pp17d Moving Emotions: Body Movement

2001/10/09 ; last update: 2008_08_29

let Body breathe,
let Body move,
let Body sound.

PAULA
[June 2003: I sculpted a special page on "Paula"]

For the first time Godchannel too advises
to flex the sphincter muscle around the anus,
to facilitate the connection with the Mother and Earth.

Continuation of pp17

In 1983 my sick mother abroad nearly died.
Altzheimer and a chronic bladder-infection.
I brought her to my home to take care of her.

Exactly then a friend read about
"Sphincter Muscles Gymnastics".
An enormous variety of ailments
were said to be treated successfully
and certainly bladder-problems.
"I suggest you learn it yourself,
and then teach your mother!"

My mother did not even recognize me,
leave alone could she learn something,
but I still went to treat and train myself.

What a progression in my own healing!

Body was not ignored  in Co-counseling.
After all, 'discharge' of emotions occurs
with the help of physiological processes.

But to complete my  "toolset for healing",
I needed to learn how  to focus on Body,
how to make Body "the Master-Healer".

I had trained in all kinds of  "body-work",
from Yoga to Alexander to Acupressure.
Each way enriched me with an awareness
of Body's possibilities to feel and to move.

Body-work means manipulation of Body.
But only Body knows  how to heal itself.

A simple cabaret singer, named Paula,
saw herself paralyzed after a delivery.
The doctors' prognosis was "forever".

But Paula recalled her  singing-lessons.
She watched her body and discovered:
They work together - the ring muscles
around eyes, mouth, bladder and anus!
And they work together with breathing.

The sphincter muscles contract,
when we exhale,
they open up, when we inhale.

That is,  if Body and Soul are healthy.
If not,  it works the other way round.
Or muscles work against each other.

If there is no harmony in this system,
 how can Body be whole and healthy?

I was asked to lie down and just blink.
I did so. I opened and closed my eyes
slowly or fast, strongly or just hinting.

For 20 minutes Paula watched Body.
No other muscle followed Eyes' lead.
Body was tense, stuck,  almost dead.

In time I was given many many keys
to stimulate the system's functioning.
I'll intersperse them as this site grows.

One experience made me really get it:
"Cover your eyes with your palms!"
I did it, while Paula turned elsewhere.

After some minutes I felt discomfort.
This discomfort turned into torture!!!
When I could not  bear it any longer,
I called Paula.  She was astonished:

"But why doesn't your body move?
It's supposed to move as it wants!
It's supposed to do what heals it!"

I was shocked.  Was I still the child,
that believed moving was forbidden,
and that obedience was demanded?

Later,  when I suggested  to people,
to cover their eyes with their palms,
I saw, how blessed that ordeal was.
People could lie there, eyes covered
and never feel a need to move at all.

Right now - I'll give Body this gift!

The SAMA'A Dance
continuation of pp17

Paul Klee Dancing from Fear

So far no one succeeded in learning it,
though I taught exactly what I'd read.

When you are sure you want to begin,

 spin around with your hands folded,
  focusing your eyes  on your thumbs.
 When you are tired spinning around,
 stop it but go on focusing your eyes,
  till you sense, you're able to look up.
  If you look too soon, you'll get dizzy.

What I came to understand in time,
was that focusing on one point only
trained me in detaching my seeing!

[see now - on August 29, 2008 - a "scientific" proof,
how piroutting is possible!]

After seven years of daily dancing
- eyes and arms open to the world,
I can spin round hundreds of times.

I dance in the sands of the desert,
 in the small space of public toilets,
 but best on my flat's polished floor.

I dance to music or while sounding.
I move my body in wildest ecstasy,
or slowly, evenly, if I need to think.

Maryam, 2001/12/14

I just discovered this site:
Dancing The Path of Feeling - An Emotional Healing Handbook
[in May 2011 this site no longer exists...]

Chapter 5: Release Techniques
5.2 Movement and Release
"... if the body wants to/needs to move, then get up and move!
It takes some practice to move and emote at the same time,
since many of our bodies have learned
that by making the body absolutely still,
the emotional impact of what we're feeling is lessened.
But the truth is that although the pain is lessened,
it lasts much longer than necessary
because it cannot integrate through movement of energy.
...Although movement may be combined with music in a dance form,
it may also take many other forms...
Rather than trying to decide ahead of time what you are going to do,
take a moment and ask your body what it wants to do,
and DO IT.
It may feel a bit silly at first,
but once you get comfortable you will be surprised
how much your body will communicate its desire for movement with you...
...I laughed as I danced and cried, because it felt so good.

Maryam, 2002/03/17

There it is
- the sound symbol for the peer dance.
and at the entrance
- the sound symbol for the samaa dance.
Why did I attach tangos to both of them?

It's the dance that carries me beyond my mind.
Why is this so?

My classmates went to dance lessons, to parties.
We didn't have the money for the lessons.
And not having learnt to dance, I wasn't invited to parties.

Martin, my fiance loved to dance Tango.
Half an hour, maybe, in his parents' flat,
he taught me how to dance Tango.
Once in a lifetime.
We never had another chance.

That's why I dedicate these two Tango tunes to him.
The boy, who made me lift up my head.
"Look at the women on Ruben's paintings.
Aren't they beautiful?"

I never danced Tango with any other man.
But I dance Samaa to Tango tunes "all-one".
And Tango tunes will still be moving my soul,
 once Time will be right for dancing with peers.

Maryam, 2002/04/22

Dancing with the Mountains
Words & Music by John Denver

Everybodoy's got the the dancin' fever
Everybody'd love to rock and roll
Play it loud and baby play it better
Funky music gotta stretch your soul

Just relax and let the rhythm take you
Don't you be afraid to lose control
If your heart has found some empty spaces
Dancin's just a thing to make you whole

I am one who dances with the mountains
I am one who dances in the wind
I am one who dances on the ocean
My partner's more than pieces more than friends

Were you there the night they lost the lightning
Were you there the day the earth stood still
Did you see the famous and the fighting
Did you hear the prophet tell his tale

We are one when dancing with the mountains
We are one when singing in the wind
We are one when thinking of each other
More than partners much more than pieces more than friends.