple idea like, “make circles with your body,” or “only move in the forward and backward direction”… and notice how the mind naturally relaxes its grip on needing to direct the show and spinning you into chaos in the process. Notice how, when given a useful focus in the form of a simple constraint, the mind becomes a beautiful observer of the body’s expression. 

The coolest part about this is that constraints can take infinite forms. There’s no right or wrong — just a universe of bouncing off points for the body/mind/spirit to explore in and through — a framework that allows the integrated power network to do some good good learning. Plus. if you pair that invitation with purpose, well, you just might do something that sets you off in the direction you want to be moving in. 

Alright my dears, I hope that sparked some curiosity in you. And now, I’m off to eat some freakin chocolate. 

P.S. Big big recommend: throw on some music and make circles with your body. I promise, it’ll be worth your time. And if you do… let me know how it goes! 

Be strong my friends,

xx Faye

Body of Work is a reader-supported movement school offering a holistic approach to physical education and fitness. 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. And you know your girl isn’t gonna settle for anything less than the best…

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