The Principle of Waves
Experiencing the natural rhythms and flow of liquid movement within the body reminds us of our origins as one-celled life evolving out of the ocean. Liquid movement evokes a cellular memory of growing our human bodies first in an all-enveloping, nurturing liquid environment in the womb. Rhythmic, wave-like movements are inherently organizing, creating coherence in the body as they travel through tissues. We use gentle waves to suggest feelings of weightlessness and continuity, helping the body release tension and reconnect with its innate harmony and grace.
Waves ripple through water, carrying and returning information. What we perceive as the backwash of waves helps us sense what is happening deep within another’s body. Waves remind us that movement is continuous and interconnected, with each ripple informing the next. Waves also provide a rich sensing of the body’s layers: the volatility of movement on the surface, the currents of motion and energy below, and the stillness in the depths. This layered perspective reflects the body’s dynamic complexity and offers a pathway to profound stillness and vivid, effervescent self-awareness.
Movement Explorations on Waves
Contemplation on Waves
“A fluid body holds no dis-ease.”
—Emilie Conrad, Continuum Movement
Book Excerpts on Waves
On the Water
“…we become, for the afternoon, sea creatures ourselves. How light our bodies feel as we lounge against the planks and trail our hands in the water. Ahead is the sandy point of our destination, and between us and it not a single apportioning marker but the wide water’s drowsy lap and slide, its abundance and gleam. We stroll on its surface freely, citizens of the water world. How different from the foot on the stone, the hand opening the gate, the gravel path of the garden, the trudge through loose sand, the heel sticking into the clay of the field! Such weight, on the earth, is on our shoulders: gravity keeping us at home. But on the water we shake off the harness of weight; we glide; we are passengers of a sleek ocean bird with its single white wing filled with wind.”
—excerpted from “Long Life” by Mary Oliver
Explore more.
