Allow for at least 15 minutes. You will need a comfortable place to sit outside, in a nature environment. This Somatic Act is an audio to listen to with closed eyes.
This Somatic Act can be done as a solo, duet or group.
I'm walking in a forest
on the Bygdøy peninsula
in Oslo, Norway
near the sea
practicing how I
make choices
inspired by the movement work
of Prapto.
There are many paths
to choose from
right or
left
or I can continue to go on
straight ahead
or I can choose to turn around and
go back.
How do I make choices
as I am walking
locating in movement
and in choice
while on a sense of a journey.
What I realized is
sometimes I would stop, and
would allow time
to sense the different choices
that I had:
Which path do I want to go towards?
or which path do I want to go away from?
Sometimes I would make a choice
based on what I saw in the distance
- the light would look in a certain way or
I was curious about how the path
turned towards the right
and what lay ahead.
But then other times
I could sense the choice
not necessarily coming from my eyes
but coming from my body
and choosing from
different areas
- like my belly or heart or head.
Sometimes I could sense
when facing a certain direction
that part of my body (heart) really opened
towards a path
and had a sense of ´closing´
towards another path
My body guiding my choices.
Sometimes I couldn't sense which way
to go
and I had a lot of fear
about choosing the wrong direction
But then I remembered Suprapto
calling these places
´before the choice´
- temples.
a place of prayer
allowing time
to be guided,
to wait for the choice to arrive,
if you can,
so we do not choose
blindly.
At the same time,
not to worry
so much about the choice
because sometimes
you just need to choose.
For example one time
I didn't know where to go
so I decided to go forward
down this path
and then
not very far along
there was another cross-roads
another choice
And then it was very clear
in my body
that I wanted to go to the left trail
it created
a sense of opening
in my whole being
a ´yes´
I continued on that path
Until I came to a clearing
within the forest
which harbored
a cathedral of trees
with light streaming
through the leaves
like stained glass
speckling the ground
with shadow
and light.
I paused there
and spent some time sitting
on a bench nearby.
It reminded me
of another cathedral of trees
in London´s Hampstead Heath
And then all of a sudden
I noticed a crow sitting
on one of the trees
and I thought
´well I wonder
how you make choices
crow´?
The crow shifted its head
and its body position slightly
on the little tree limb
and then suddenly
took flight
into the air.
I watched as it flew above me
creating a vast overview
of the forest
embodying a very different perspective
than my human one
walking in the woods
making choices
to the right
to the left
forward
backward.
How can I walk again
in this forest
not from only my human location
with the boundary of my body
as the periphery
but to include the overview
created not just through vision
but the sounds crows make?
It was almost as if I had
implanted the way I walk
in a city
into a forest
right - left
front - back
How does a fish travel or even an ant?
The perspectives of the creatures
that live under the earth?
the sensorial choices made
from the touch of an antennae
locating smells and sounds
sensing dirt and air
for direction.
And here I was- walking alone
what about walking with others?
the tribes of ants
or the schools of fish
navigating the forest and rivers
together?
How can I return now
to walking along the forest paths
sensing the overview-smell-sound-touch-taste
and the underview-smell-sound-touch-taste
while navigating
myself within
right
left
forward
back
while walking
these perspectives
travelling with me
as I make choices
or choices make me
not from my human view
but more from
the perspective of nature itself
a multi-directional way
of attending.
As you have been travelling through
this audio journey,
how and where
in your body
have you been touched?
Returning to your felt experience
for a moment,
before finding
a transition