Category Archives: moving, breathing, feeling

Mar9

body dharma 3

Posted on by

Ingrid Schatz in Pony Dances           Photo:  Jeffrey Anderson

 Body dharma is a fierce practice. It is not for the timid or the lazy.

Attending to the body is not just cosmetic ministrations and ablutions.  It is not just practices, classes or disciplines. It is not only poses or techniques.  Because you can do all of that and still have never entered the body.

Movement is the body’s language and voice.  Breath is the body’s anchor.  Heart is the body’s center.  When you invite the body to move – without judgement, without hurry, without direction – you have begun to practice body dharma.

A recipe for entering the body:

Attention:  because the body is precise.

Listening: because the body is subtle.

Kindness:  because the body is tender.

SHARE & EMAIL
Mar8

Nelson chillin’

Posted on by

 

My friend Michele sent me this picture of Nelson out in his big field.  This is new:  Nelson relaxing, Nelson settled in the sun.

Today when I went to see him we went into his round pen and he did perfect figure-8 changes of direction in both directions.  Slow, fast, near, far.  Perfect.

Nelson has taught me more about being clear, being calm and showing up than anyone or any other thing in my life.

Thank you Nelson, my beloved teacher.

Mar7

diving deeper

Posted on by

I want to offer a bit more information about my eBook.

I developed Breaking into Blossom:  Moving into an Improvisational Life as an online class because I wanted to offer some fresh ideas on how to close that gap from my perspective as an improvisational movement artist.  It  is designed to inspire you to become more daring, more visionary, more playful and improvisational in all aspects of your life.

I am now offering the materials that I developed for that class in an eBook that contains ten carefully designed chapters integrating photographs, writing and movement prompts, guest artists and specific strategies to help you find a deeper creative engagement.  Here is what you will find:

  • Change:  Developing a vocabulary for making change from subtle to dramatic.
  • Underscore:  How to develop an intentional underscore for your day or for a project.
  • Segments:  How subtle shifts in activity and attention throughout the day can create greater focus and engagement.
  • Play: From meandering to galumphing, how to foster a playful attitude and practice, including specific strategies for play-making.
  • Practice:  Discovering your meta-practice and how it can support your work and goals.
  • Moving and Listening:  Delicious strategies for engaging the senses and the body.
  • Movement and Stillness:  The power of attention and recuperation.  How to develop a movement/stillness score in your work and play.
  • Letting Go:  Learning how to drop it (even if you are going to pick it up again).
  • Flow:  Observing and harnessing the interplay of improvisation and flow.  How to cultivate a consummate creative state.

The book is available at the end of this month.  You will receive the book as a pdf.

The cost is $15.  You can pre-order it here.

For those of you who are interested, I am also offering one-to-one creative jump-start sessions.  To learn more,  form.