Yoga

yesterday….

i was listening to my local NPR station on my way home from school, and there was this really interesting conversation on.  The moderator was talking with two disabled men from the twin cities about their yoga practice.  Which, yes, how does that work when you are in a wheelchair?  And both men were so eloquent about their yoga process; that it is not about moving the body, but the relationship one has with the body.  And that the body always does what it is supposed to do, but not necessarily what we want it to do.  And here, one might think, were broken bodies, but they are not.  Theirs are bodies that are "moving towards living," just like all bodies.  And I was struck by the grace and dignity of that thought.  

I have been thinking a little about some new work.  I've got three pieces going right now and a couple that need fixes, so it is still a ways off.  But I think this work has been there for a while.  I have always made work about bodies, and in many ways these works are my body.  But I am beginning to think about work that explores the relationship I have with my body;  the one that is "moving towards living."  The body that is doing exactly what it is supposed to do, and the moments where I can accept that.  

Here is a link to one of the on-going stories about Bruce Kramer (one of the men being interviewed) and his life with ALS.  I was only able to hear half of the program yesterday and I look forward to reviewing them all.  I think this will be fertile ground for the next new making.