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June 2010
One of the most intriguing and consistent lines of questioning that arises about BodyMantra pertains to my music selection. How do I find music? How do I make choices about what to put together? Why do I construct playlists the way I do? Though music selection is a passion of mine and many of my music choices stem from personal preference and inspiration, there is a method to my madness when it comes time to plan a playlist for a workshop or a class. And one of my favorite things to play with is the tension between the traditional “bell curve” structure and what I like to term the “double wave” structure.
Most of us are familiar with the notion of the Bell Curve: it starts low on one end, slowly rises to a higher point in the middle, and gradually decreases again toward its end. This curve acts as a guide for many body-centered practices: yoga, traditional fitness classes, weight training, massage, and so on. Our systems are built on this foundation of starting slowly, increasing to our peak potential, and then coming to a resting place – just as we rise from sleep in the morning, go about our day, and then end again with rest. A very worthy structure that I often follow in my classes, with the intention of paralleling this natural tendency in the body.
And yet, my mad scientist is often in the background, waiting to step in and challenge this status quo. To ponder and test the theory that we operate at our best when following the trusty Bell Curve. Over the years, through both witnessing and personal experience, I have come to be intrigued by the power of shaking things up beyond the norm. Pulling us out of our expected trajectories or preferred ruts of being to see what is possible. So, from this mischievous, giggling, hair-on-fire character was birthed the Double Wave.
The seed was first planted in me years ago when I was in a yoga class that did this very thing. We started slowly, ever-so-slowly. It was delicious. Time stopped. We moved gently and graciously into a more rigorous practice, and were sweating and breathing with intensity and intention before we knew it. At the point when my body was feeling just a little tired and a touch of strain, the instructor invited us back to the gooey, slow place where we started. It took a bit for my system to adjust. To slow my breathing, to allow the internal churning to speak through more stillness, rather than momentum, and to watch my tendency to want to stay in the heightened state of “more and faster.” Once my body settled into this rhythm again, we moved again into another round of more demanding postures and what I experienced was nothing short of miraculous: my body was able to find openings and new ways of approaching the postures that I had never experienced when in a class following the traditional Bell Curve.
And so my theory of the Double Wave was born and has been deepening now for a number of years. The theory being that a properly-varied somatic practice can invite us into layers of our being – both physical and spiritual – that would not otherwise be accessed if we were working within the predictable parameters of the Bell Curve. Now, certainly, we don’t want to constantly jar the body and pull it from one extreme to another. But rather construct a curious set of soundscapes that veer just enough off the traditional pathways to get our attention. Coaxing the body into unexpected places of discovery and revelation because we decided to take a different route on the map. By crafting a varying blend of higher-intensity experience – which allows the mind to quiet down and the body’s wisdom to take charge more easily – and slower, more still experience – which allows us to more carefully track what the body is learning through movement – we are creating the potential for moving beyond The Predictable and into The Possible.
It’s very much like taking an upward-spiraling staircase: we take a certain number of steps upward, pausing periodically to catch our breath and take stock of where we are on the journey. This luxury of stopping along the way allows us to fully appreciate how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go. And so it is in the dance. As we embrace multiple waves of experience, we support ourselves to listen amidst our unwinding, to reflect and access as-yet untapped body messages and awareness.
And so I offer the notion of the Double Wave as another lens through which to peer on your body journey. To consider how this format can bring you to places within yourself that you were unaware of and invite a fresh perspective. But don’t be surprised on the days when the grand ol’ Bell Curve blows gently through a BodyMantra class – she is still a worthy and welcome guide on our travels!
