I'm So Happy: Re-Mapping My Arms
Re-mapping my arms for our AT class was honestly one of my favorite exercises! For the first time in my life, I felt a sense of freedom to move my arms and body as I pleased. My body was in a state of heavenly bliss. It was sensational to finally move freely and be FREE! I was able to give consent to my body to explore bring present in the room and most importantly, being present in the moment. It truly meant so much to me.
My partner Andres use the pinky ball to navigate specific parts of my arm joints and my arms felt awakened. Andres helped me remain centered by speaking words of affirmation to me during the exercise. Usually, my shoulders, arms, and back holds the majority of my tension. Throughout this exercise, I was able to fully trust Andres with letting go of all my tightness and peeling away at the rigidness of my body. At times, the pinky ball felt painful under my collarbone, yet I kept fighting through the pain since I knew the end result will be a positive outcome. The most impressive discovery I made was my arms felt lengthened which brought on a new strength in my body. This newfound strength was beneficial for me in speaking my text without hesitation or overthinking my action in our text circle.
Overall, this exercise correlated with a quote from The Happy Mapping of Arms reading, “When the collarbone comes back to its rest position there will be a feeling of ease, and movement will be available in all directions from that joint.” This quote sums up my reaction to how happy my collarbone was after the exercise. My body was poised and at ease. The movement in my entire body was three dimensional instead of one dimensional. I definitely plan on incorporating this exercise into rehearsals from here on out. Thank you so much Margi for introducing this!
Candace-this exercise has been my favorite so far too. So often when I am performing I feel like I have no idea what to do with my arms and hands. I feel a total disconnect from my body and feel like they are just awkwardly flailing around. Bringing the awareness to the joints (shoulder, elbow) and really feeling the movement occur from that place helped me find that energy reaching out on opposite sides from my arms. And while maintaining the energy through my feet and up the top of my spine I too began to feel that three dimensionality and the ease and freedom that my body has naturally.
ReplyDeleteCandi, I felt the same way about this exercise!! I loved it! I, too, carry a lot of tension in my shoulders and back, and after this exercise I really felt lighter and freer in my body! My arms became longer and looser, and it felt like I could really accomplish anything with my arms and I've never felt that before! Especially so immediately after doing an exercise in class!
ReplyDeleteCandace I love this entry and also that you quoted the Barbara Conable chapter on the arms. Finding a balance of the collar bones on the ribs is so wonderful and freeing. And when on earth would we ever think to take time to do that! It's also lovely that it you began to connect these discoveries to a more fully 3 dimensional self. Thank you for your work.
ReplyDelete