the body as a compass

after taking my first modern dance class: reflections on body intelligence, and using the body as a sensing compass

I’ve been thinking a lot about dance — tango, yes, but all forms of dance — and the very idea of body intelligence; the body as the conduit to deeper sensing, the whole concept of “movement is life.”

I didn’t understand what it meant until I attended an exploratory dance class (impromptu, one morning, held in a light filled space with mirrors and white walls), and watched how people were investigating ideas and their very existence not through their minds, but through their sensing bodies. They moved without thinking twice; let their movement take on its own shape and form, live a life of its own.

sensing body vs. thinking mind

Maybe this sounds normal to you. To me, it was radical. I lived my entire life in service of my mind, my left-right brainpower, my linguistic and artistic expressiveness. I perceived the world, first and foremost, through my mind.

But for my the main mode of life to be physical? To prioritize my sensing-body over my thinking mind? This was new to me. This is what they talk about in meditation, in using the body as anchor, in paying attention to the subtle shifts in the body at all times. And it opened so many possibilities— like finding a new sensory input-output in my being.

My body was its own organism, wanting, whispering, speaking to me at every moment. I simply didn’t know to listen.

My body is my home, wherever I go

Two years ago, I wrote a post about joining a gym, and finding a sense of home in my body. Now that I’ve begun my period of indefinite travels, this truth is literal. My body — and my two bags — are the only true homes I have.

While I’ve been gifted with a mind prone to overthinking, overanalyzing, and rapid problem-solving, I’m eager to discover how much more expansive my world can be when prioritizing the experience of my body. Consulting my body as a compass to guide all of my decisions, no matter how big or small. To feel into the essence of being here, physically present. That is when I realize, at a deeper level, perhaps, that I am alive.