Living Sensationally
By Jennifer Hilton.
“All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.” Martha Graham[/caption]
A while ago, I stopped practicing Nia for a few months. All too soon my body lost touch with living “sensationally.” By that I mean living the way I do when I dance/move – every sensation in my body comes alive! The joy I felt today when I put on my music again and started to move awakened my excitement and fed my inspiration. My skin tingled! My spine became sensuously supple, my whole body flexible and agile. I could feel muscles gliding over bone in my neck and my arms felt strong. I could sense the spaces in between the joints. Even my throat loosened and I could hear myself sighing with pleasure. Out loud I said, “My body loves this!” I danced for about an hour. Every now and then I closed my eyes, feeling my heart, brain and body singing in tune. Bright and sparkling ideas came to me, even though I wasn’t conscious of thinking.
For days previous to this, I had been ruminating on an upcoming project, one I believed required lots of “brain-power.” I chewed on what I thought I might face, reading and reflecting. But here I was moving “sensationally,” and the ideas were flowing fast! I wanted to stop and write them down but knew if I did, it would interrupt the joy and pleasure I was feeling.
By stepping into physical movement, I believe I created a different kind of thinking/working space. The result was enlightening. Later, as I considered the project and began my sitting-down work, I felt more settled and ready for action. I moved easily through my “to do” list for the day. This may be the norm for many who exercise and “feel the high” but I began to think beyond that, about the realtime benefits, and what I have come to think of as “INTENTIONAL SENSATIONAL LIVING”.
When I first showed up at The Haven, I had no idea what a bodily sensation was. I couldn’t define how I felt “in my body.” It was there, through many programs, including Come Alive and the Living Alive Phase programs, that I was introduced to concepts and integrated experiences that led me to being more body-aware and “sensationally” alive.In Nia, I have discovered the five sensations of movement: strength, stability, mobility, agility and flexibility. Integrating these is my practice, not only in movement but in relationships and how I work. I now believe that integration happens in “moments of movement” and intentionally being in touch with my senses. To quote Martha Graham, renowned dancer and choreographer,
All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.
What if we all intentionally came alive to our senses and moved through life in all the realms of our being: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual? Imagine the sensational possibilities!
