Wind at my back conversations
Welcoming you to a series of stories, reflections, and quotes for discussion.
Wind at my back: I was surprised by my newly developed autonomy early one morning near the ocean. The rising sun found me at the edge of a magnificent cliff above the turbulent Oregon coast. The waves were roaring below, and the wind was strong at my back. Sinking into my practice of the Peking Yang style 24, absorbed in the nuances of balancing in the wind amongst the big rocks, the taiji form began to unfold. Stepping out with a line of “cloud hands” curving towards a “grasp bird’s tail”, I was able to continue my practice that early morning hour. Brush strokes of cold air enlivened my senses as I leaned into the edge of the wind. My awareness grew, steady on my feet, meeting each moment as it appeared,
"A kinetic intelligence is forging its way in the world, shaping and being shaped by the developing dynamic patterns in which it is living. Thus again we see that possibilities at any given moment do not stand out as so many recourses of action; possibilities are adumbrated in the immediacy of the evolving situation itself, a situation that moment by moment opens up a certain world and certain kinetic ways of being in that world. "— Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, The Primacy of Movement (expanded 2nd edition), 424. (emphasis KH)
With that early morning practice by the ocean, I found my "potent self", a term used by Moshé Feldenkrais. A potent self cultivates 'reversibility' as we know from Taiji practice. Being in tune with 'reversibility' leads to 'expanding horizons of understanding' and 'thinking in movement' which will be themes for further discussion.
Note:
The unusual word adumbrate can refer to “a process in learning to perceive that specifies how a perception is created through moving and attending” (Tolja & Speciani, p. 58). A dictionary may define the word adumbrate as "overshadowed."
References: ` Feldenkrais, M. The Potent Self. Frog LTC/North Atlantic Books, (1985).
` Sheets-Johnstone, M. Primacy of Movement (expanded 2nd edition). Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, (2011) ` Tolja, J. & Speciani, F. “Body Thinking,” Feldenkrais Journal Vol. 24, (2011): 58.
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Wind at my back conversations ©Katarina Halm Nov 23, 2024