I move. When I am locked in thought and don't know what to do next, I move. When I am making big decisions about work and life, I move, and then move some more.
I...
shake
wiggle
stretch
jump
slide
walk, walk, walk
turn
hug
lift
hold
run
roll
reach
curl
open
close
extend
swirl
tip
shift
cross
walk, walk, walk
kick
stomp
swivel
arch
lay
and rest. I do so I can do some more. I envelop myself in actual doing so the question of, "Do I write to that person?" or, "Can I make this new project work for myself?" becomes less rigid and more fluid. And when I move my questions, doing my do, I start to hear an answering that I know I can trust.
I am particularly aware of this way of mine and wanting to share it with you because I am making bigger than usual decisions lately. I am opening myself up more and more to the magic of the universe, as someone said to me. I am choosing to expand in more directions, both internally and externally, than I am used to and take in more opportunity. I am going out on a limb, and the metaphor feels real - that little bird in me taking a step to move out onto the limb of a tree so she might see better and fly a little straighter.
When I wanted to decide on some big things recently, I realized I needed to make a dance to really know what my decisions need to be. I need to plant the questions into a space where there is nothing but space and quiet and room to move. And with the consistency of coming to a space each week to move and build something from the movement, I know I will find the next steps for myself. The answering is in the dance/ing for me, in not simply moving but building a form I can reflect back on, repeat and articulate through.
So what I do when I don't know what to do is move. And sometimes I need to build that movement into a moving structure (a dance) so the answering I'm finding sticks around for a while and I can have a conversation with it.
And based on my time this weekend in a workshop about yoga, nonviolent communication and neuroscience (I plan to share more about it here on my blog later this week), I understand a little more about why this works. If I want to get scientific about it, I am activating the right hemisphere of my brain when I move and giving the left hemisphere, which is in charge of logic, rational thinking, a chance to bask in the glow of its right brain beauty.
And what is remarkable about the right hemisphere of the brain, according to the research shared with me this weekend, is that it is actually responsible for bigger picture, visionary thinking and decision making. So while the left hemisphere is working away at the small decisions day to day, it's the right brain beauty I really need to nurture when stepping out on that limb and choosing to expand into what lies ahead.
Move. Your body-brain knows what to do by doing.
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{Photos by © Ryan Bourque, 2012}
