From the previous post… Once the matrix is revealed, it cannot be un-revealed.

Though only the part of the matrix on which I was focused. The exciting news in that is all of the discoveries I still have yet to uncover!

Alright so my knees are saying disagreeable things to me these days during routine practice turns.

I could take the turns out of the choreography.  It is an option. If I had to come to a complete stop from the pain of turning I would take them out as I figured out how to put them back in.

In other words, I would take them out as I moved through my matrix, in the how – in my how.

Being in the matrix offers me the possibility of seeing the reversibility of a move. I’m not talking about doing a move backwards but more of an unwinding and rewinding; slowing it further or stopping it altogether at any point in its flow to get a better view. Being able to realize the reversibility of a move can give me far greater ease and understanding of the move and how I execute the move.

Slowing down enough to get a look into the matrix also allows me to create alternatives.  An alternative might be timing changes while maintaining the shape of the original move. That may mean slowing the entire move down or placing inflections in specific points within the move. For example, in a turn the original timing is 1-2-3-4. An added inflection might change the timing like this: 1-and2-3-and4 with the “and” representing a brief pause or even a breath.

Another alternative, option or variation would be to explore the move in reverse or doing it backwards. Turning in reverse, for example, frequently relieves the stress I sense in my knees from the forward motion.

Slowing down what I do gives my nervous system a better chance of ‘hearing’ the details of how I do.

Not only does this process benefit me but it also benefits my students. I get alternatives that help me heal. My students get variety that can take them more deeply into their experience if they so choose.

What may look like limits can also look, at second glance, more like liberation. Instead of locking myself up in a prison checklist of what I can’t or shouldn’t do; instead of reducing my movement options,

My students get more to play with.

I get to break through barriers…