Movement Moves

I’ve always loved to dance and move my body, though I’ve never been particularly "good" at dancing in a technical sense. I dropped out of ballet after a few months and I never made it into any dance teams or performing groups beyond middle school. As a child, I fumbled with choreography and always felt like I didn’t know enough and did not have the right body to excel in something that brought me a lot of joy. 

Yet dance would not leave me alone. I couldn’t help but dance. And through many moves across the country, one of my anchors was finding a dance class where I was. I always found community. I always found an outlet for my energy and emotions. It was only years later that I understood more about how dance was supporting my nervous system and mental health. How moving my arms wildly and my hips in rhythm brought me a sense of grounding and peace in part because dance opened my diaphragm and engaged both hemispheres of my brain. At the time, I just knew that I liked it.

When I was in some of the darkest moments of my life in 2017, I did not want to move. I felt that I could not do enough, that I was inadequate to meet that round of Trump's political horrors. My thoughts made me feel stagnant and disembodied. The joy of music and community were suddenly overwhelming to me. I did not know what actions to take in the face of so much violence and fear, nor how to come back into my body—I did not know how to move myself.

After months of feeling stuck, a phrase came to me: movement moves. It was so simple, but also a revelation. Over time, this mantra got me out of bed and on walks. And with more time, it got me to a dance class that I really didn’t want to go to and honestly would often not even enjoy in the moment. Yet, over months, movement led to more movement, of my body, of my emotions, and of my thought patterns. 

Moving together can support us in navigating the world with more presence and less reactivity. We are in a moment where activation is being manipulated and preyed upon, as we are flooded with constant inputs from social media and the news, and an administration that is (once again) using chaos and destabilization as a tactic. In our current reality, coming back into our bodies can be a political act and can support us to take action towards what we long for. 

In a session of Movement Sustainability last month, we explored balance and destabilization in our bodies. Standing on one leg, we worked to simultaneously throw ourselves off balance while trying to keep ourselves on balance. We discovered that balance is never a fixed state. We are always in the process of finding balance. Sometimes this is a micro movement. Sometimes it means falling on the floor and slowly coming to standing again. In Movement Sustainability, we get to practice in a contained environment what we may be experiencing in our daily lives. Through our bodies, we glean insight that can bring more awareness to our disorientation, our strength, our curiosity, our joy and our breath in different aspects of our lives. 

The next six-week session of Movement Sustainability starts in two weeks. We will meet on Wednesdays at 8 am PST/11 am EST for an hour. Sign up here and please reach out with any questions!

What people are saying about Movement Sustainability: 

"Willa provides structure, presence, and containment while inviting exploration in liberatory movement. In her classes, I have had access to a wellspring deep inside while remaining connected to the community space she weaves with humor and compassion. This movement series really has been the bright spot in my week this winter!” - A.

“A beautiful space to come as you are. I loved the variety of movements and intentional building upon deeper themes related to navigating the times we are in. Felt like a way to tune the instrument that is the body and insights I had rippled well beyond the hour we spent together.” - T.

“Everything that happens happens in our bodies. Everything we feel, say, think, risk, every connection we ever have is experienced there. Our bodies are the expression and container of our lives. The tissue and muscles that can hold on to a trauma can also learn to dance, can live out a vision, can pick up a habit, can grow and age. It’s through our bodies that we experience and engage life, and it’s in our bodies that we heal.” - Prentis Hemphill, What it Takes to Heal

FAQ: 

Movement over zoom? Isn’t that so 2020? 

I know for some people, moving over zoom brings back memories of our whole lives moving over to the internet in 2020. So why still do it? After 5 years I continue to practice over zoom and find there is something powerful about moving in my own space and physically by myself that creates a sense of safety and experimentation that I value. It has made movement more accessible to me and deepened my personal practice because I don’t feel I need to go somewhere else to be able to move my body. And I appreciate that zoom makes it accessible for those seeking safe(r) ways to move through ongoing illness, and I love being able to move with people across the world for an hour a week 😊. 

Do I have to attend all sessions? 

No! You can drop into one or all sessions. Just indicate on the form which you plan to attend. 

This time doesn’t work for me but I’m interested! Could you do it at another time? 

Let me know what would work for you! I am working across different time zones, with people with different obligations at different times of day. I am open to experimenting with times and days, so any feedback on this is very valuable to me! 

Will you be offering this in person? 

I would love to offer some classes in person and am looking into offering some pop ups this Spring and perhaps an in person series in the Fall in New Orleans.