Concluding with 'Wholeness', ' More Creativity' and 'Ethics'

As the study draws to a close I take my final outdoor movement exploration concerning this aspect of my practice; I will endeavour to continue developing a body and earth approach to my dance artistry while it is likely that my next venture will focus more deeply on the creativity that has been emerging through this study. I decide to visit my precious place for my final movement exploration that investigations the spiritual significance of water, inside and outside the body. I go with the plan to move through all five stages of Fraleigh's 'Land to Water Yoga', beginning with standing & walking (stage 1) moving sequentially to side lying and back floating (stage 5) and then sequentially reversing the sequence however, when I arrived the force of nature has something quite different for me...

I arrive to blustering winds, howling sounds and a vibrant gushing sea... There has been talk on the news (and in the office...) of the UK receiving the off-spin of hurricane Irene from the US, while there is now word of a heat wave hitting the UK next week (the last week of September...), surely signs of a changing planet and globe warming?

I am fascinated by the energy of earth, by the energy of the sea and air, I feel it's energy bubble in my blood... I stand... I get blown... movement and creativity arise quickly without force or thought...  I feel air move through me, swirl inside, I feel air spin my fluid like a hurricane... I dance... moving with the sensations of movement inside and outside the body... In all this movement I sense stillness, I sense peace, I am happy, no concept of time, I am present in the movement, in the moment, I am present on earth... I see rain move from above, move towards land from the far reaching sea, the sea that lives beneath the land on which I stand... I am reminded of my findings on water as a 'divine path to heaven', water from above in the shape of rain connects with the lower water, connecting heaven and earth... it is like the rain has been sent to me as a gift so that I can physicalise this notion... I do physicalise it, I also capture the rain moving down from above and in from the sea, connecting with the water below and land on which my fluid body stands (see video documentation 7 to share in viewing the rain move in off the sea and down from the sky http://www.vimeo.com/29330718). Rain moves in and passes several times each time occurring with the quickness of a small fish darting through a big ocean... I feel spray from the sea so far below me and so deep beneath me... I know, I feel that there is something other than me, a force, an energy, a subtleness, invisible but felt...

On watching the video documentation and reflecting on the moving experience I believe creativity has again emerged, I was unable to focus on the 'Land to Water' sequences and thus, just moved with the sensation that arose through which creativity appears. I sensed, and see a connection with the moving planet, movement of sea and air and a sense of being very present in the moment, not a thought or care, or any concept of time, alive and at peace, which I link to a passage by an experiential mover noted in Fraleigh's 'Metaphysics in Motion' (2004)

When I dance I become, I connect with others, the world, and myself. When I dance my perception of time and space is different from my everyday experiences. When I dance with each breath I reach out, become a part of a bigger whole. When I dance I feel alive.

(Mariel Renz, Germany 1997 cited in Fraleigh: 2004) 

Such reflections bring up notions of wholeness, while the whole study has in itself conjured a number of adjacent topics, creativity being a key parallel topic alongside ethical thought within the field of somatics and somatic informed dance. The study has led me to think and feel more respectful of water, my own and earth's, I have experience profound moments of peace, stillness in movement, sensed spirituality and satisfaction in the moving practice which has seeped into my every day life. I feel at peace with myself, others and the world... 

Any integrative experience is a spiritual experience... One component of mystical or spiritual involvement that underlines ecological concerns is the feeling of being an integrated part of the whole planet.

(Olsen: 2002) 

I am an integrated part of the planet, I am water, air, earth, universe... I am therefore able to access spirituality in my moving, art, dance and everyday life...   

Where I feel this practice-led study will led, well I would like to develop the creativity that has emerged  and the ethical layer, intertwining these aspects to make a dance film, which is creative in nature while  addressing issues of globe warming, nature a subject, not simply an object to be bought and sold (Olsen: 2002), highlighting nature as an aspect of self, as an aspect of physical and spiritual enormity... reaching out to others, asking them, through art to think about the way we all treat our planet, our waters and our air, in a modern existence...     

Heart, breath and brain fluid - young girl and her dog gravitate to the water, the water that is so deeply embedded in the human heart…

I haven’t moved outside with water for a while, have been stuck indoors with a computer and the academic writing of the thesis that accompanies this study, which is challenging, more so because the study is conjuring up so many adjacent subjects, some of which are the water qualities, connection and content within other body systems; breath, brain, heart; brain and heart relationship through fluid; the heart charka the centre and connecting point of the lower and upper charkas, a thesis in itself I believe... 

I take a much needed break from the thesis and plan a moving exploration at the park close to where the young Edwardian girl sat in the 1900s (see blog archive; Water, Spirituality, People, Place and Community). I plan to move with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s explorations in the ‘Dynamics of Flow: the Fluid System of the Body’ (1993), while always being aware and noticing the 5 stages from standing (stage 1) to front lying (stage 5) in Fraleigh’s ‘Land to Water Yoga’ (2009). I go to a yoga class first with Danielle my guru and Spanish co-voyager; in yoga (after just leaving the computer and a section on breath and fluid) as I move with flow through sun salutes, the sun gleaming through the patterned glass window creating a kaleidoscope on the floor, I am drawn to an awareness of the breath that flows around the body within the fluid system; the breath that flows around the body in oxygenated blood; I feel breath in my blood as I flow like a river in sunlight…

‘The fluids in the body are continuously flowing. There are three main pumps that power their movement – the heart, the “tissue pump,” and the cranial-sacral/coccygeal pump (traditionally referred to as the cranial-sacral rhythm). Their movement is also facilitated by breathing…’ (Bainbridge Cohen)

‘Breathing further supports the returning of the fluids’ 

‘The force of breath also aids the movement of the CSF’ 

‘CSF is produced in the ventricles (spaces) within the brain and flows in channels surrounding the brain and spinal cord and then passes into the dural sinuses (between the membranes covering the brain) where it is emptied into the veins which return the fluid to the heart’ 

(Bainbridge Cohen: 1993).

                                                                       

     (CSF - Cerebrospinal Fluid)

                                                                                                                     

The above passage by Cohen, well just excites me, firm evidence of the relationship between the brain and heart through the flow of fluid. Danielle nearly always begins class with sitting taking time to feel the body and breath, while nearly always taking a moment to drop the head to the heart ‘taking the brain energy to the heart’ and focusing attention there… in the heart centre… 

‘Improvise with swing-like movement, rising and falling and rebounding, and feeling the pull of gravity and then the pull of the heavens – ever-flowing and continuing.’

 ‘Movement in toward the center and expression out in the world…’

‘Feel that there is a flow toward the heart and a flow away from the heart and that they complement each other. And observe how that flow is influenced by the breath.’

‘Our fluids respond immediately to vocalizing and music.’

(Bainbridge Cohen 1993)

I arrive in place already drawn to the flow of fluid through my heart and head, and the breath that flows in fluid. I look around at the landscape and begin to think creatively, I’m tempted to sacrifice exploration and make, create but I resist that temptation as my attention lures to the water, its trickles and ripples, its folds, its downward flow and its reflection, the giant green trees reflected on the face of the water as clear as a mirror, assisted by the sunlight light… I’m aware of the colour green surrounding me, green the colour associated with the heart chakra. Aware of the air, the breeze, the breath in the air, on the water, aware of the sounds of nature, of earth… people pass by and look at me, look at me inquisitively, children ask their parents ‘what is she doing?’ I tell them I’m exploring water – inside my body and outside in nature… I want to ask them to join me, ask them to move with their inner and outer waters, ask them to share and see what I see in water, I want to tell them what I’m discovering through the study, I want to ask them to love their water, look after it… Acorns fall from an acorn tree and the tree I sit under looks thinner than it did 2 months ago, its ferns browning and I am reminded that autumn is near, I am reminded of the cycle, the fluctuating continuous flow of life, of the earth.   

I move… I write… and I play, and I sit, and I listen, and I watch, and I smile… I see my reflection clearly in the water, I play a game with my reflection we hide, we seek, we look and smile… I think here moments of creativity begin to enter… The breath a wave, rocking and swaying, breath in the spine, like movement created from the breeze on water… heart… heart opening… heart smiling… head following, flow in the head creates ripples in the spine and down to the sacrum, a pool in the sacrum… sacrum a strong based in sitting, the base, the earth on which the upper body flows freely… sounds… sounding… sensing the vibration of sound inside, sensing the ripples in my fluid created by the sounds I make… I hug myself, I hug my body, my blood… beauty… beauty in movement… spirit… I feel spirit all around me moving through me… I am of this world and this world is of another, everything in and of this world was created of another… my soul, my spirit smiles… I feel alive in the world, in my body… a joy to be alive… to breathe and move and flow with the water, with the world…

There was joy and spirit felt in moving, play and curiosity… calm and rest… but what brought me most joy in all of today’s experience is that as I was catching the reflection of trees, and the light dancing around on the water like an angle (http://vimeo.com/28720965), a dog began running up and down the stream with great glee. His owner, a family and young girl calling him back but he was too drawn to the water to obey. The young girl was also drawn to the water and longed to cross its stepping-stones, she was told no but the water pulled her heart and she too could not submit…

After watching the dog and young girl calmly and peacefully find joy in water, yes the dog is running energetically but he is not in distress there is a sense of clam in his joyful play, while the young girl crosses the stones with clarity and calmness. I reflect further on how they were drawn to the water and am remained of reflections I wanted to log early in the investigation when taking my niece on several occasions to the waters side - she is so drawn to the water, there appears to be a gravitational pull between her and the water. My niece is 4 years old an athletic little girl but near water I feel it is a need for her to be near the water, to explore it, to feel it, to touch, to look, not a sign of her athletic ability. At the barrage where the boats come into the bay from the sea and at the beach on a rough day, I try to call her away from the waters edge, for her safety not to disrupt her inquisition, the natural pull, her need but she is pulled back like a magnet, so much so it is almost visible to see (see video documentation... not uploaded yet…), and I think of our home place in water and how water is ‘too deeply rooted in the human heart to be able to disappear…’ (Lloyd-Sidle & Henry-Blakemore: 2009). 

Children and animals may not be consciously aware of the deep-rooted water but because of their lack of inhibition they are able to follow their heart and the gravitational pull toward water when near it. As adults, fully developed into land creatures, although the water is still unconsciously rooted in the heart, the conformity of ways makes us less likely to dive in the water and play, explore (I guess this can’t be said for surfers, swimmers, divers and so on but these actions do take place in an organised way) to be at one, at home with the water…? I feel that when adults pass and see me prancing about on the water they think fruit loon… or maybe secretly, inside they want to join me but are afraid of looking a fruit loon themselves, or too shy, inhibited, codified… Or maybe I’m not giving adults enough credit for their knowledge and sacred value of water inside and out? I encourage all adults next time you are near water to cross the stepping stones, honour the pull deep in your centre, let loose, open your heart, play, explore, or just sit with your feet in the pond…

‘Its beauty and mystery draw us like an invisible magnet. It seems that near water we discover a profound feeling of rest and clam, a sense of identification where the eye, the heart and the soul are fully engaged – we feel truly and completely at home.’ 

(Lloyd-Sidle & Henry-Blakemore: 2009)

See video documentation ‘Movement Exploration 6 Part2’ to observe the dog and young girl… please view both video documentations in ‘Movement Exploration 6’ to observe waters ability to reflect and the moving exploration reflected upon here. 

http://vimeo.com/28720965

Thinking Creatively, Creativity in Moving..

As much as I adored Andalucia, its delicious seas, shores, sky, sun... Its illustrious mountains, magnificent valley and majestic water fountain.. There is no place like home - and I have a very special place that I visit at home in South Wales, about 30mins drive from the city of Cardiff, the full identify of this place will be kept secret though, I'm sorry it is just too precious.. I usually visit my special place when I'm feeling, well emotional, upset by something or someone, or when I want absolute peace and quite, absolute stillness, when I want to shut myself away from the material, hustle and bustle of the modern world, of modern living.. Some stuff had emerged (which was upsetting) and I was heading to Coventry (in the Midlands where a closeness to water is less felt). I felt that my problems, re-ocuring injury in my pelvis was flaring up again and I visited my precious place before hitting all the M's up to the Midlands. I decided I was going to move (and document movement) in my special place, something I haven't done before, I usually just sit.. I went with the plan to explore developmental movement principles and movement patterns in Sondra Fraleigh's 'Land to Water Yoga' (2009), I left with something quite different..

A Precious Place

...lying on my belly, breathing into my belly, into the earth, the water beneath the earth.. feeling, sensing the circular shape of earth as I lie with my arms rapped around its surface.. sound of air above, air around me, sound of sea below, behind me, at my feet.. floating on top of the earth... holding on, pulling myself forward, pulling with the arms, pushing with the feet to stop me sliding, sliding off the solid surface and into the vast fluid structure beneath... a big drop, I hold the earth, the ground, feeling the water beneath, feeling my fluids... flow..  Developmental movement patterns leave and creativity enters... I dance a slow and gentle dance.. I dance to the side of the water... on top of the water...  twisting.. sliding.. pushing... pulling.. floating.. feeling.. flying.. swimming.. swimming in my fluids.. water... watching... listening.. clean and clear.. washed away the dirt of the last few days.. I see the world from a different perspective as I find myself upside-down looking out to sea, I smile, I like seeing the world this way... again from this position I feel, experience the circularity of planet earth.. everything flows in circles.. circular flow.. a feeling of being alive and open to the world...

Upside-Down Earth

Thinking Creatively, Creativity in Moving 

I reflect upon this moving exploration, experience for several days after. I reflect on, and question creativity? I find myself being creative, creativity comes, comes from the body and the body's surroundings. I begin with focus on the fluids, on the water inside and out, I begin with focus on the developmental movement sequences and explorations offered by the practitioners inspiring this study, but my focus appears to change, appears to be changing, taking a different direction... I have thought, felt this for a while now but have chosen to ignore such thoughts, feelings, movement ideas, creative ideas. I do not ignore them when moving, I allow my body to move in whichever way it moves on the day but I do start with a focus, a movement plan as such.. What is the purpose of my practice-led-research if there isn't some creative or definitive outcome? Hazel Smith & Roger T. Dean (2009) note that 'practice-led research can develop unique processes for creative work and for research.' Also noting that 'academic research can led to creative practice' (Smith & Dean: 2009, p2). Further queries flutter around my consciousness - how does somatics within dance develop avenues for creativity and creative practice? Martha Eddy (see blog reflections - Morning Meditation 'Not Doing,' 'Being,' 'Knowing') notes that one of the numerous benefits of somatic education within dance education as offering 'inroads to creative process' (Eddy: 2009, p23).

I believe evidence of the creativity emerging can be seen in the video documentation 'Waterfall' this is about mid-point in my practice-led study. Creativity is beginning to emerge which I obviously don't ignore, I make a short piece entitled 'Waterfall' http://vimeo.com/27479018

Unfortunately I ran out of recording space when moving from exploration of the planned developmental movement patterns to the creativity that emerged and therefore, don't have documentation of 'Dance to the Side of the Water' I will visit and move in my precious place again but the dance will never be the same. "A river never flows the same way twice" (unknown). "Continually moving, always changing, into and out of form - our lives, like water, are in constant flow" (Katherine Murray).    

Final thought - the pain and feeling of inflammation in my pelvis decreased, I'd even go as far as saying ceased instantly after this movement (creative) exploration - the pain/injury in my pelvis hasn't bothered me so much since...

Water, Spirituality, People, Place and Community

My final reflection of body, mind, spirit exploration in Andalucia, at Molino Del Rey brings me back to where I [we] began, water and spirituality. In morning yoga session we move with dynamic flow, water in the from of sweat covered the surface of my skin as the studio warmed, as the bodies in the studio warmed, as the fluid inside our bodies flowed creating energy and heat.. We were a room filled waterfall, a waterfall of solidity. In a moment of stillness the water, both inside and out was so clearly felt, so clearly sensed. In tadasana (mountain posture) we come to stillness for a moment, Danielle encouraging us not to fidget, not to pull the t-shirt down or move that piece of hair in our face, "come to stillness, let the muggy waters clam, settle, clear." It was in this moment that I felt my inner waters settle, cleanse, clear, wash away... I sensed, I felt the flowing, fluid energy gently and slowly still just like muddy water settling in a glass. In the same moment I was instantly drawn to the water outside, its sound, the dynamic flow of water circling the inner flow of waters, I united with the flow of water around me and inside of me.. this felt like an extremely spiritual moment, I can't describe this sensed spirituality (maybe I just did above?) it was calm and still, aware and present, joyous and light... I also sensed a connection, oneness, a unity with every body in the space, a sense of community and again it was through the stillness, the silence that this unity was felt..  

Later in the day, on one of our adventurous walks through the valley, up a mountain Hilary told me a small something of the history of the area, "it was originally an Arabic community the Spanish Christians pushed the Arabs out" (Hilary you told it much better). This congers more thoughts of spirituality through connection with people, and place; the generations, the different communities that have stood in this same place, their footsteps on the earth, their lives lived in the land, their hands washed in the waters.. a sense of spirit is felt through an awareness of generations past, lived in the experience of the land, the waterfall that runs through the whole valley, the rocks and trees..

The young lady in Edwardian dress steals this 1907 view of the rustic bridge in Roath Park
(Williams: 1986)

On a visit to my Grandmother yesterday I'm again reminded of the spirituality of the land around us, the stone walls of buildings, the streets we walk, the streams we sit by.. I was snooping around in my Grandfather's (he pasted 7 years ago, the kindest most gentle man anyone could meet) cupboard, finding two books of Cardiff Yesterday. On opening them I find little notes addressed to me, 'Lucinda's relatives' pointing out my ancestors, I was moved to say the least. Several pictures of my Grandfather's bother, my Uncle Stan playing saxophone in a Jazz band (I always wonder where my artistic side comes from). Then a picture of a young lady (no relative) in Edwardian dress sat by a bridge in Roath Park, a place I visit often, moving as part of my somatic/spiritual investigations near a stream close to were the girl is sitting (see video documentation 6). Our land is filled with the stories, the lives, the bodies, emotions, feelings, movements of generations, of communities past, which I believe must hold some spiritual significance, offering us a spiritual connection to place, to land, to earth...

Stan Parker front right
(Williams: 1987)

Williams, S (1987) Cardiff Yesterday no.15: Stewart Williams Publishers, South Glamorgan

Morning Meditation - 'Not Doing,' 'Being,' 'Knowing'

We begin each day with morning meditation at 7.30am on an outside deck and it is here I being to experience the 'Monkey Mind...' My mind appears more active, less in the present, full of thoughts... which may be of surprise for first thing in the morning but it's as if my thoughts have been put in a box over night, they've been asleep in my subconscious, and now they're awake knocking on the box wanting to join in this meditation malarky.. My body fidgets, I image bugs crawling on me, itchy nose, pins and needles... then there are the noises, the environment; dogs barking, birds singing, sound of water flowing, slight winds... Yes all lovely nosies and joyous aspects of nature, I try to take Danielle's guidance and let the sounds and sensation into the meditation as they are all part of this present moment.. but I'm thinking of my niece, the work I have to return to, September, 90s pop music "you can ring my bell," what to wear next Saturday... and I search, search for the lovely restful, still, beautiful place I experienced only the day before..

After meditation and the mornings dynamic flow session we engage in pranayama (breath, the breath of life). We explore a wonderful pranayama (can't remember the name please let me know Danielle) while resting in a ying posture and to my great satisfaction I find that beautiful stillness again... I find myself in the present, as I am now, not a thought in my mind to distract me or a sensation in my body to fidget with... just the breath and this moment... This is meditation but then I'm doing, I'm doing pranayama and my understanding is that meditation isn't doing, it is being... Jane acknowledged the 'want' or tendency to want to 'do' change the breath in meditation, not simply watch the breath - I'm with you on that Jane. In afternoon ying sessions I find stillness, I find plenty of moments of being, of being able to focus on the sound of water that encases us, of being with the posture but again maybe because I am doing something, I'm in a ying posture...

Meditation does not get any easier as the week goes on, actually it becomes more of a challenge... at times in the afternoon practice I get glimpses of stillness in sitting but the mornings are dark, uncomfortable places.. I resign to finding greater meditation in 10 extra minutes in bed and a cup of tea...  I debate a theory - it is in the knowing... My first meditation practice I knew nothing, I had nothing to compare, no expectation, the unknown... but now I know something of meditation (a little something). The more we know the more we what to know, the more we question our knowing, the more we look for reason, the more we analyse.. I recall my first contemporary dance classes, for me they were the greatest dances I've danced, I couldn't point my feet, or turn out, or balance, I knew nothing of technique. 12 years on and who knows how many hours of training and technique classes where I questioned, I did, I tried to understand, I pushed myself and was hard on myself if I didn't achieve correct technique, great balance, perfect extension (if there are such a things), and I remember it ceased to feel like I was dancing, not like those first classes when I knew nothing... now I turn towards somatic movement practice in my dancing and have found dancing again, I experience being danced, I explore not doing, I experience being, in the being I am moved by my body... I'm sure, in time, the being will appear to me in meditation just like it did in my dance practice (which only happened when I stopped searching, stopped beating myself up about technique, often in authoritarian training/class environments).

"If dance is experienced through classes or performances in a authoritarian and demeaning manner, it can be not only physically injurious but diminishing of the soul. Since the 1970s more and more dance professionals are discovering the usefulness of somatic education in softening these deleterious challenges.
The marriage of dance education and somatic education has seen numerous benefits... The world of somatic education has secrets to living life more fully - keys to finding and knowing when we are 'in the flow.' Somatic awareness could be used for a step-by-step manual to document that entry into 'the flow.'"

(Martha Eddy: 2009)

"One has to be able to let things happen. I have learned from the Orient the lesson expressed in the words wu wei: 'not doing'; not 'doing nothing,' but 'allowing.' Others have known of this, too, as for instance, Meister Ekhart when he speaks of 'yielding oneself.' The dark spot upon which one stumbles actually is not empty but is the Bestowing Mother, the Images and the Seed." 

(Horton Fraleigh citing Curl Jung: 1987)

Wonderland!

I arrive at Molino Del Rey in the Andalucian mountains tucked away in a valley surrounded by huge peaks that last for miles and miles. Molino Del Rey (www.molinodelrey.com) is a centre for holistic retreats run by a lovely couple Anthony and Lidia, and their son Dimitri. But we are not on a retreat, it's a yoga holiday with Danielle our gracious yoga teacher and 14 dedicated, delightful students most who haven't met before. The centre is stunning (to say the least), it's a dream land, every conner you turn there stands another beautiful Buddha statue or a bright painting, some of the paintings amalgamating with rock or stone and are all painted by the lovely Lidia. Caves have been carved out of the valley moulding into the centre's walls making it the haven, or heaven that it is... the centre submerges into (or out of) the land... but what is most amazing about the centre (alongside the food) is that a spring, a natural waterfall circles the whole centre, weaving in and through its structure... pouring out of rock crevasses... an ever flowing natural fountain that you can dip your hands into and drink... drink straight from the spring... I am in wonderland!

 

We begin our yoga holiday on the afternoon we arrive with a ying class and meditation. I'm new to meditation but have known it is a practice I will turn to in my investigations of yoga, dance, the body, mind and spirituality... after meditation I write...

light in the centre of my forehead... wave like rhythm runs through my body as I sit in stillness... sways my spine, rocks me like a newborn.. In a trance but aware... aware of my environment, where I am, Danielle's voice, a voice of guidance... aware of others in the space around me, not by their sound but through their silence... light, a pulsating light in my forehead, in my third eye chakra, a kaleidoscopic light opening, spreading, shaping... vision of a sun sitting on a horizon...  

What about the Spiritual (in all this)?

On the day I travel from Nerja to Jorox in the Andalucian mountains I wake early to make one last sea exploration... at 7am I climbed over some rocks to reach one of the little bays along this stretch of beach/coast. The sun had not risen fully and the sea was wild, roaring, it looked dangerous, worse than the pervious day, I daren't go in... This was ok because I planed exploring belly lying (lying on my front) on the sea shore. Inspired by movement explorations in 'Land to Water Yoga' (2009) by Sondra Fraleigh which focus on our development from water to land (land back to water) exploring the many yoga posture that resemble developmental movement in this process. I plan to move exploring stages 3-4 of the 5-part sequence of 'Land to Water;' third stage; sitting & fourth stage; front lying.

Playing in front lying on the sea shore, breathing into my belly, into the earth... being thrown around by the sea as it's waves move energetically in and out from the shore.. being tossed amongst the stones and shells, I am nothing against it's strength, against it's force, it's energy.. the sea simply brushes me aside as easy as blowing dust from a surface. I only have my own centre, my body's centre, rooting in my centre keeps me from being pulled away, tossed aside... I connect with the earth, with the sea and it begins to hold me, to mould me, I tune into it's energy, motion and movement patterns to support my movement exploration, I'm not working against it but with the sea, with the earth.. I am of the water, alive and awakened to it..

I sit for a while reflecting on my few days here.. I look up at the mountains standing still and strong, overlooking the coast, overlooking the land below, its people and the sea.. they are mysterious, like Gods and the great unknowns, the mysteries of our universe..

I think of my explorations and how I found, got to these bays; climbing over rocks or swimming in deep waters... I remind myself of some of my research into the fluid systems of the body, explorations and movement that stimulate, support different fluid systems.. I remember Olsen's writings in 'Body and Earth' (2002). 'Walking to your place, notice which fluids are engaged.. leaping precisely from one rock to another. Any movement of periphery, focusing on accuracy and correctness, engages lymph.' I believe I leaped here with accuracy and correctness, whilst my actual being here in Nerja, being in my body, exploring myself, dance, the earth in this way, well that may have something to do with destiny, something other than me - and I question 'so what about the spiritual in all this, in my explorations, experiences, practice-as-research, reflections? Back home in the UK I return to the books finding some resolution to the question although, perhaps only the beginning of such inquiry.. I again drawn on Olsen to help summaries my thoughts..

'Spirituality can be described as that state of spaciousness and receptivity that animates the body and connects us to the mysteries of earth. Our attention is drawn to the foundations of existence and our place within the cosmos... Perhaps our deepest spiritual desire is to regard ourselves as an integral part of nature... Through direct experience with the natural world, we engage other-than-human intelligence, powerful and mysterious qualities... Nature is immediate, dynamic, beautifully formed, and unpredictable, reflecting our own wild nature back to us...'

'Reflection on body and earth reminds us of our wholeness.'

Olsen, A. (2002) Body and Earth an Experiential Guide  Middlebury College Press, University Press of New England: Hanover and London

What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?

I was reading last night, and before I proceed updating my reflections from Spain, I'd like to share, reflect on my reading; I feel my findings have huge relevance to my reflections concerning 'Water Memory,' birth/baby and our beginnings of life (in the womb and evolutionary) in a watery environment.. even the process of sowing the seed of life takes place within a watery disposition.

'Water is the medium in which everything is born and develops. It is literally the origin of all life, both ontogenetically (embryonic development) and phylogenetically (the history of the entire evolutionary process of a given species). There exists no living thing whose phylogeny does not start with water...'

'In the foetal stage, the human being is a symbiotic aquatic animal, suspended in a warm, salty liquid that reproduces the hydrosaline equilibrium of the oceans. For nine months we live like marine creatures... Up to the moment of parturition, the human foetus behaves much like a fish, immersed in amniotic fluid and receiving oxygen through the umbilical artery.'

'A human embryo does not pass through the stage of an adult fish, but shares characteristics with fish's embryonic development... the embryo and the ways in which it develops contain the seed, the meaning and the evolutionary dynamic of the species, wherein we find reminders of our ancestral past, a memory of the species contained not only in the genome but in its very anatomy.'

'The mind is not, it must be remembered, confined to the brain. It is immanent in the physical body, and at the same time capable of transcending it in space and time through thought, which has no spatiotemporal boundaries.'

'...specialists agree that the ideal environment for labour and birth is warm sea water, as it is similar in density and composition to amniotic fluid. Through the first year of life, infants are able to adapt to water with surprising ease, demonstrating a natural inclination for swimming and an utter lack of fear. Newborns are able to stay underwater for up to 40 minutes while still attached to the umbilical cord, and instinctively know how to navigate toward the water's surface.'

All the above quotes come from a fab book I stumbled upon in the beautiful little shop Halcyon Daze www.halcyon-daze.com (what a find);

Consigli, P, MA. (2008) water, pure and simple: the infinite wisdom of an extraordinary molecule Watkins Publishing: London

See video documentations 3, 4 & 5 (http://vimeo.com/27438474 http://vimeo.com/27440922 http://vimeo.com/27968368)
What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life? 
(Albert Einstein cited in Consigli: 2008)

'Water Memory' Remembering to Swim

I continue to explore the waters heading further out to sea, swimming out past the rocks, in and through them and finding more bays, bays that can't be reached by foot.. I'm reminded of the Beach (book) and my own explorations in Thailand over 10 years ago when I was just beginning my journey of dance & the body, this here and now is just the same, the beginning of something new, unknown feels eminent... the sea is so clear and blue..

The current is strong, very strong, I can swim, I'm a confident swimmer but I am nothing against the seas force, I have to work hard, if I was to give into the sea at any point, give my weight like I did in the rock pond I feel I would be dragged away within seconds.. I don't know how I learnt to swim, well I know a lot of my childhood was spent in rivers, seas, ponds and up trees but I don't recall being taught the technique of swimming, I just know, does this once again have something to do with 'Water Memory?' everyone can swim, we swam into existence it is only through our formation on land that that we forget, or even fear swimming?? I'm sure most are aware of the apparent safety of letting go of a baby in water and that baby begin able to swim (not suggesting anyone should try this at home), perhaps through the memory of swimming in the womb, or the memory of our evolutionary process?

As I approach the shore and am able to touch my feet on the land below the sea I kick back and give my weight to the water, I float on the surface of the water and listen once more to the sounds beneath.. This time I am drawn to the sound of my own breath within my body... my body is completely empty, hollow, there is nothing but the breath whirling around in this hollow structure, empty only breath.. The world stops moving, in just this one moment there is nothing but my breath and the empty space within..

Floating in a Sea of Amniotic Fluid..

Exploring the area, the beaches and the sea, I find little rock ponds and small bays created by the sea; the sea carving these spaces as water creates, forms, shapes, sculpts the land around us, upon which we stand..

'Water is the major component of the planet's surface, sculpting and redistributing the soil' (Olsen: 2002).

'In addition to being the distinguishing constitutive element of the Earth, water is also an active and powerful substance, having quite literally shaped our planet over millions of years, carving landscapes, sculpting valleys, modelling mountains' (Paolo Consigli, MD: 2008).

Moving with a plan to explore stage three: sitting, stage four: front lying and stage five: side lying & back floating (moving on the regression from land to water) from Sandra Fraleigh's 'Land to Water Yoga' (2009), I experience and write..

...moving in the little rock pond created by the sea.. giving in, giving into weight, giving weight to water. I am tossed around by the current like a piece of seaweed, my core holding me in place while the sea throws my legs and arms, my periphery around with ease... ripples run through my body as I cling to a rock for stability.. I begin to explore the rocks, like a lizard, sea lion, seal I explore my territory, light steps with my paws, playful, creeping, inquisitive...

Always drawn to the sounds, the sounds of the sea, the sounds it creates, it vibrates.. When my whole head goes under the sea I can hear the sounds of the vast ocean beneath..  the sound of the sea tossing sand and shells underneath it's surface, the surface upon which it lies.. as I lie with my ears under the water floating on the surface, again giving into weight, the sounds enter my ear, the sounds of the world within the ocean, the sound of sand and shells salsa stepping sings through my ears, down my ear canals and into my belly, filling my belly..

I can't recall being a foetus developing in a sea of amniotic fluid but my subconscious memory seems to know this place.. making me consciously aware of the connection, the feeling of floating in amniotic fluid.. as I give into the the water, as I allow it to float me, to hold me, to nurture, to grow me, I know this place... I have a memory of floating in amniotic fluid (see video documentation 3 http://vimeo.com/27438474).

'Some physicists have hypothesized that water, under specific conditions, has the ability to retain a sort of "vibrational memory"(Paolo Consigli, MD: 2008). Biologist Jacques Benveniste discovered, in an experiment with a drug for allergic reactions that 'water was somehow able to record and transmit information probably electromagnetic in nature. This property was later dubbed "water memory"(Paolo Consigli, MD: 2008).

Hola

I've been away in Spain for 10 days - 4 days of soulful sea and self exploration on the coast of Nerja, Andalucia and then 6 days in the Andalucian mountains on a blissful yoga holiday at Molino Del Rey (www.molinodelrey.com) both exceeding all expectations..  So I have several reflections, thoughts and observations.

I arrive at Hostal Tres Soles (three souls) to a room with a balcony over looking the sea... I sit for a while to watch little starling birds dance effortlessly over the the shore, darting in and out of evergreen trees, held by the air and surrounded by the sea..

I woke on my first day with no movement or fluid to support movement in my joints, every time I tried to sit or stand I needed to flop back down into a lying position where I could be completely supported by the earth (or the bed at this point). I tried waking, energising, mobilising myself and my joints with some gentle movement and yoga postures but even this felt impossible.. I thought to just go back to bed and sleep more, I obviously needed the rest but didn't wish to waste a minute of my time here, I then thought of coffee.. I headed out into the warm air and bright blue sky, stopping to watch the sea.. When I returned I didn't need the coffee the earths natural energy had woke me, woke my fluids, invoked my senses.. I questioned my tiredness and lack of mobility, then thinking of the pressure from the plane and sitting for 5 hours on a bus from Malaga to Nerja the day before - I further query how machines, man made objects had weakened my fluid system and the walk in a natural environment had strengthened my body, my fluids, my being.. I love the following thought of not spending any time over the next 10 days sat at a computer or spent sitting in a car, on a train, near a tv...  

Reflections - Movement Exploration Day 2

It was a cold, windy, rainy, summers day in south wales, grey clouds, gusts and heavy showers were presented to us by mother earth.. I was hit instantly by the energy of the sea, it was tempered, waves curling and crashing.. Then I was hit by the sounds created by such energy, the sound of the sea and the wind, roaring and howling, together creating a perfectly orchestrated sound..

Moving with explorations offered in 'The Dynamics of Flow: The Fluid System of the Body' Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (1993).

'The fluids can be explored through visualizing and sensing their presence and through feeling them in movement..' 'begin by opening and closing your hand..' 'Improvise with swing-like movement, rising and falling and rebounding..' 'produce sound with and/or from a free-flowing and loose quality' (Bainbridge Cohen: 1993).

I stood on the shore, feet sinking, melting down into the sand, into the earth.. The wind was blowing so strong I felt I could lean back and be supported by its force. Waves danced vigorously to my right side, whispering in my right ear.. The sand, the earth held firm on my left side and the sun pepping through the clouds in front of me; the wind blowing behind pushed me forward while the sun in front pulled me from my heart centre. The sound of the sea filling my right ear, entering the ear canals and travelling down into my belly, filling deep in my belly, filling and curling in my sacral chakra; the energy centre associated with the element water and colour orange..

My movement was more vigorous, less clam and peaceful to what it had been on day 1. The sea was clam on day 1 and therefore, perhaps so too were my fluids within? I believe that the seas energy today enhanced my fluid energy, this can be observed in the video documentation of the two explorations visit www.vimeo.co./lucindaalexstone and view 'The Shape of Water' Somatic Movement Exploration 1&2, or simply click the following link http://vimeo.com/26377179

Barry Island, The Vale of Glamorgan

The sea was also surprisingly warm, warmer than day 1 when it was still; energy creates heat, creates warmth.. My fluid system was in tune with the earths fluid, moving intuitively with its mood, feeling, sound, presence, energy...

'Water connects us to the rhythms of the natural world.. As we observe crashing of waves, tumbling waterfalls, or a drop of rain running down a pane of glass, our bodies respond' (Olsen 2002). I felt my body respond to the waters energy and the natural rhythms of the sea & cosmos today...

Dancing the Sun Out

As we left the seas side (my dear friend Diane accompanying me and being a wonderful camera woman) the cloud and rain cleared. The sun shone high in a clear blue sky as we sat bathing in its energy in Diane's garden and I said 'we danced the sun out...'

Reflective Writing: Movement Exploration Day 1

Heart Opening

Focusing on movement explorations offered in 'The Dynamics of Flow: The Fluid System of the Body' by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (1993), and the wonderful words & wisdom by Sandra Sabatini in 'breath the essence of yoga' (2000) I move in shallow sea water.

Heart opens to the world... seeing clearly inside myself, seeing clearness inside me... breath becomes shape and sudden, I gasp, as the cold waves touch my surface, I gasp and gasp. Sit bones going home to the earth, to the water...

Clean... still... pure... happy... peace...

The sun comes out from behind the clouds and begins to warm me, I no longer feel the cold in the water, my surface has moulded with its surface... Coming to stillness I hear and visualise rivers and waterfalls, oceans and ponds making the journey to and from my heart.

Complete stillness in all the movement... Completeness. Suns rays reflecting, shinning on the water like crystals. Beauty, this is beauty, the most beautiful experience... I'm glad you found me...

Went to a yoga class after my movement practice, we did some heart opening in class but it was in relaxation at the end that I had a really clear image, and strong sensation in my heart centre; heart chakra opening like the petals of a flower, gold & red, radiating out in four directions through my body.

Beginning a new project; 'we all begin and end in water'

My next project moves away from working with technology (see Butterfly Caught), well not entirely, as I'll use technology such as my blog, film footage, vimeo (etc) to record, share, document, receive feedback on the process. 'The Shape of Water' is a somatic movement exploration looking at the spiritual significance of water with relation to the fluids of the body. I'll be moving with my fluid system while moving in, around, with, close to water, outside in natural environments. 'Every cloud, tree, blade of grass, insect, and animal in view, as well as one's own body, is mostly water' (Olsen: 2002).