Drawing a stick figure, how would you draw the legs?
Yesterday Greg taught a BodyMinded in person workshop. It was a joy to actually meet people in person! Comments like ‘you’re 3 D’, you’re taller/shorter than I expected’ were the greetings as the small number of people met after sharing online workshops this year. (This was post COVID lock down)
The experience was great. I’ve been Greg’s partner for decades and done a lot of workshops! Yesterday reminded me, why I love workshops… people are so interesting. The questions and comments from others really get me thinking.
The comment that has my mind in a marvellous whirl is when we were investigating walking, criss-crossing the space, Greg offering verbal and hands on feedback to people. One participant said something like
‘what about people who have in their mind the legs start from the same place, like how kids draw stick figures’.
This opened up a discussion and practical exploration of how we think about our legs and pelvis really does influence how we co – ordinate and move.
If you were to draw a stick figure, how would you do it? Would there be a pelvis? The legs separate? Or perhaps like some young children the les would be super long? Do you remember seeing children’s drawing when they discover fingers? How big they draw the fingers… big circles often with large circle palms too!
What a practical new way to consider walking – with stick figures!
Of course, Greg went directly to making sure we did know where our legs join our torso, and we found a few people needing to update their ideas. Plenty of personal insights sprinkled across the workshop. One participant realized they had in their mind that the neck and upper back needed to move together all the time – updating this idea was amazing to observe, so much freedom and comfort in moving around.
The ‘classical’ pulling shoulders backwards (and not realising this!) was also re-discovered lurking in my own patterns of moving. Thinking about being forward organised with my arms & back was very helpful. I tell you even after years of study and being very familiar with the principles there is always more to discover.
Group work suits me best. I enjoy watching and learning from other people’s mini lessons. I really love the ideas, comments and perspectives from working in a group. This type of learning asks for a dose of curiosity, join in practical exploration and also gives me time to reflect, rest and process the information without being in the spot light of a private lesson. So for me, I love groups learning.
Which do you prefer? Groups or private lessons?
I hope you now have a think about your legs and where they join your body? Go on… walk on over to the kettle as if you were a stick figure, does it change the way you move?
Kathy Driscoll