I was reminded of something earlier today in a yoga class. Something I've been trying to focus on this year, and something I'd like to incorporate more into my life. Or better yet, something I'd like to stop resisting. The idea of ease verses struggle.
As a somatic bodyworker, I help people rediscover natural movement. And the interesting thing abut natural movement is that it is smooth, it is graceful, it is efficient and it is most definitely easy. It's easy because this is what we were created to do, biologically we are structured for efficient easy movements. You don't have to teach a child to walk, just as you don't have to teach a bird to fly, the anatomical structure of our muscular-skeletal system dictates certain free easy movements and through a process of development and discovery we stumble on them as we age. But they are not taught. What is taught to us is resistance to natural movements. Postures, stances and positions that are learned from teachers, parents, and occupations to force our bodies away from what they do naturally. And in a simple way it is this resistance of natural movement that is at the route of many medical problems we are facing right now.
So when a client comes in and I show them movements that restore what our bodies do naturally, I get comments like "that's it?" "it's simple", "I feel like I'm not doing anything" or "that feels so counter-intuitive to what I've been doing" usually followed by "but that feels really good". Yes it is simple, I'm often amazed how easy it be to get someone out of pain once they stop resisting the natural mechanics of the soma.
So, I'd like to propose a question to whoever is listening out there. I have my own ideas that I can say later, but I'm sure you have some wonderful thoughts as well. Why do things need to be complicated? What is the purpose of struggle and what happens if things are just.... easy.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
"If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try: If we don't, it doesn't matter, but we'd better start to die" - W.H.Auden
The words were found in the opening to a book a client recommended to me called "Finding Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly(I can spell it, but I definitely can't say it).
The intro goes on to say
Biological life is an automatic process, as long as we take care of the needs of the body. But to live in the sense that the poet means it is by no means something that will happen by itself. In fact, everything conspires against it: if we don't take charge of its direction, our life will be controlled by the outside to serve the purpose of some other agency. Biologically programmed instincts will use it to replicate the genetic material we carry; the culture will make sure that we se it to ropagate its values and institutions; and other people will try to take as much of our energy as possible to further their own agenda
I'm not sure what course the book will take because one page in, I got lost in thoughts of consciousness and control. Walking down the street yesterday, I was overwhelmed with the sense of order and rightfulness set down from society in the form of dress, language, streets, house, social interaction, etc etc etc. Indeed, everything we do in life has a particular way that it is done. And compared to other animals, we are incredibly elaborate and advanced in the ordering and structuring of our environment. And this is sociology right? This is our "nurturing" and is a very complex system that keeps us in line and ensures the propogation of whatever particular ideals we subscribe to.
The other side of that would be "nature" gynetic structures determining what form we take and what course our life will take. For most animals/species the nature side is very dominant, and we think of this in terms of instincts. Things that are innate, known but never 'learned'. we have our own instincts/reflexes and often they are not that dissimilar from other animals. But what is unique is the extent to which we have created societies.
At essence, what society is, is an externalization of our genetic makeup. We still are instinctual and reflexive, but these reflexes are now learned or taught to us by our parents, friends, the media. Overall, they are taught to us by our community. And as we grow and learn, we affirm these reflexes and pass them on to our children just as if they were genetic codes.
It seems clear enough to me that our genetic coding is shrinking in inverse proportion to the growth of elaborate social structures. The more complex our external world becomes, the more reliant our children are in us for development. But also, the more complex our external world becomes, the smarter we get and we are more able to adapt and respond to a growing changing world. This is important because naturally, everything has a reason and has to make sense. Doesn't have to necessarily be explainable but, at least to me, things should make sense. And it makes sense to me that we would pool in communities and teach each other what we learned in our own life and pass on the information that are forebears discovered.
If you look at other species in the animal kingdom that have not externalized their instincts and genetics, there is very little dissimilarity generation to generation. Their survival relies on their natural conditions remaining the same. Subtle changes in the environment can and will wipe out whole species that are not able to react in a timely fashion. Species change relies on a slow process of genetic mutation, ala Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory.
What I'm saying is that the nature verses nurture question is a trap, there is complete fluidity between the two. What should be honored is the externalization of genetic change into a tangible, controllable world around us; a world sensed and controlled by our cortex. it's in the cortex that we have memory, emotions, thoughts, consciousness, sense and movement. The cortex is the newest part of the brain and is most pronounced in humans. Relative to other mammals we have an extremely large cortex. This is what allows us to grow and adjust, because as we project ourselves in the form of culture and community we need to be that much more able to sense and respond to what we are doing. This is our locus of control.
So there we go, control. At the point that we have a much more developed sense of consciousness, we have options. We no longer have to rely on genetic determination to dictate the course of our lives. To a great extent, we can decide at any point where we want to focus our attention and what course we want our lives to take. We're fully capable to take a back seat to our lives and let our instincts and reflexes run the show, but we are also able to steal the spotlight, redirect the train, live less reflexively and more consciously.
And as I said before, I believe that there is an inverse relationship, and if were are progressing and maturing as a species, then we are now more able to control and develop our own lives than past generations. Evidence of this can be found in the slower and slower rate that people seem to develop independence on their own. 30's are the new 20's right?
The more that we nurture, the more depth and possibilities we create for our selves. The longer we put off the drudgery of a stable repetitive life, the more able we are to create an elaborate vibrant world for our future generations and the more vitality our own lives will have. phew........ back to my reading.
The intro goes on to say
Biological life is an automatic process, as long as we take care of the needs of the body. But to live in the sense that the poet means it is by no means something that will happen by itself. In fact, everything conspires against it: if we don't take charge of its direction, our life will be controlled by the outside to serve the purpose of some other agency. Biologically programmed instincts will use it to replicate the genetic material we carry; the culture will make sure that we se it to ropagate its values and institutions; and other people will try to take as much of our energy as possible to further their own agenda
I'm not sure what course the book will take because one page in, I got lost in thoughts of consciousness and control. Walking down the street yesterday, I was overwhelmed with the sense of order and rightfulness set down from society in the form of dress, language, streets, house, social interaction, etc etc etc. Indeed, everything we do in life has a particular way that it is done. And compared to other animals, we are incredibly elaborate and advanced in the ordering and structuring of our environment. And this is sociology right? This is our "nurturing" and is a very complex system that keeps us in line and ensures the propogation of whatever particular ideals we subscribe to.
The other side of that would be "nature" gynetic structures determining what form we take and what course our life will take. For most animals/species the nature side is very dominant, and we think of this in terms of instincts. Things that are innate, known but never 'learned'. we have our own instincts/reflexes and often they are not that dissimilar from other animals. But what is unique is the extent to which we have created societies.
At essence, what society is, is an externalization of our genetic makeup. We still are instinctual and reflexive, but these reflexes are now learned or taught to us by our parents, friends, the media. Overall, they are taught to us by our community. And as we grow and learn, we affirm these reflexes and pass them on to our children just as if they were genetic codes.
It seems clear enough to me that our genetic coding is shrinking in inverse proportion to the growth of elaborate social structures. The more complex our external world becomes, the more reliant our children are in us for development. But also, the more complex our external world becomes, the smarter we get and we are more able to adapt and respond to a growing changing world. This is important because naturally, everything has a reason and has to make sense. Doesn't have to necessarily be explainable but, at least to me, things should make sense. And it makes sense to me that we would pool in communities and teach each other what we learned in our own life and pass on the information that are forebears discovered.
If you look at other species in the animal kingdom that have not externalized their instincts and genetics, there is very little dissimilarity generation to generation. Their survival relies on their natural conditions remaining the same. Subtle changes in the environment can and will wipe out whole species that are not able to react in a timely fashion. Species change relies on a slow process of genetic mutation, ala Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory.
What I'm saying is that the nature verses nurture question is a trap, there is complete fluidity between the two. What should be honored is the externalization of genetic change into a tangible, controllable world around us; a world sensed and controlled by our cortex. it's in the cortex that we have memory, emotions, thoughts, consciousness, sense and movement. The cortex is the newest part of the brain and is most pronounced in humans. Relative to other mammals we have an extremely large cortex. This is what allows us to grow and adjust, because as we project ourselves in the form of culture and community we need to be that much more able to sense and respond to what we are doing. This is our locus of control.
So there we go, control. At the point that we have a much more developed sense of consciousness, we have options. We no longer have to rely on genetic determination to dictate the course of our lives. To a great extent, we can decide at any point where we want to focus our attention and what course we want our lives to take. We're fully capable to take a back seat to our lives and let our instincts and reflexes run the show, but we are also able to steal the spotlight, redirect the train, live less reflexively and more consciously.
And as I said before, I believe that there is an inverse relationship, and if were are progressing and maturing as a species, then we are now more able to control and develop our own lives than past generations. Evidence of this can be found in the slower and slower rate that people seem to develop independence on their own. 30's are the new 20's right?
The more that we nurture, the more depth and possibilities we create for our selves. The longer we put off the drudgery of a stable repetitive life, the more able we are to create an elaborate vibrant world for our future generations and the more vitality our own lives will have. phew........ back to my reading.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
stroke and perception
I thought I'd post a video I saw recently of this neuroanatoist talking about the stroke she had. The remarkable thing was her ability to think through what was happening to her, and as a neuroanatomist, describe the process of her mind disintegrating. What's remarkable is that as her brain and body starts shutting down she has this loss of perception, or maybe more like an altering of perception. Anyway, check out the video. I think it's a good thing to watch to start exploring the ideas of shared worlds, shared spaces, and questioning the point where I stop and you begin.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
eyes part II - contact
Eye contact, intimate visual embrace of a fellow soma. scary, sometimes intimidating to engage someone visually. With a lover, direct eye contact can be very erotic and emotionally intense. "What are you looking at", "Gateways to the Soul" whatever you want to think about it, our eyes are a point of connection, a point of acknowledgement to the world around you. And From human to human/soma to soma a point to recognise someone for who they are and where they stand in the world.
I bring this up because recently I found that I rarely make direct eye contact with someone, I make indirect/across eye contact. My left eye to your left eye in a way.
If you think about a right triangle where I am the angle or the point, you would be the opposite side, I look across the hypotenuse as opposed to the adjacent side. What's interesting about that is that the hypotenuse is the longer side. So in very small effect, looking across to your opposite eye is creating more space between the two of us. Clearly this is a much less threatening approach. If I've learned anything from the discovery channel, it's never look a growling tiger right in the eyes when approaching. Could looking across be a sign of passivity and looking directly be a sign of aggression. Conversely, could looking directly be a sign of true engagement and respect and looking across a way of not truly acknowledging another person, or not truly acknowledging yourself and your right to be and take up space?
What do you think? where do you look?
eyes
I've been thinking about eyes lately, not I's or ay's, but those two orbs in the front of our head. And I say front, because in many ways it is the eyes the define where the front of our soma is. As one of our main sensory organs, eyes(like the nose and ears and mouth) direct our attention and our focus. The rest of our body follows behind. It's the same with all animals and all organisms for that matter. Don't plants seem to look towards the sun? It's a structural necessity.
Anyway, two things have been on my mind about eyes lately. One of them is my poor vision. REAllY poor vision. I made my doctor's day last year when I went in to get a new prescription, I was like some fine spice came in from India. He got a little excited and was all, you have a very rare prescription, you probably only come across eyes as bad as yours once a year or so. Not necessarily as exciting for me as it was for him. But it makes me wonder how this has effected the course of my life. They discovered I had poor vision in kindergarten when I couldn't see the board and just wanted to play with blocks. I had bit of a lazy eye as well and spent a good number of my developmental years watching tv with a headache and an eyepatch trying to strengthen the muscles of my right eye.
What's interesting lately is that I've been doing things to try to improve my vision, namely using my eyes alot more. I still really enjoy playing with blocks, but I've started working on my eye-hand coordination, detailed tracing and consciously scanning and looking around more to wake up my visual cortex. And what do you know, all of a sudden colors are becoming a lot clearer for me, my right eye is a lot less tired than it used to be, and my tennis game is better than ever.
Who knows what other kinds of repercussions this is having in my soma. What we do know is that nothing happens in isolation. Effecting one element of yourself is effecting all elements of yourself. This positive development of my sense of sight can only improve my ability to enjoy the world and all its visual beauty.
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