Perpetual Motion

by Atma O’ Meara

If you think about it, life is a state of perpetual motion from cradle to grave. All of life involves movement to some degree or other. If movement stops, life stops. My personal experience of movement began at the tender age of six, when I had my first ballet class. It must have ignited a certain longing within me, as many decades later, I’m still dancing, albeit slower and more dignified!

When the mind is focused on movement, it offers a feast of potential: all of athletics, martial arts, tai chi, yoga, Pilates, as well as many dance forms. Most, if not all of them, require training and steady practice. We might even want to become teachers. And perhaps that is when we fully focus on the healing potential of our body’s ability to heal itself through movement.

Who of you loved Anja’s Movement Medicine sessions? I couldn’t wait for the last Thursday of the month. Through appropriate music you can physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually move as your body guides you. After two hours of pure dance, you feel amazing and much the lighter for it!

Yoga is and must be a total mind/body/soul experience, requiring us to go within, for that’s where the answers to our life questions dwell. Pilates WORKS which is why it’s so popular! Many types of breathwork - they work too. These days we’re hearing a lot about The vagus nerve and how to reset it, and my goodness, don’t we need that too? For me it’s exciting to work with the polarities (two sides of the coin), Yin and Yang, light and dark, male and female, and find the merit of having access to both through focused somatic movement.

Being in a quiet place of inner harmony and flow is a great gift of discovery. Most importantly we’re reminded that: ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it’. It’s a fact. I’ve discovered that it’s definitely not healthy to binge on Netflix over a weekend!

We’re left with the realisation that when we care enough about ourselves and take action, we have more energy, better digestive systems, sleep well, and have a positive attitude towards our circumstances in this topsy-turvy word. At the root of all the above comes the great need to function as a flourishing community, caring and sharing with and for each other. The decision to choose the way we want to move is entirely personal, based on our curiosity, capacity and interest. As we develop an understanding of our bodies and how to care for them, we become more conscious, with clearer vision, enthusiasm and fun. Seems it’s the best way to move forward, don’t you think?