Do Actions Speak Louder than Words? Well, if you're like me, you might hesitate because you're drawn to language. Lovely phrases, silky sentences, solid statements, and truth.
I just sent one of my best friends, Jessica, a collection of Rumi poems for her birthday. I'm re-reading Eat Pray Love for the pleasure of Elizabeth Gilbert's blend of detail, wit, and tenderness. Daily, I copy and paste quotes into my "favorite quotes" file, then I tend to print them and wince at my borderline tacky desk covered with dozens of Post-Its and taped poems. I can't help it, this is where I find sturdiness and stillness.
...Except one more place. If I give myself the chance to breathe, to stop holding my breath, to actually be in my body and move it wherever it wishes -- whether that's a step class, some stretches on my floor, a few Pilates moves, a walk in Piedmont Park -- I find that rhythm, that poetry, that flow, that truth. Sometimes it's choppy, sometimes a time-to-take-up-space range of motion, sometimes an amazing gentleness I'm beginning to discover more and more. What matters is that I go with what feels right to me at the time. Whether I'm leading a class, taking a class, or doing my own work, picking up the rhythm and staying true to its needs takes me where I need to go.
I can print poems from the web and clip phrases from magazines all day and all night. But, moving with my own urges allows the feelings to move around, to express themselves, to eventually make their own words. Living in the head, living in the words, or living in the thoughts and intentions make great ideas and even greater fantasies. Stepping inside your body, getting to know your boundaries, embracing your space, and actually showing up for others when you say you will honors that great cliche - Actions DO speak louder than Words.
Make those words, thoughts and intentions your actions. Move your body, see where it takes you. As Sark says, "Step inside and begin living it". For yourself, then others.
Now, to quote Rumi:
Dance, when you're broken open
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off
Dance in the middle of the fighting
Dance in your blood
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
I just sent one of my best friends, Jessica, a collection of Rumi poems for her birthday. I'm re-reading Eat Pray Love for the pleasure of Elizabeth Gilbert's blend of detail, wit, and tenderness. Daily, I copy and paste quotes into my "favorite quotes" file, then I tend to print them and wince at my borderline tacky desk covered with dozens of Post-Its and taped poems. I can't help it, this is where I find sturdiness and stillness.
...Except one more place. If I give myself the chance to breathe, to stop holding my breath, to actually be in my body and move it wherever it wishes -- whether that's a step class, some stretches on my floor, a few Pilates moves, a walk in Piedmont Park -- I find that rhythm, that poetry, that flow, that truth. Sometimes it's choppy, sometimes a time-to-take-up-space range of motion, sometimes an amazing gentleness I'm beginning to discover more and more. What matters is that I go with what feels right to me at the time. Whether I'm leading a class, taking a class, or doing my own work, picking up the rhythm and staying true to its needs takes me where I need to go.
I can print poems from the web and clip phrases from magazines all day and all night. But, moving with my own urges allows the feelings to move around, to express themselves, to eventually make their own words. Living in the head, living in the words, or living in the thoughts and intentions make great ideas and even greater fantasies. Stepping inside your body, getting to know your boundaries, embracing your space, and actually showing up for others when you say you will honors that great cliche - Actions DO speak louder than Words.
Make those words, thoughts and intentions your actions. Move your body, see where it takes you. As Sark says, "Step inside and begin living it". For yourself, then others.
Now, to quote Rumi:
Dance, when you're broken open
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off
Dance in the middle of the fighting
Dance in your blood
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
