Our movement signals what we mean. And, the way we move informs the way we think and feel. Conversely, how we activate our energetic output, is often governed by our mood. Becoming conscious about the choices we make and how much effort we put into any activity is a discovery worth making. The more you know about yourself, the more empowered you are in personal growth, communication (both verbal and nonverbal), and healing.
Within any experience lie the clues for transforming possibility. Since our emotional qualities are related to mood, the clearer the words we use to describe how we are feeling, match the sensations of what we are feeling, the closer we come to identifying, naming, and claiming the experience.
Laban Movement Analysis provides language to describe our responses so we can grow in emotional eloquence.
Our underlying attitudes towards the movement factors of weight, space, time, and flow are personal dynamic markers that describe the effort we use to accomplish any activity. The quality of movement occurs on a continuum emerging from a flow of energy. Sometimes, the choices we make are not efficient or effective, as we automatically use whatever resources we have to accomplish a task.
Words indicate qualities of lightness or firmness, an outpouring of energy, a way of attending, and a sense of progression. If your intent is not to bump into anything, you tread carefully, you focus your attention and you activate your weight with lightness. In intense situations, we may hunker over, make a fist, and tighten our jaw, as we stare at our opponent.
To lighten the mood, we lighten up in our posture, changing position, perhaps taking a breath or a sigh, freeing our flow, but also expanding our attention, looking around for a topic to change the subject, “How about those Jays?”
Phrases such as “he is like a bull in a China Shop” gives us information about how a person activates his weight, but it also gives us information about how he pays attention. In a small space filled with delicate objects, this person does not pay attention to the space and things around him, he doesn’t rein in his energetic flow and perhaps his focus is not too precise, he bumps into things – oops, which makes him react and jump another way which makes him bump into something else, and. . . tinkle tinkle, or crash crash, something breaks, sending shards everywhere.
Embodying movement means naturally initiating our actions with intent. Noticing how our feelings impact our sensations and our physicality, awakens consciousness to the choices we are making.
Do we connect with our sense of progression, (pouring out or holding back our energetic flow) as we move lightly (walking on egg shells, or stealthily) or firmly (stomping a tree into the ground, or trudging through a field of snow) through the woods on our way home? Do we decelerate and notice the branches around us or the freshness of air?
We experience different sensations depending on the situation. If there is deep snow, it may slow us down, but the bear in the woods makes us want to move quickly, making a clear line to the doorway to our home. In these events, we notice how our movement may impact our mood, or we may notice how our moods and imagination may be impacted by moving.
Connecting physically allows us to connect emotionally, psychically and spiritually. Discovering your relationship to flow, weight, space, and time supports the integration of your body/mind so you can make lasting and healthy shifts, and articulate your understanding of these shifts. Having a descriptive language that describes our experience makes a deeper knowing shift possible.
We grow from the events and encounters of our life when we can name and claim the signs for our transforming. Becoming more aware of your lived experience, and expressing it clearly, allows you to be more fully present to the qualities of your life, which in turn provides meaning and joy.
If you would like to learn more about how to understand your emotional preferences, and embody what you express in movement, I would be happy to work with you. I offer workshops through out the year, teach a regular movement class, and am available for private sessions please do not hesitate to connect.
Nadine
