For those of you interested in extra credit, you can revisit the authentic movement exercises we did at the beginning of the class on your own. Studios at the IMA are often empty and so beautiful. You can re read the postings on authentic movement to refresh your memories of how it works. Afterward, post your written responses to this entry.Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Authentic Movement Extra Credit
For those of you interested in extra credit, you can revisit the authentic movement exercises we did at the beginning of the class on your own. Studios at the IMA are often empty and so beautiful. You can re read the postings on authentic movement to refresh your memories of how it works. Afterward, post your written responses to this entry.
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Felicia and I met at the IMA to further explore out bodies movements. As
suggested in class, we decided to meet and do a thirty-minute authentic movement
exercise. Felicia acted as the mover first and then I also acted as a mover for
thirty-minutes. It was interesting acting as a witness outside of class, because
I felt that we were both instantly more comfortable not moving in front of a
group of people. I noticed that Felicia seemed very sore and that she was tired
from traveling. When it was my turn to be the over, I felt a lot less conscious
of my body then I had in previous exercises. Right away, my body felt free from
my mind. I was able to move both on the ground as well as standing. I class, I
was having trouble feeling comfortable enough to move on me feet. I fee that by
doing this practice for a longer period of time was very rewarding for me. I was
able to relax and really enjoy the exercise. Kristen Shapton
I came back from Atlanta on Sunday February 8 feeling completely exhausted. I had slept for a total of only 2 hours between Wednesday and Sunday, so my body's automatic response was to fall asleep on the plane. The sleep felt great, but my neck, shoulder, and back were extremely sore! The following day, I called Kristen Shapton to find out what I had missed in class on Thursday February 5. As we were talking about this class, I suddenly remembered about Authentic Movement and the idea of listening and moving according to the sensations within our body. Kristen and I then went to the IMA together and found an empty studio. I decided to be the mover first, while Kristen was the witness. I definitely felt a lot more comfortable listening to my body than I did when we explored this exercise in class. I think it was because I knew I didn't have 15 other people watching me move. Anyways, in the beginning, I was simply stretching and rubbing my body on the floor, but after a while, I started to really pay attention to the soreness that I was feeling. I extended my head/neck and held that position for a while. Then, I rotated my shoulders back and forth to ease the muscle pain that I was feeling. And I also assumed the child pose for a few minutes to stretch out my sore back. At the end of my 30-minute session, I felt so much better. My body was more limber, and my muscles didn't feel excruciatingly sore anymore. I also had a great experience being the witness. Kristen and I have been friends before this class, and I know that she was a little bit shy when she had to be the mover in class. However, when we did Authentic Movement on Monday, she was definitely more comfortable. I could tell that she really listened to the sensations in her body and what they were telling her to do. By the end of her 30 minute session, she was standing up and moving almost every part of her body.
-Felicia Widjaja
Out of all the types of movement that we have studied thus far this quarter, Authentic Movement has by far been the most challenging for me. I don’t know if it’s because it’s hard for me to let go of my inhibitions or that I have a hard time trusting my body. It could be a combination of both.
But one thing that I did realize is that each time that I performed the exercise it got a little better each time. I kind of have to be in the zone. I close off the world and just try hard to listen to my surroundings.
I didn’t have anyone one to witness me conduct the exercise. That could partially be part of the reason why it seemed easier for me. I danced in the upstairs studio in the IMA. The sun was shinning through the windows and it felt good against my skin. I danced towards the light. The floor was cold and was a great opposition from the warm sun.
Not having anyone to witness me opened up a new door for me. It allowed for me to truly be free and not be scared. A major part of the exercise requires that there be a witness. I think now after practicing this technique if I were to do it again I would feel more comfortable with a witness present.
-Jasmine Boado
I dragged one of my friend to the IMA ans we looked for the room that were open but all the studios were occupied by classes and we finally found the archary room. This room did not have mirrors but the floor and the wall were covered with sponge type of thing so it was very comfortable. I asked my friend to travel first not explaning what exactly what we are doing. She traveled and I told her how she moves her body etc. After we switched back and forth and did the neck and spine exercise. It was still bit confusing for me so I had it written down from the blog. After following the directions, it was amazing to feel the tension from my partner when she was only thinking to move but do not actually move. It still seems that my partner does not really feel the tension from me when I only thought about it but it was interesting to feel her tension. After these activity, we just traveled around the room trying to straighten our spine for like 5min. It was hard to do as time goes but we both felt our body is healing to be in right way, all strighten up. I had great time exercising with a person whom I am very comfortable with. I learned more and I felt much much better than when we did it in the class. It was also very interesting to work with my friend who did not have any idea about this. She said she wants to take this class if this is ever offered again. She must be as comfortable as I was doing these alexander tech. It was definately worth to take moment to do the exercise in outside of the class.
After noticing such an improvement from my previous authentic movement exercise outside of class, I decided to do another one. This time, I met with my mom at her gym in one of the studios to do the exercise. My mom is very experienced in both yoga and pilates and was fasinated with this exercise. After each class, I have been telling her what we have been doing and she really wanted to participate. I acted first as the witness. Right away, my mom was comfortable and doing many slow movements on the floor. I was amazed to see how instantly comfortable she was with this exercise. When it was my turn to act as the mover, I was inspired by my mom and wanted to blow her away. I instantly began moving while standing and felt very connected with my body, In the past, while doing this exercise, I would always start with floor movements. I think I was able to feel more comfortable because my mom was there and because of how close we are.
1. The authentic movement exercise has been a great growing and learning experience for me, helping me to better understand my body. Before coming to this class, I was never fully comfortable with my body movements. I have practice yoga and Pilates but cheerleading has been my only creative movement outlet. Considering this, I have never been a dancer because I am very self-conscious. This time when acting as a witness, I felt that I was able to express my emotions from within with my movements. I felt like I was able to let go of my previous insecurities. I was able to freely move my body and it felt really good. Until I was the witness. This experience, I realized that although I was able to move much more comfortably, my movements were still somewhat choreographed. I was not able to realize this until I saw my partner’s movements. Kristen Shapton
2. For this authentic movement exercise, I brought my friend Maddy to the IMA with me to do the exercise. Maddy, is very athletic and is on the UW volleyball team, however she has never practiced authentic movement or even heard of it. After explaining to her what were going to do, she decided to act as the mover first and have me be the witness. She wanted to fully experience the authentic movement on her own without seeing how I acted first as the mover. As a mover, she was very comfortable with her movements. She was able to move across the room both standing and on the ground. Although she was able to freely move, I noticed that she was still letting her mind have control over her movements. When it was my turn to be the mover, I had a lot of trouble freeing my mind. I was stressed out and had a lot on my mind. I mainly stayed on the floor and meditated, in an attempt to free my mind. But by the end of my time, I felt my mind was finally clear and my body was very much relaxed. Next time, I will not do this exercise at the end of the day; I think it is much easier to do it in the morning. --Kristen Shapton
3. After my previous authentic movement experience, I decided to not do the exercise at the end of the day and do it in the morning before my run at the IMA. As a mover, I felt much more relaxed and was able to let my body escape my mind. It felt natural and my movements were free flowing. As a witness, I noticed that Maddy was much more relaxed with her movement and felt a lot more comfortable with the exercise. Maddy told me that when she was the witness, she could see such an improvement form the previous afternoon. We were both much more intoned with our bodies yesterday and were able to enjoy the exercise much more. --Kristen Shapton
This morning, I decided to do a final authentic movement exercise. Since finals are so stress-full, I wanted to be able to relax my mind and body. Today, I was able to feel impulses in my body as a mover that were not connected to my mind. I had a lot of short abrupt movements with my arm and legs, this has never happened before. As a witness, I noticed that my partner was mimicking my movement subconsciously. Being that she went second, I think she had my movements on her memory and her body acted them out. After the exercise, she did not even realize that we were doing such similar movements. -Kristen Shapton
Before the last day of classes, Lindsey and met to move together. This was quite an awesome experience, to add to the courses end. We each moved for around ten minutes. At the end of our movement, we then shared with one another a little about our experience: our time witnessing, and our time moving. This was powerful.
Lindsey began moving, and through her movement I noticed how able I was to sink into a space of appreciation and reflection. I was really able to be still, and thoughtfully encourage her to move in an expressive and authentic way. I found myself sending positive thoughts to her, and dropping into a space of real compassion.
I saw that in ten minutes, of witnessing, and then moving, I was able to drop deep into my emotional and physical body.
I felt that this time was super beneficial for me to reflect on what I had learned in the class. I noticed how easily I accessed my authentic self, especially in the presence of a positive and loving witness. After moving, we closed. Lindsey's feedback on my movement was really helpful for me. The words allowed her to reflect on her experience and perception of the dance; they also let me see how my movement was conveyed to a witness: what comes across? It was super interesting to hear that some of my movement was very emotive and patterned, something that I hadn't picked up on myself. It was nice to have this exercise on the last day of class because it integrated what I found to be the most powerful aspect of class with my own commitment to the body and its healing.
My friend Leah, who I've been bragging to about my experiences in this class, agreed to an authentic movement seance in the IMA ballroom by the girls locker room. My experience started with explaining and interpreting to her what I understood authentic movement to be. After a first attempt at trying to convey to her how healing I thought this practice had the potential to be, I went back to the readings for authentic movement to collect further evidence. I tried to put her at ease with spending a long time being watched doing practically anything, it was surprisingly easy to do. I think that when we were alone in the ballroom with the doors closed, there wasn't much pressure from the both of us. I liked having this experience with a good friend, I felt at ease and even able to communicate things to her I wasn't able to with words and eye contact.
I was the mover first. at first, as I always have with my authentic movement experiences, I felt a little bit of nerves and maybe panic, but I calmed down and laid still. This final try, I had the time to focus on me, focus on the witness, and focus on the environment I was in. I think during class I have always had a feeling that I needed to rush out all of my movements, everything I thought my body needed to do in a short time period of time. This time, being the mover, I felt more peace and closer.
As the witness, I'm still struggling a little bit. I focused on Leah, but I always found myself thinking about what she was doing, putting thoughts in her head. I assumed I knew what the experience was for her, and I don't. I had to refocus on her and not my idea of her. This has made me reflect on my communication and understanding of others, and in addition to being a healing experience, through authentic movement my body has revealed to me feelings, experiences and sensations I need to attend to.
-Eugenia Prezhdo
I’ve decided to take a break from the intensive studying for finals. Finals week has made my body tensed up and I haven’t reserved anytime to relax or stretch. This morning, Shirley, a good friend of mine and I plan to dedicate one hour to relieve mind at the IMA. Shirley is not in our class but she is a regular student at the IMA and highly interested at trying this exercise.
I find it difficult now that class is over to find spear time to focus on finding the connection with the body and mind. We practiced the authentic movement exercise; I was the first one to move as Shirley was the first to observe. Since we had the studio to ourselves, we both found it difficult to stay serious and not giggle in the beginning. In the first 10mins, I found it so hard to relax since I am still worried about final. I spent most of the time on the ground to stretch all body muscles. It felt extremely rejuvenating after this exercise was over. Shirley commented on the stiffness of my body in the beginning and how it loosens towards the end.
-qmln
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