Bowspring patterns

Barbara Neubauer

by Barbara Neubauer

Story

Each of us is unique. Nevertheless, we are connected. We are interwoven like a strong fabric. And so are the threads within our bodies. Like we were all weavers or sewers, and we could create feathery and fine textures by being mindful and conscious with ourselves.

When she talks, the world listens. And we, the listeners, literally come from all over the world. We follow her voice through a device. It is soft like a cuddle blanket, but also firm like a strong, tear-resistant fabric. Her words are thoughtful, kind and encouraging. She gives our body parts and our mind a direction. We follow her voice to expand our stretchy and elastic tissues to wide-open spaces. She guides us through heaven and hell, through fire and ice. But also, through mini pulses that you can barely notice from outside. I trust her voice and her words and how it translates into my body language. How it expands my capacities.

After one intensive class, at first, I felt like a fire burnt my body to ashes, but then, slowly but powerfully, I was able to release all the tightness, give in to the exhaustion and rise like a phoenix from my own ashes. It was a tremendous feeling how much effect a bodily movement had on my mind. How deeply her voice touched my soul.

We are all interwoven like threads in those movement practices. We all have our individual lives, bodies, worries, doubts, beliefs, but we get together online and connect and interlace the threads of our lives, bodies, and souls, like a carpet on the loom. The class atmosphere is warm. Everyone is in his or her own space. Some are in their living room, some outside on a balcony or in a garden, and others, even in the kitchen or in the bedroom. It gets very personal. For some there is daylight, for others it’s night-time. For some the sun is shining, for others a storm interrupts the Internet connection. For some it is hot and humid, others need a thick jumper because it is freezing cold outside.

Each of us is unique and thus, we create a colourful pattern on screen. Each of us has different abilities and capacities. It doesn’t matter whether you can do a posture better or worse or not at all. What matters is the big picture. The threads we are interlacing and the fabric, and pattern we weave within our bodies and across the world on screen. We are all interwoven. And together we create beautiful, colourful, and unique prints. It’s not just about the practice. It’s also about the togetherness. It’s about the picture we paint and the pattern we weave. Together.

© Barbara Neubauer 2021-06-07

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