Do a little less, a lot more awake

We can "get a lot done," and be asleep to the whole
show.

The body that is holding us up
in gravity.

The air that is stoking the fires
of our life.

The light coming in our eyes.

The sound coming in our ears.

Forgetting ourselves,
we "get a lot done."

Fine, fine. It's nice to move
in the world.

And then there is this little
huge
amazing thing:
we are alive.

Right now,
as I tap away, one finger after another.

Right now, as you sit or stand or lie
or crawl or walk
and read these
lines.

Breathing.
Sensing.
Light.
Sound,

is always there.
Are we there for the life
that we are living
while
now
now
now
we are living it?

(And the thoughts,
ah,
those thugs,
those thieves,
that's another story,
the story of the life
that got away
kidnapped by the concepts
and the mistake
of thinking the thoughts are
the (possibly ) real things
to which they point)

For now though,
this can be a grand game:

set out to "do"
something,
sweep the floor,
read three pages in a book,
walk to the corner and back,
and
breathe with awareness,
and sense
with awareness
and know experience
delight
in the light
and
sound
coming in,
the moments,
each crystaline
and wonderful unique

or something like
that


good

Sometimes we anger, sometimes we sad

Sometimes we charge
up and anger our world

sometimes we slump in
and sad-ify the whole joint

Not fun, either one

And we usually gots someone else
to blame

And hey, that's a shame,
play this game:

Go now time
go present

sense the this and that in your body
about the anger or about the sad

where is they live?
how big?
what are they clamping in on?
what would happen if you made them WORSE?

What if you sensed arms and legs
and spine as a basket for them?

And breathed into these sensations?

And looked out at the big beautiful world?

And forget about having or getting rid
of these "feelings"

Just experience them
And light
and breathing
and your whole body
and the smaller place of the anger/ sad oowie inside us constriction

and dig on that

just experience
your life
with some anger some sad sensations
and then all this rest
of you:

breathing
a world to look at
sounds too, by zounds
and the skeleton and your awarness
and pelvis and legs arms
and the head up high
and the Big Knowing:
I AM ALIVE

it's a lot

hey yes
it's you
it's a miracle

enjoy

that's right

enjoy even anger or sad making
because in this bigger now
you've come to
not so big a deal

nah,
not so big a deal

the importance of love

what does love have to do with this work?

well: love takes people where
they are

and,
sometimes,
see the magnificence they can become

that's what our work
is about

and the way there:

we are present
and we feel what we feel right now
and we know various routes to "better"

many of these routes can be understood in Anat's
9 essentials

many can be felt in our memory of how
we moved when we move
well

some can be sensed in the person,
as we feel what better
and easier
and clearer
and "new"
might be for them

good

Tango, Dance, Walking, Learning and Love

Most of us learned to walk along the way.

It was hard, easy, fun, amazing.

Mainly, if you think about, or really feel how small the feet are
under such a tall, large thing this body of ours,
you'll see that standing (harder than walking)
and walking (harder than being three or four legged)
are
both almost miracles.

And then, we grow up and want to dance,
and sometimes have fun and then we go to dance classes.

And the teacher, good old teacher, shows the "right way."
Once: we get it or don't.
Okay, the teacher shows it again: we get it or don't.
Then the show the "other" (usually follower) part, once, twice.
People get it or don't.
Put on music and you're on your own.

But every move is right foot, left foot, or some pause with the weight on
one foot or the other.

What if we learned dance as a fancied up walking,
where we get to try by ourselves as the pretend "leader"
a bunch of walking to music variations.
Then we explore, by ourselves, as the pretend "follower",
a bunch of walking to music variations.

Then we pal up, guy and a gal, gal and a gal, guy and a guy, father and a daughter,
mother and a daughter, or son, and so on.

Play around.
Invent some steps.
Learn to float around the floor with the music.


Would this be nice?

I think so.

Come and find out.

Here's the word part of a flyer I have around town on Orcas Island in Washington.

Tango,
Feldenkrais® &
Learning how to Learn
A 4 class series at Odd Fellows Hall
Thursday, 6:15-7:15 PM, June 17- July 8
What if we went about learning Dance (anything)
as a process of discovery,
rather than a determination to “Get it Right?”

Chris Elms is a beginning Tango student and an advanced Practitioner
in the Feldenkrais Method®.

He teaches private lessons to Undo Pain, Relieve Stress,
and Increase Mobility & Skills.

A BABY LEARNS TO CRAWL, NOT BY FOLLOWING ANY RULES, but
by experimenting with hundreds of movements, many of them “mistakes,” then one
day, she puts 30 of them together and crawls, not so show off or accomplish anything,
but to get the toy across the room.

DANCE CAN BE LEARNED AS PLEASURE, EASE, and LISTENING.
Listening to the music, listening to your own body, and listening to your partner’s
ease and movement.

EVERYONE DANCES “LEAD” & FOLLOWER”

IF YOU DON’T LIKE DANCE: come and learn as if walking to music.

IF YOU DO LIKE DANCE: come and treat yourself to a way of learning that
can improve & relax many areas of your life.



That's it.
Let me know, if you are a practitioner,
and want to collaborate on teaching any form of dancing
this way,

or collaborate working with and getting mentored working with,
special needs children.

Chris.