Introduction by Andrea Olsen

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Introduction

Greetings, I’m Andrea Olsen, and I am delighted to share these seven movement explorations with you, developed with my colleague Caryn McHose.

Relationship is a theme of our time: relationship to body, to place, and to global community. This series of short films offers resources for ease in the body by restoring inherent flow, our birthright.  They are for anyone with curiosity about living more consciously.

Two underlying concepts inform this work: Body is earth. Our bones, breath and blood are the minerals, air and water inside us. When you arrive in a new place, in just a few days the 70% of your body that is water is now from that watershed. The local eggs, milk, and greens that you eat shape your muscles and bones. Humans are nature too, not separate but same.  

The second concept is that dance — and movement — are essential ways to experience this interconnectedness. Rather than superficial, peripheral, or extraneous, movement is central, essential, and core to what it means to be human in this time. Bodies have intrinsic intelligence formed from over three billion years of evolutionary history—since the origins of the first cell. Rather than seeking control over the body and the places we inhabit, we develop practices for deep attending.

To explore these concepts experientially, we begin with our feet. In Day 1 we orient to weight and to space and practice arriving. Day 2 we refresh fluidity, followed by Day 3 investigating breath and voice. In session 4 we remap verticality, and in Day 5, we explore the process of perception remembering how orientation and perception underlie every movement we make. In Day 6 we focus on balancing the nervous system. And finally in Day 7 we apply all these resources to embracing mystery, meeting the uncertainty and challenges of our days more consciously and with more spontaneous joy.

These seven movement explorations can be done individually, part-by-part, or linked for an hour-long practice. The verbal cues are meant as invitations, not commands. Follow what captures your imagination, finding your own inroad to embodied awareness.

You’ll need a space to move in that feels private enough for focused concentration, a yoga mat or other clean surface, and comfortable clothing. It’s helpful if you have a writing journal to reflect on the process. You can work alone or with a group, as we enter this journey together.