The Art of Writing 7 - An arm you'd love to stand on

I’ve been considering the way everything falls whilst doing things. 

It’s one thing to consider our body when lying on the floor but quite another to think of it whilst engaged in an action. Feldenkrais spoke of ‘Acture’ - the posture related to a particular action - such as the way we stand at a kitchen bench to peel vegetables.

It’s a great term that highlights the fact that we are never static and that posture is more movement than position. 

Nevertheless there are times when you are moving in the same position and have time to spread your attention - you know, peeling and finely slicing potatoes for a Tortilla de Patatas.

So when my arms are extended I’ve been thinking of their weight falling into the centre of the earth. I also think of my elbows and the front and back of my shoulders. How everything falls ..

My knees are bent and the weight is evenly distributed on my feet, so I spread my attention from front to back - the weight of my sacrum .. and the back of my head .. the weight of my pubic bone and the front of my head .. my pelvis and knees .. 

As everything falls so I lengthen .. and connect ..

Marek Piwnicki via UnSplash

It’s a sense of growing from within and I highly recommend it. 

Whenever you’re in an acture - like right now as you’re reading this! Try it!

.. .. 

To go with the the flow of gravity is often to stop resisting yourself. To stop and drop is also to drop the physiological response to anxiety .. 

That’s a big statement .. but it’s true. 

The thing is that it requires lots of practice. As do most things of value ..

Jordan Christian via UnSplash

So in this lesson we’ll continue that upward journey toward standing on our own two feet. However as toddlers with our small limbs and large heads it was a different experience. 

We’ll use the same principles to guide us but the challenges will be different. How do we shift our weight to lift our leg or extend ourselves as adults?

Alexander Dummer via UnSplash

It has a lot to do with rolling and an awareness of the the elastic planes of the body - How they extend into the arms and legs. 

How can we extend the whole body in length, width and depth? 

We’ll consider the shape of our ribcage as a source of expression ..

The other factor is that as adults we have already learnt to favour one side. What does that mean? Usually we have a dominant hand, eye, ear and foot. So elevating ourselves may require a different strategy on each side. 

Just as last week we explored going with the flow of gravity this week we will explore going with the flow of our handedness and the shape of our ribcage. Even if you are one of the minority lefties - thankfully now not so repressed - we’ll go with what you’ve got. 

Sometimes the results are spectacular ..

Learning is also usually layered. We build on existing skills paying attention to what is at hand. To reconsider these basic movement skills provides an opportunity to cast a wider net. Perhaps if we considered the strategies of our ancestors? Their work surely forms some of the strata of our knowledge. The hanging ability of primates lives on in the structure of our shoulder girdle ..

Marek Piwnicki via UnSplash

It’s this awareness of the wider world that seems so important at the moment .. 

The stillness we find in this exploration of the elastic nature of our bodies .. may enable us to find some connection .. in the source of things ..

Marek Piwnicki via UnSplash

Is this where we find our interests? 

What would you write home about?

With love

David