The A word

Barbara Neubauer

by Barbara Neubauer

Story

Can this word dance freely out of one’s mouth, even in a context that seems so innocent and fair-minded at first sight? I am writing about the word ‘assimilation’ which comes from Latin ‘ad-,’ meaning ‘to, towards,’ and ‘similis’, meaning ‘similar’. Over time, the ‘d’ of the prefix ‘ad-’ assimilated itself with the ‘s’ of ‘similis.’ So, the word itself represents the idea of assimilation.

I am writing about Assimilation Pose at the end of a Bowspring practice. Time lying on your back, legs extended out, arms resting next to your body, palms facing up. Time to connect the dots that came up during the movement. Time to relax and let go. Time for your body to learn and understand what has happened during the practice. How can this pose be given such a name?

I struggled with this in my very first Bowspring class. I am still struggling with it, and I probably will struggle with this word forever. You guessed right, my relationship with this word is not good. I might accept it in a purely biological sense, where it means that the body absorbs and digests food. But I cannot accept it at the end of a nurturing, healing movement practice. It instantly destroys all the good feelings that have been established during class. It’s not that I do not understand the intention of the word. I perfectly understand that my body absorbs and digests the food that was provided in the form of movement. I understand that my body learns and incorporates the new stretches, twists, and alignments while resting.

What I don’t understand is the use of this word in the context of a movement practice. I would be much happier if it would just be called ‘Digestion Pose’ or ‘Realisation Pose.’ But this word has a long history of forcing minorities to be similar to dominant cultures; to take over their customs, habits, and practices and to forget about their own ethnic heritage and traditions. This has happened to Indigenous people affected by European colonization, but also to Jews all throughout history and across many nations.

So why do I want to push away this word with all my heart? Do I want to look away from all the cruelties that have happened to people throughout history? Do I just want to have a cosy life, doing some movement practice, relaxing afterward and continuing with my life without looking back through history and all around me?

Of course, this would be much more comfortable. So, it could be a good thing that Bowspring brings up all these dark aspects of humanity. But is it intentional? Does every Bowspring teacher and student reflect on these forms of oppression? Or is this word used randomly by people who are not aware of what this word is also implying?

Every word matters. Once sent out with intention, it will be perceived in many ways. Between intention and perception is room for misunderstanding. Some words have a greater likelihood to be misunderstood. Some words should better not be used at all. Should just be reduced to a letter. A.

© Barbara Neubauer 2021-07-20

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