This event is part of Walking as a Question, International Walking Arts Encounters Conference held in Prespa, Northern Greece 4-17 July.
Because I cannot attend in person, I am part of the Edinburgh Hub and the event is online.
There is a short introduction to Body Walking online on Tuesday 6 July 9am UK time; 11am Greek time. If you missed this and would like a copy of the presentation, please contact me at tamsinlgrainger@gmail.com or +44 7821264882 (What’s App)
Zoom link for 17 July 1500 (London):
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87604773207
Meeting ID: 876 0477 3207
There are 4 parts to this walkshop and parts 1-3 can be done at anytime in your own locality.
Part 1 is for one person (10 minutes walking, 20 minutes reflection)
Parts 2 and 3 are for 2 people walking together (10 minutes each walking = 20 minutes + 10 minutes reflection)
The final part 4 is an online forum on 17 July at 1500 (UK); 1700 (Greece) and everyone is welcome (1 hour)
Full information and register of interest via email Guidelines below.
These are the questions Body Walking will ask:
How does the rhythm of our walking help us relate to each other?
In what way does our individual pace help us connect with and empathise with others?
Can our manner of walking promote good relations?
What implications might this awareness have?
Part 1
We will identify how we walk using the five Organs of the human organism, the Zhang-Fu in East Asian Medicine, which all have a rhythm. The movement pattern of the Liver is different from that of the Kidney, which contrasts with the Heart. They, in turn, are all distinct from both the Lung and the Spleen. Getting into the groove of each one, connecting with their chi, is a way of understanding the way we are in the world and therefore in relationship. We will consider the pace, weight and tone of our individual walking. Please see attachments on pages
Each person does this on their own, although you can help each other with questions and reflection afterwards.
Take a walk somewhere and come back, being mindful of, and paying attention to, your rhythm
Afterwards, ask:
What do I know now about the rhythm of my walk?
And is there anything else about that?’ (where that is exactly what you said or wrote). You can ask this second question as many times as you are interested, always referring to the key word that you wrote or said in your most recent reply)
If you are working with another person or people, one person can ask another these questions and the other(s) can observe, listen and write notes
Here is an example:
• ‘What do I know now about the rhythm of my walk?’
It was irregular
• ‘And is there anything else about irregular?’
I stumbled sometimes, and I didn’t stay on a straight line
• ‘And is there anything else about stumbled sometimes and not staying on a straight line?’
Perhaps it was to do with my eyes – I was looking at the water and the plants. It was like my feet followed my gaze.
Hint: This is a way of helping yourself to be as embodied as possible as you walk. Please see pages 7-9 for extra ideas about reflecting on your own walk
Part 2
Walking in pairs (2 people). One walks and the other follows behind, mimicking and copying her walk as precisely as possible: 10 minutes. Swap over so that person two is walking in front, and person one is mimicking and copying: 10 minutes. Reflection time: 10 minutes
Questions you can ask afterwards:
• What do you know now about that person’s walk?’
• ‘Is there anything else about that?’ (where that is what they told you). You can ask this second question as many times as you are interested, always referring to the key word that they said in their reply)
If either of you use a descriptive word, you can follow up with this question:
• ‘And (descriptive word) is like what?’
• ‘And what else do you know about her?’ Note, ‘about her’, not about her walk.
Example
• ‘What do you know now about her walk?’
She walks fast. Fast as if she’s trying to get somewhere quickly
• ‘And is there anything else about her walk?’
She was sort of stamping
• ‘And her stamping was like what?
It was as if she was making her mark. I could see her footsteps in the dust
• ‘And what else do you know about her?’
She has direction
• ‘And how did you feel when you walked like her?’
When I walked like her I felt sure of things, definite
Part 3
Walking in pairs (2 people). Walk side by side. Try walking in step with each other (at the same pace). Try doing the opposite. Play with your walking relationship in a mindful way: 20 minutes. Reflection time: 10 minutes.
• In response to your partner’s description of what it is like to fall into step with you, you can ask, ‘What would you like to have happen?’
• Example: ‘What would you like to have happen?’
I would like you to slow down so we can walk in step with each other
Hints
• Try to ask simple, clean questions and give each other plenty of time to remember how it felt
• Speak from your felt-sense, not from your thoughts
• If you notice your partner saying, ‘I think...’ gently prompt them to take their time, stop talking and feel what it was like, before telling you
• Help them with ‘And what was it like to fall into step with me?’ and give them some silence to feel the answer
• If you use metaphors and gestures, that will be very helpful and you are much more likely to tell the inside story!
Example
• ‘And what was it like to fall into step with me?’
‘It was really slow for me’
• ‘And is there anything more about really slow for me’
(I take my time to remember how it felt.) ‘I had more time to feel when I was going slower’
• And what would you like to have happen?
I would like to walk again with you, to practice walking like that
• And is there anything more about like that?
When I walk like that, I feel more in tune with you, closer to you
Part 4
Online sharing and discussion. July 17 1500 London time. We will ask: Who do we walk with best? What implications have these exercises and the reflections you have made after them had for inter-community, inter-cultural and inter-racial communications? How we might use walking in this context to bring about change?
Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87604773207
Meeting ID: 876 0477 3207
Possible outcomes
• Walking with someone is a way of connecting with their essential energy, their chi. It may be a way to get an insight into how someone is in the world, in an embodied sense, in a way which engages the whole of us (both sides of the brain)
• This may have implications for our relationships – inter-racial, inter-cultural, and between those with different skills and limitations - a way to promote openness and mutual understanding
• In the walkshop, we will consider the pace, weight and tone of our individual walking, walk in groups to find out who we walk with best, and extrapolate
• We will ask what implications this has for inter-community communications, and how we might use walking in this context
Extra information
Part 1
Ask yourself How do I walk?
Where ‘walk’ is your personal and individual way of moving across the land.
Where ‘assistive device / mobility aid’ might be shoes or other sandal supports, orthoses, prostheses, leg callipers, a single or 4 point stick/cane, a walker (standard, rolling or rollator, 2 or 4 wheels, a wheelchair etc).
Please note that no one way of moving across the ground is any better or worse than any other ie there is no hierarchy of ability. Also, that judgments (as to ability, style or anything else) have no place in this walkshop.
If you walk on your feet or with an assistive device / mobility aid, please feel free to interpret the instructions in any way which suits you. Playing is good! Consider the rhythm of your movement in terms of:
Speed
(of steps / aid)
Fast ....... Slow
Weight
(of body feeling, of each foot/aid as it meets the ground, of wheels)
Heavy ........... Light
Do both feet feel as if they bear the same amount of weight, or does one side feel heavier than the other? Does your body feel as if it bears the same amount of weight as the aid does?
Length
(the stride or step of you/your aid)
Long ............ Short
If wheel(s), is the movement continual and on-going, or does it stop and start? What else?
Landing
(which part of your foot/aid comes into contact with the ground and in which order)
Heel, or ball of the foot, or toes first? Then which part lands next?
On the outside or the inside edge(s). Is it the same for each foot/tip of cane/crutch
(eg heel then toes; or ball then heel then toes; or heel then stick tip, then ball, then toes; or back 2 ‘feet’ of ‘walker’ then heel of foot, ball of foot, front ‘feet’ of ‘walker’; or do all 4 ‘feet’ of your quad cane land simultaneously? etc )
Relationship
(between your feet and/or between your feet and assistive device / mobility aid)
Do you and the aid you use move comfortably together? Rhythmically or arrhythmically?
What is the relationship between the right and left sides of your body?
And can I associate my walking style with one or more of the following natural elements?
The Wood Element:
The organs of the liver and the gallbladder, the muscles, ligaments, and joints
Movement: Smooth / uneven, dynamic, weaving side-to-side
The eyes - looking straight ahead /
Direction: Upwards, direct
Being creative and decisive, in control, good or bad at planning, shouting, anger, and seeing
The Fire Element:
Heart, Small Intestine, Chest, arms and hands, Heartbeat, the pulse
Opening, expanding outwards; being quick, empassioned, dancerly
Being Hot, social, emotions, spiritual awareness, laughing, joy, talking
The Earth Element:
Stomach. Spleen, flesh (more or less), belly, feet and legs
Being Down to earth / up and off the earth (bouncy), Grounded, Heavy/light
Feet always close to the ground
Sympathetic listener, caring, singing, empathy, ideas, opinions, tasting, touching
The Water element:
Bladder, Kidney, bones, the back
with Leaning forwards / backwards
Moving is a Flowing, fluid way
and with Cold, being easy going / adaptable, will power, groaning, fear, hearing
The Metal Element :
Lungs, Large Intestines (colon), skin, and breathing
Being Dispersing / self-contained, sow, precise, neat, and moving with clarity
and with communication exchange, being well organised, methodical, being private, crying, melancholy, smelling
Many thanks to Morag Rose for her help in preparing this information.
If you have any questions or feedback, they will be gratefully received. You can also contact me by what’s app +44 7821 264 882
Twitter @WalkNoDonkey
Instagram @tamsinshiatsu
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