... Conscious Movement Meditation ...


— B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life

We live in a dynamic universe, full of movement, full of possibilities. What does it mean to be in movement, what does it mean to be in stillness? What are the colours that inhabit the space in-between the extremes? What lies beyond, what lies beneath?

We would all love to believe we are conscious beings, being conscious, but how true is this belief? How deeply have we questioned our 'self', our deepest held beliefs? Are we more than a collection of beliefs and opinions, habits, addictions, and conditionings? And if so, who are we? 

This is the enquiry, the enquiry of a lifetime. 

As we move through the world, how can we do so with more presence, more peace, more purpose? Are we being moved by life, or are we moving with life? Are we swimming against the tide, or at one with the flow?

These explorations can be understood through the medium of the body, through our way of relating, our way of moving, on our own, around each other, with each other, and together as part of the great collective that is the family of life. 

How do we interact with life? How deep do we want to go?

How do we move? Do we move in set patterns that define us, and also confine us? Or do we exhibit a full range of movement that is not inhibited by what other people may think, what our self-critical voice says to us, or what we believe we "should" be doing?

There is no right or wrong way to move, to dance; we simply allow the body to move, to feel comfortable to express its dance. The dance is already there, our place is just to learn to get out of the way to let it out. For sure, we can all learn more, or more to the point, un-learn more.

Through well-guided embodied conscious movement we are able to dive deep into our body / mind complex and discover more of the mystery that is life. 

Conscious movement is not simply dancing ecstatically, or putting the body into Yoga asanas, or flowing through a T'ai Chi sequence; it is a practice that unifies heart, mind, and spirit in the crucible of the body. It is a practice that can be applied to daily living, in each and every moment. It is complementary to all other 'spiritual' practices, and what is more, it can be playful and joyful in nature, which is something most of us could do with in our lives.

As the name implies, it is a practice of awareness, awareness of what is inside, what is outside, and what is happening in both spaces and the space in which they and we meet. It can be a deeply healing practice, and one that encourages creativity of expression and the expression of creativity. 

As a good friend of mine says, "There can be no vacation from consciousness". That, however does not mean that we cannot enjoy our explorations and our way of relating with it.