By Heather Mulhern
I feel that movement is good and necessary for the body. Though it is movement with feedback that keeps us in tune and running well on all cylinders.
Our egos are clever and cunning and know how to deceive us. In Joan’s class last week I went into a myth and in a split second, I was gone and disassociated. It was with Joan’s feedback that I was even aware of what happened and was then able to trace what was going on. I am learning that it usually occurs with a thought. And it is not the thought that causes it all to happen. It is when I go to explore a thought that my ego slides underneath and goes to work. So until recently when Joan would ask me, “What did you just feel?” I honestly did not know. Now I am beginning to be aware of these subtle shifts and name them.
Without feedback, we can be in myths and lose grounding but still think we are doing great. Better yet, we can be in suffering and pain, but our egos tell us that we can manage on our own so suffering and pain continue. And it is my experience in one of these downward spiral experiences that the ego film becomes so thick, you lose yourself in the fog and the story is now your reality- good luck getting out of that alone.
I saw a video of myself 8 years ago. I noticed how long my hair was and made a comment, “Wow, look how long my hair was.” Funny thing was, I looked in the mirror later that day to realize my hair was still that long. However, it looks very different and much better now.
Basking in the liking of my long hair, of course, I receive a reminder for a previously scheduled haircut appointment. I almost cancelled it then decided, nah, I will go anyway. When I went to the stylist I shared with her about seeing myself 8 years ago and that while my hair was the same length it is now, it didn’t look as good and I attributed it to her cut. The next thing she said to me resonated on so many levels.
She replied, “Well, yes, and, you do good hair maintenance. Most people with long hair let it go and think they don’t need to come in for trims or cuts. You come often enough and maintain your hair. You do good hair maintenance.”
As we have all heard the famous and oh, so true “How you do anything is how you do everything” Well, movement and feedback are just like my hair maintenance analogy. We can do lots of movement during our days, though without some feedback or regular feedback maintenance, our beings get a little clouded and muddied with stories as my long hair got stringy and ragged without regular hair maintenance.
The kicker about putting off the Movement Feedback maintenance appointments is that our egos are so slick and sneaky. With great subtlety, they adjust ever-so-slightly so you feel on top of your game when, in fact, you are walking down the street at a full 30 degree tilt to the right. Even looking into a store front window as you pass by does not reveal the distortion of your movement. It takes a community of like -minded individuals or a committed instructor to relay feedback in a way that is receivable through the ego’s filters for shifts to occur and grounding in the body to maintain.
All this to share, I invite you to come to a movement class for a little maintenance or trim. Drop in on us. Stay a while.
A cut and blow-dry can do wonders for the soul. Coming more than once a month for some movement and feedback is like using a cream rinse and having a hand massage while you let it set in.
Nourish your soul and love your body.
Keep movin’, stay in the field, and love the space!
About author: Heather Mulhern was a student of the late Karl Wolfe. She has been pivotal in keeping the Karl Wolfe community together since his passing in 2018. Heather is currently taking Joan’s classes and has great insight to share.