Great work this Quarter!

Hey everyone,

Great work this quarter. Thank you for all your feedback and final postings. I am done with the counting and the blog is now done. Any entries on the blog at this point will not be counted toward your grade. Enjoy your break!

Louis

Last Touch

For this final entry, lets talk about touch. We began on our backs. Bodies touching the floor. Bodies touching one another. We explored allowing our energy to pass through the points of contact and to feel a current as it swirled around our circle. We flowed with touch from the floor to standing and then allowed touch as we mingled in the center of the space.

With eyes closed, we followed fingertip connections around the space. We listened to touch to see where it would lead us. Finally, we played with the idea of touch with our focus. We looked and touched one another with our eyes. We felt the energy of our focus as touch. How did it feel?

Thank you all for being part of this very valuable learning experience for me. I hope you also had a positive learning experience as well. Feel free to email me with any questions or concerns. Have a great well deserved break!

Cheers!

Vision

The visual system is the dominant sense in humans. We tend to rely on the visual sense, even when other senses may be better for gathering information.

We began our exploration of vision by noting that there are two visual systems at work. The visual field is approximately 180 degrees of work space. The central visual field is made up of the center 90 degrees with the peripheral visual field taking up 45 degrees on either side.

The central visual field absorbs information. As we walked around the room, we gathered information about the objects, textures and colors. When we greeted one another, we looked into their eyes, at their faces and absorbed information about them through our central visual field. Moving quickly in and around one another we relied on our peripheral visual system. This part of our vision is adept at noticing movement and to orient ourselves in space.

In our mirror exercise, we explored both systems. At first we did the exercise while focusing on our partner with our central visual field and then we tried with our peripheral field. What did you notice that was different between these two?


Working with a partner, we also worked on turning down our vision so that it did not dominate quite as much. What was your experience of this exercise? Given the analogy of the equilizer on a stereo system, did you have any success in changing your levels of attention? Did this change your experience of your senses throughout your day?

Outside Exercise

On this rather cold overcast Thursday, we went outside to attend to our senses in a natural environment. Working in pairs, each person had the opportunity to move through space attending to sounds, touch, taste, smell and movement. With our eyes closed, we moved without the sensation of sight. What changes with eyes closed?
Each partner had fifteen minutes to move and fifteen minutes as a witness. Write a little about both experiences. What do you learn or notice as a mover? What did you experience as a witness?

Neurospeak

On this Tuesday, we explored the body/mind connection with writing from Robert Masters book Neurospeak. (Masters, Robert. 1994. Neurospeak. Wheaton, Ill: Quest Books.)

What I hoped to illustrate in this class was the power with which the mind can influence and change the body. With our knowledge of the body, we can create healing if we chose to direct our positive attention to our bodies. The commands from the Alexander Technique similarly allow for a better use of the body. We are also at the mercy of our thoughts if they are negative in nature.

Each of you had a different response to this class. Some felt lighter, some heavier. Most felt some imbalance or change, perhaps some did not. Each response is equally as valid as it is your experiences. In your comments for this class, please speak to the relationship between words or thoughts and the way they can manifest in the body. Most particularly, what were your experiences in this class.

Nervous, Circulatory and Digestive Systems

Today, we explored a number of systems. We began by palpating the abdominal region in order to gain a better understanding of the organs that lie just beneath the surface. Just below the rib cage in the front, we found the stomach to the left and the liver to the right. You can see how large the liver is in these images. The 23 feet of small intestines in the middle framed by the large intestines the ascend from the right hip, drape across the front of the abdomen and then descend down the left side to run along the sacrum before entering the colon.
On the flip side, we worked in pairs to help one another find our kidneys by placing our hands on either side of the spine at the bottom of the rib cage. Then we traced the path of the ureters as they descended toward the bladder. You can see the organs very well in these images.

We then took a moment to trace one anothers nervous systems from the brain, down the spinal column and then the network of nerves as they branched off the spinal cord. This video above "A Stroke of Insight" talks alot about the right and left hemispheres of the brain in a fantastic tale that you will never forget. Check it out!

We did a little reggae dance of the circulatory system. This video gives a more visual experience of the circulatory system that may expand your understanding.

Finally, we took the Magic School tour of the digestive system. As a group, we walked our way from the mouth through the esophagus to the stomach. We went single file through the small intestine and then became quite dehydrated in the large intestine. Then, we got all bunched upon in the colon until Traci pushed us all out. Splash and bravo! This video above is also a lot of fun.

What learning would you like to integrate from today?

Respiratory System

Exploring the respiratory system. Beginning with the nose, we brought our attention to the air as it moved in and out of our sinuses. We explored the mouth, lips, and tongue and brought our attention to the air as it passes through on its way into the body and its way out of the body. Bringing our attention to the these two spaces and following them to where they meet in the larynx. Continuing further, we enter the trachea and imagining this major airway as it divides into the bronchi and then subdivides into ever smaller and smaller passages.

At the end of these subdivisions, there are alveoli, small grapelike structures where oxygen enters the bloodstream and carbon dioxide is released. Once the blood has been oxygenated, it is then pumped throughout the body.


At the base of the lungs is the diaphragm, a domed shaped muscle that draws air into the body as it moves toward the pelvis. We explored the movement of the diaphragm and the expansion and contraction of the ribcage in a few dance sequences. We explored why we breath rapidly into the upper lungs when startled as well as the calming effect of breathing while allowing the belly to respond as babies do. We tracked the four stages of breath: the inhale, the suspension, the exhale and the suspension that follows.


We also explored a couple of yogic breath practices. The video above gives a demonstration of opposite nostril breathing. The video below offers an example of the fire breathing. At the end of the class, we meditated while focusing and counting the breaths.



What was your experience of the respiratory system?