I recently had an interesting experience taking a Butoh movement/dance class. My novice reporting of the class is this: it was made up of exercises that focused on energy currents moving through the body and the embodiment of various states. I found the whole process revealing as it asked me to be present in the discomfort of not really understanding the concepts and just surrendering to the experience of it.
In one particular exercise, we were asked to move from various states: walking in New York City, a very active state that involved the ego to be present, the arrow, creating a compact of energy that resulted in a quick- stepped tight walk, and the states of deer. This state embodied the prey aspects of the deer resulting in cautious movement, alert senses in regards to smell, sight, taste and hearing. Once we got the hang of doing each state, then we were asked to switch between states.
For the most part each state was relatively workable on its own. Walking in New York City was about being in my ego-full body, while the arrow was constricting and tightening my body and moving, while the deer was sensually alert and focused outward. My challenge arose when we were asked to change from one state to another. The in-between felt so uncentered and uncomfortable, which was ignited by the anxiety of how to move into the next state.
So in reflection, I found myself wondering: how do we find ways to work with transitions, moving from a busy day, to being with loved ones or from a yoga class or deep meditation to rushing to work. How can we relate to the in-between that may be a bit blissed-out or frustrated and move with ease from one state to another?
It seems that there is a lot to be said about cultivating resilience and moving through change without losing our footing. I find this year, the Year of the Horse in the Chinese astrological calendar, as a time to embody stable grounded energy as our place to begin. How can we find ourselves flexible as we encounter experiences that unroot us or ask us to adapt in situations? (Yes, years of the Horse are very much about speed and high temperature!)
I find a helpful experience is staying devoted to whatever practice you use as an anchor. It may be meditation, or yoga, or various states of breath work that allow you to ground and settle into your center. How can we use these states, present, grounded, sensually alive as the foundation from which to move from one thing to another? One possibility is to create a cue that will take you back to the state. It may be a mantra like “I am centered, awake and intuitively listening.” Or possibly use deep breathing, by inhaling and holding for five to ten seconds and exhaling to hold for five seconds. It may be important to associate the cue with the practice used so if using a mantra and you are a regular meditator, use it when you are meditating to achieve the state you want to utilize in your life.
One thing is for certain: things are always in the process of change. It is not so much the change itself that is always the challenge but our reactions and resistance to it. How can we continue to find a state of being open to the moment regardless what it brings to us? And this is where the practice begins.
I am excited for this coming year, to practice transitions of moving from an arrow to a deer and finding some stability or relaxing into the wobble of the transition. May you experience all the ease and joy in your movements and in-betweens this new year.