WHAT & HOW
Articulating WHAT I do and HOW I do it in the written word is challenging as what I teach is physical sensation, something that has no traditional verbal language of its own.
But alas, over the last 11 years, I have developed a detailed and vast verbal world in the endless pursuit of translating physical sensations from my body to my client’s bodies, with the aim of facilitating a more coherent, integrated and effective way of moving.
WHAT I teach is resistance training, powerlifting, bodyweight strength (think push ups, chin ups, single leg squats, handstands, ring work), dance and the mobility to complement these modalities, but its HOW I weave my words and articulate my body that transmits swiftly and creates real physical change in the bodies and minds of the people I work with.
The WHAT is of course needed, you want to be engaging with movements and programs that suit your current ability level, interests and goals, but…and this is a HUUUUUUGE BUT…HOW you execute said movements surpasses WHAT those movements are nearly all of the time, it is imperative and where the magic happens, and it is where a lot of passion and dedication lies, I have a lot of passion course through my veins.
The WHAT gets a lot of attention, “What exercises should I do for that?” ‘Deadlifts are dangerous” “I have been doing those but they don’t work” “I have been doing this for a long time, I know how to do it, but I still get back pain” “I Bench Deadlift Squat X amount” “I’m bored of those, can we do something more interesting?” (all the while being unable to demonstrate a simple movement with efficiency)
The two questions that give me the biggest insights into the experience of this person is, “Show me HOW you do the exercise.” and “Tell me HOW and where you feel it when you do it”.
From here we work together on trouble shooting. I work my HOW magic and I create a space where I ask them to tune into how it FEELS which gives me more clues as to guiding the HOW for them specifically.
As I have been working with the HOW for quite some time now, reoccurring CONCEPTS have emerged. Something I call BODY CONCEPTS, I’m in the early stages of mapping them out in the written word.
This last thought comes from a dance practice called Contact Improvisation, the thought is
“Be interested not interesting”
I have experience this way of thinking as extremely fertile soil that new understandings and physical insights have sprung.
This could be mapped onto The HOW and the WHAT. Interested is exploring the HOW, and I feel is an internal practice of becoming curious of your physical sensation in any given WHAT.
Interesting is exploring the WHAT and I feel is an external practice of collecting ways of moving, very valuable.
Like everything in life we need the right mixture of the two, but as I am seeing an imbalance, I feel and think that the HOW could use more highlighting.
Much love,
N