Written by: Lake Angela, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
These activities are calming movement exercises appropriate for any body, activity level, and ability. I have developed these particular exercises during pregnancy to help maintain balance—certainly physically, but mostly cognitive-emotionally. Early on in pregnancy, I performed these creative concepts with more variety in movement quality—sometimes sharper, faster, lower, higher, and so forth. The videos I have provided as demonstrations, however, were improvised at 39 weeks of gestation, so in these examples the quality of movement has changed naturally to accommodate the weight of a much larger baby and to ease pelvic pain, while the expressive capacity remains just as variable and open to individual creativity. Above all, performing these concepts creatively to different kinds of music to correspond with mood, or to silence for more range of creative expression, has facilitated a sense of calm that other kinds of movement, like the walks recommended by doctors, have been unable to match.
1. Movement in Circles
You can picture your objective as creating spheres around yourself by drawing circles in space, body part by part. By focusing on tracing each circle, you will begin to regulate your breathing in a more natural, intuitive pattern without thinking about breath directly. Begin with the first circle in a slow, sweeping movement, either close to the body if you need to build up to the idea of taking up more space, or in a slow, elongated gesture that widens the very first circle around you. If you created the first circle with a hand or fingers, move to a different body part for the next, perhaps the elbow or wrist, or any body part you feel especially could benefit from movement at the moment. Circles can be drawn beginning horizontally so that they orbit the body on different planes, such as high, middle, and low. They also can be drawn beginning vertically or at any angle so that you end up moving circles around yourself in ways that create a sphere. By the time you have explored enough directions and options for movement qualities around you and your baby, you should feel more focused and calmed.
Here is a brief demonstration of movement in circles, although this exercise can be much more prolonged and much slower for greater relaxation and focus.
2. Slow Motion Dance
The title of this activity describes quite literally how to move through this Dance Healing exercise. Begin with any body part and move as slowly as possible in a direction, not stopping until that body part reaches its natural full extension. Flow to a nearby body part, such as from wrist to elbow, to make the most of the slow-motion fluidity of this kind of movement. It may become difficult as pregnancy progresses to move slowly downward and upward from the base and the hips or pelvis, but such slow, deliberate movement eases pelvic aches and increases blood flow. It also helps you maintain strength and balance in a body with rapidly changing fluid levels and a shifting center of gravity. As you practice the slow, extended, and deepening movements, your breath will follow your body’s example.
Here is a brief, improvised demonstration of a slow motion dance, but keep in mind that your movement does not need to look like what we consider dance to be “correct” or valuable. Your prior movement experience throughout your life will influence how your slow motion improv will look, and the focus is on internal feeling and expression rather than on outward form.
3. Seated Flamenco Improvisation
This is one of my favorite Dance Healing activities for any ability and condition. The exercise is adapted from a flamenco improvisation in Barcelona in which a significant goal was to involve more sensation in various body parts during traditional flamenco dancing. Rather than wear flamenco shoes, we used bare feet for some parts of the improv and sat for other parts so that we could focus on developing more fluently expressive arm and hand movements. I have adapted the seated activity for Dance Healing during pregnancy.
To begin, sit on a chair, ball, cushion, or any comfortable surface with enough room for the hips and pelvis to relax. Using flamenco or other music that moves you, experiment with circling the wrists, leading with pinky fingers and the other fingers spread, or leading with middle and ring fingers with the other fingers following closely. Allow the arms to trace arcs or half circles. Inward and outward are equally acceptable directions in this style, so you can experiment to find your preference. Now add a sensual-tactile dimension: sniff the arms as they pass by the face; touch the torso and hair as your arms arc down and up; open and close your eyes, really looking at your fingers as though they are the most fascinating, mysterious things you have seen. Taste if you like! Experiment in any way that feels interesting to you in the moment, without thinking too much about your intention to keep from becoming self-conscious or halting the intuitive experiment that will build into creative expression. Upon reflection afterwards, note your favorite moments and most soothing or exciting gestures based on your sensory feedback.
Here is a demonstration of a seated flamenco improvisation.
Afterwards, you can develop and create a choreography out of your favorite movement patterns or continue practicing these experiments just to experience the joy of moving in new ways! Feel free to share your improv videos or contact me to collaborate.
Lake Angela, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Lake Angela is a poet, translator, and dancer-choreographer who creates at the confluence of verbal language and movement. As Director of the international multimedia group Companyia Lake Angela, they offer sessions in guided healing through poetry and movement and provide a platform for schizophrenia spectrum creativity. Their full-length books of poetry, Organblooms (2020) and Words for the Dead (2021), are published by FutureCycle Press. As poetry editor for Punt Volat, they select and publish innovative new poetry in four languages with co-founder Kevin Richard Kaiser. As co-founder of Poetry Midwives Editing Services, they help aspiring writers polish their manuscripts for publication. Lake holds a PhD from The University of Texas at Dallas for their intersemiotic translations of German Expressionist poetry into dance and their MFA in poetry.
