Why Movement Matters
Things don’t always happen in the right order.
I can carefully 'think through' or 'think out' a thought. I can carefully plan and execute a movement – ‘hand, open that door’. I can observe the way that an event (the sun coming out) can provoke a sensation (warmth), then a feeling (relaxed happiness) and, finally, a movement (stretching).
That's how things are supposed to happen. When things happen like that it confirms my idea that I'm in charge of me and, specifically, that my brain is in charge.
But things can happen the other way round:
My body is forever moving without instruction from me. And a change of expression, step or posture can provoke a feeling or launch a thought. I can feel a sensation of anxiety long before I know why.
So, in my experience, our environment, other people and our own movements inform our feelings, attitudes, thoughts and decisions just as surely as the other way round.
That's why our movement is as vital to understanding and transforming our lives as are our thoughts, our childhood experiences, our surroundings, our memories, the chemicals in our brain and all the other agents proposed by doctors, psychologists, therapists and neuroscientists.
But Move into Life always and only teaches attention to your movement. I guide you in your moving and in the changes that emerge in your movement. Whatever else happens - emotions, thoughts, sensations, ideas, attitudes - is for you to investigate!
I can carefully 'think through' or 'think out' a thought. I can carefully plan and execute a movement – ‘hand, open that door’. I can observe the way that an event (the sun coming out) can provoke a sensation (warmth), then a feeling (relaxed happiness) and, finally, a movement (stretching).
That's how things are supposed to happen. When things happen like that it confirms my idea that I'm in charge of me and, specifically, that my brain is in charge.
But things can happen the other way round:
- A thought can emerge from nowhere, from the lull in a conversation with a friend or be triggered by an unrequested movement of my neck.
- A thought can begin as my fingertips touch a mossy rock.
- A feeling of elation can thrill its way to the surface at the sound of a blackbird or the tremble of the soil being worked by a mole.
- A memory, an attitude, a sadness, an aspiration - they can all follow a movement of my body: a lying down, an arching of my back, a looking over my shoulder.
My body is forever moving without instruction from me. And a change of expression, step or posture can provoke a feeling or launch a thought. I can feel a sensation of anxiety long before I know why.
So, in my experience, our environment, other people and our own movements inform our feelings, attitudes, thoughts and decisions just as surely as the other way round.
That's why our movement is as vital to understanding and transforming our lives as are our thoughts, our childhood experiences, our surroundings, our memories, the chemicals in our brain and all the other agents proposed by doctors, psychologists, therapists and neuroscientists.
But Move into Life always and only teaches attention to your movement. I guide you in your moving and in the changes that emerge in your movement. Whatever else happens - emotions, thoughts, sensations, ideas, attitudes - is for you to investigate!
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