Movements Start with movement
Counterbalances work best when we can feel ourselves and our partner in space, and slowly calibrate to share the weight. (Image: Sirus holding Becky Miller in a neck-supported counterbalance. Courtesy of Monika Kolb Photography)
Your Physical Movements are the Key to Unlocking Political Movement
Physical training and physical movement are inherently politicized because bodies are political, but they are themselves the foundation for building a political practice. Political transformation requires hard work, discipline, and commitment. Who knows those patterns better than people who practice physical movement?
Who is a "mover?"
All human beings are fundamentally "movers" — we all have movement patterns with our limbs and appendages, our lungs and heart expand and contract. But when I target my offerings toward "movers," I mean primarily people who have a movement practice. That movement could be anything: walking, running, dance, partner acrobatics, silks, weightlifting, aikido, slacklining, swimming, biking, hiking, rock climbing, yoga... All of these are disciplines of movement, whether they occur in the context of competition or recreation. All of these movements can be honed and expanded, made more efficient or elaborate, refined to a specific technique or adapted with individual creativity and improvisation.
Long-term experience in a movement discipline, and repetitive engagement with its forms and shapes, are the fundaments of learning. No one can run a marathon with record-breaking time on a dime without preparation, even if some have natural gifts; only training, practice, and commitment create change in outcomes. "Movers" are those that practice their discipline(s), whether with goals in mind or simply for the joy of it, and learn by doing. Even though they might not be professionals in a sport, or even particularly high achievers, "movers" embody their learning as they practice, and continue to commit to embodying change with intention.
This practice of embodiment in a movement discipline, I think, is critically important for engaging in politically and socially transformative work. Social change doesn't happen by magic, and doesn't catalyze overnight. Rather, particularly when attempting to upend the status quo, change agents must be prepared for a long-term commitment, showing up with their ideals and values even when new challenges arise or the struggle feels overwhelming.
Movers will be familiar with these feelings: pushing through a plateau in your lifts, continuing to show up at the gym or for a long run even when you feel a little rusty or under-recovered, going to a yoga class to quiet your mind even after a long day of work. Their embodied resilience in physical training is fertile ground for embodying and fomenting social and political change.
Many in movement communities don't even realize this latent power. They are disaffected with political struggle, disheartened by lost electoral battles, and overwhelmed by large-scale crises like climate change, and don't realize that the practice and discipline they bring to their physical hobbies can also unlock the gates to critical political change.
What is a "movement guide?"
Even the most committed movers, the self-starters and the intrinsically motivated, have coaches and cheerleaders, physical therapists and trainers, bodyworkers and healers in their corner. These movement guides are also critical to transformative political and social action. As people who often have years of experience themselves in particular movement disciplines and practices, movement guides occupy a special role in assisting others to experience embodiment and shift their own felt sense of physical practices.
What does this mean? A long-time yoga practitioner may learn to deepen and release into postures purely through experimentation, repetition, and trust in themselves. More often, though, an experienced yoga teacher has offered guidance—whether through verbal cues, physical adjustments, or visual demonstrations—that support and encourage physical outcomes in their students. These types of guidance aren't connected to the embodied feeling of students, but rather are shaped by experience witnessing and holding space for the physical practices of students that have come before, and for the movement guide themselves.
These movers-turned-guides, then, are important links between generations of movers, those with more and less experience. They are also critical conduits of movement lineage and are the embodied containers for so much physical knowledge about how to shape our actions, bodies, and communities.
Movement Guides support embodied action
Guides provide the critical support to help others feel physical change, and shape their physical practice. Movers and movement guides, together, can build embodied political change.
What makes movers and movement guides different?
Both movers and movement guides have that embodied experience of learning and action. This is why all of my services—from physical training through political training and mentorship—are designed with movers in mind. Building on a foundation of practice, whether physical or political, provides much more solid ground than trying to begin a new paradigm from nothing. Physical movement practice keeps you in touch with your body, your sensations, and your physical capacity in ways that complement the commitments that long-term political action require. This embodied practice can make you more receptive to new learnings and experiences in political and social realms, and safeguards you against overextending your boundaries and capacities as you explore ways to connect with and support community.
The complementarity of physical and political training is fundamental to the work that I do and the services I offer. My belief is that the physical informs the political, and vice versa. If you want to start building your physical and political capacity, check out my offerings in acro and handstands, strength training, and political mentorship, or drop me a line to get started.
