12/07/2020
How are you feeling?
This is how I greet each student before we begin a session. And I actually, really want to know...
I’ve been reading .brackett ‘s book, Permission to Feel. In it, he profoundly points out that we ask this question to others and also respond to this question countless times a day, without answering in any meaningful way. Ironic isn’t it?
Brackett says “If we don’t express our emotions, they pile up like a debt that will eventually come due.”
In my years of teaching almost every possible body type, elders, teenagers, children, I have found this to be true. “The body keeps score” is what my teacher once told me.
While you can come see me at my studio or online and respond “Good! Just busy!” to this question, I’m sorry to say that I can see resistance or protectiveness when you move. Or I can also see the way you use your movement to release and find joy. Students know that when they see me, they are going to be asked to be extremely introspective. I feel it’s my job, above all else, to help you really answer that question through movement. I teach teachers and students to identify movement patterns that don’t serve them well, offer ways to change them and then learn to strengthen your body to reinforce new, healthier patterns.
With that, today I ask you: “How are you feeling?” Be honest with yourself, or at the very least, take a breath and give yourself a moment to try to answer the question honestly to yourself or a friend.
