In a recent survey of my students, I was pleased that one of the responses regarding what they particularly enjoy in my teaching is the imagery. One student noted:
“I love the food analogies and the language choices. The imagery really resonates.”
Hi, this is Blythe Stephens of A Blythe Coach: dance education & coaching to move through life with balance, grace, & power. This podcast includes bite-sized insights on ballet, dance, yoga, well-being, creativity, and joy! In this weekly series, I have been discussing resources for being present in the body, creating, and connecting with self and others.
Another resource I find incredibly useful in my dance, choreography, teaching and yoga practices, is the deliciousness of exploring visualization. Along with a solid technical foundation, imagery helps bring lush texture, and diverse qualities to movement, developing artistry. The imagination feeds us as humans and creators.
How important the life of the mind is to us these days, and any time we can’t explore the outside world as much as we might like or when we need to become present to our internal landscape. As mindfulness teacher Dandapani has stated, “Visualization is a big part of a meditation practice.”
As my aforementioned student noted, I use a lot of yummy food images in my teaching, like melty cheese fondu, smooth cake frosting, thick milkshakes, and gooey peanut butter. We also talk about weather patterns, physical elements and forces, electrical currents, and the magnificence of nature.
This week I’ve been sharing a poem I recently discovered and have found personally inspiring, called Fragile and Rooted, by Carolyn S. Owen-Towle:
“See a blossom in your mind’s eye.
Allow it to fill the interior of your
imagination.
Greater perfection of form in
Nature cannot be imagined.
With inward gaze absorb each
Wondrous fluted petal.
Slide down its humid surface
Until you drop as dew into
Its velvety core.
Such fragile beauty gives impulse
to weep.
Slowly reverse the journey;
As you ascend the shaft toward
Wider light, turn your
Imagination around and around
To see its many facets.
Stored within is the memory of
All flowers.
Marvel that this creation, while
Utterly fragile--yet undaunted,
Boldly buds forth turning
Resolutely toward the sun.
We, too, shimmer with
Expectation, exuding our own
Illumination, color, pulse, and
Scent.
Vulnerable, still we venture our
Lives courageously toward hope
And light, at once fragile and
Rooted.”
I hope that you enjoy this poem as I did, and if you’d like to explore these images in your yoga practice, you’re invited to try the free yoga sequence on the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel, which was filmed and uploaded May 28, 2020. To learn more about my approach to dance, education, and life, to join a yoga or dance class, and for many more free tools, visit my website at ablythecoach.com
A Blythe Coach: Blythe Stephens
Dance Education & Coaching to move through life with balance, grace, & power
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