Reactions to 'body work'

It's my birthday today. The sun is shinning. My friend Nadia gave me a Kenny Rogers CD and it's playing in the background. I am feeling chilled-out. Somehow, I was reminded to jot down what happened a couple of weeks back when I was prompted to introduce some body-related exercises in a group of Exec Coaches. So here it is.

During our checking-in session, we somehow got onto the subject of presence and presencing whereupon I shared with the group Arawana's workshops. After our morning break, the group facilitator suggested we did something around that topic. I walked through the Field Dance. When I got back to my seat, I felt some discomfort from others around performing in front of people though I did emphasise that it was not a 'performance' as such. The facilitator suggested we could perhaps do something with our hands- what would happen if we let our hands do what they wanted to do and moved accordingly. We talked about the options, what we could do, how we could approach it etc. There was a lot of talking about. I got up and said that we could simply close our eyes and let our hands take us to where the energy was in order to connect with others. I had my arms outstretched to feel my way through the space. At some point, my hands were met with another set of hands. We touched and moved. I felt playful, unsure, curious and nervous in turn. It always puzzles me how much can be conveyed through touch. Anyhow, we branched out and others joined and left. A couple of people did not feel they want to join in. Afterwards, some felt it was an unusual (and enjoyable) experience. Others couldn't see the point in it. This reaction was not new. A few months ago, I experimented with Chris and another colleague. Chris and I were very enthused after Rosendale. Our colleague was not impressed. He didn't see the point in it. He could not see 'corporates' doing any of it. It was ok as a hippy thing but- well, not corporates in a million years. He recommended more instructions and positioning.

Yesterday and today, I happened to have delivered a couple of workshops. One of them was about managing stress and the other, though not specifically on stress, the topic came up. Neither group struck me as being hippy. In fact, quite the opposite. However, in both cases, they were willing to close their eyes and try some relaxation techniques- some were quite eager to learn. So there I was with a group of people, in meeting rooms, lights off, eyes closed....now who would have thought that they would enjoy it?

Last weekend, I attended a weekend workshop on body-related psychotherapy. It was a taster weekend. It was a very small group and we were joined by a journalist who was a little stressed. She thought she would like it as it seemed to be related to yoga in some way. We moved around, connecting with each part of our bodies. We were about half-way into the morning when the journalist decided it was too slow and it just wasn't for her. Interestingly, those who remained, including me, had a moving and profound weekend.

So maybe movement and bodywork is a little bit like marmite- you either love it or you hate it. Put another way, you either 'get it' or you really- don't.