There are these moments of glorious inspiration when it’s not that we are creating something of our own design, but the Universe is working through us to bring its own creation into existence. I envision our creative source to be some form of glorious protozoic mess. Somewhere between a smashed lava lamp, a sunrise, and the tenacious bacterial reproduction that insists its existence within our bath towels. My Sewing Studio floor resembles all three . In my role as a movement teacher, I'm organized. I categorize my thoughts, clearly share my strategy, and provide detailed progressions for my students. But as an artist, those lines dissolve completely. When I'm creating, the process becomes a sacred space where materials assemble beneath my hands through a force beyond my control. During this immersion, emotions that were trapped in my body are able to move through, and the original agitation is washed away, revealing an inner layer of clarity. I don’t know exactly how this sacred process happens, but I know that this experience is shared. The reason that Art and Movement are equated with passion, with the divine, and more practically, used as therapy. In the past 5 years, I've transitioned from equally splitting my professional life between sewing and teaching movement. While editing my videos and the immersion into creative writing that my newsletters allow me has largely filled my artistic needs, every so often, I'm called back to the sewing machine, and magic happens. This week, that magic manifested in a special way. My Dad has a big birthday today. One of those milestone birthdays where no arbitrary gift would do. Inspired by the First Nations printed quilting fabric he'd given me for Christmas, I hit the cutting table and spent an evening creating the bedcover of his dreams. The process was everything you could imagine, and the next morning, I woke up feeling 20 years younger. It’s amazing what creativity can do for your soul. Some people make quilts according to a strict formula. Mesmerizing geometric patterns, perfectly organized and hand stitched. Hundreds of hours in the making. Others ( like me) approach the process more organically, like the stonemason constructing a fireplace out of randomly sized slabs, somehow creating order out of absolute chaos. One could easily say this applies to life as well. We can try to keep it organized, structured and categorized, or we can allow it to build and bloom as it sees fit, and do what we can to nurture the process. These examples are not absolutes, it’s a spectrum. We all fit somewhere along the line. Not all of the seams match, sometimes a decision is a guess, and more often than not, our mistakes become the spicy accents that define the entire narrative. This philosophy of embracing both structure and chaos, in movement and in art, is what I aim to share with my students. This week, I have two videos for you that embody this idea: the quilt I made for my Dad's birthday (Happy Birthday, Bui, if you're reading it here first!) and a beautiful alignment sequence for your spine, ( using a foam roller and a yoga block) that will open your heart, shoulders, and neck while strengthening your hips, abdominals, and legs. I'm also thrilled to announce that I've scheduled some upcoming classes: a 2-hour Online Gyrotonic Intensive on May 18 (Progression 7 on the Ultima XS) and a 4-Class Series on the LifePro, "Good Vibes for All," from July 8-11. I hope you'll share this joy of movement with me. This week, I encourage you to unleash your creative force, whether through writing, dancing, writhing, or painting pictures in the sand. Give the Universe a chance to move through you and take the dusty version of yourself out with it. Happy Sunday, Reader Domini Anne |
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There are moments—like this week—when the world feels like too much. You open the news and it hits before you can brace: airstrikes. university occupations. protest crackdowns. leaders falling. systems unraveling. And yet somehow, you’re still expected to reply to emails, make dinner, smile at strangers in the grocery store. The body knows something is wrong, even when we keep moving through our day. This past Saturday, just 90 minutes before teaching The Source Awakens, I was out walking my...
Hi Reader, Thanks to everyone who tuned in (or set an alarm!) for Thursday’s IG Live on the Gyrotonic Method and bone density. The questions were smart, the conversation was rich—and if you missed it, I’ve got you covered. 🎥 Here’s the replay: We talked about: Whether overhead work with the Wingmaster can replicate heavy lifting If jumping on the JSB with max resistance creates enough impact How much challenge is actually required to stimulate bone growth And most importantly: How do we layer...
My hands gripped the edges of the table as I took another breath and focused on relaxing the area beneath my left scapula. The needle bit into my skin, searing a path down my back as I exhaled slowly, keeping perfectly still while tension rippled through my body. Then ...Release. A magnificent flood of warmth spread across my system. The moment the needle lifted, my body melted. Relief washed through me like an internal tide, eclipsing the distress signals that had overwhelmed me just seconds...