Dancing
with Change

When an actor memorizes his or her lines they are then free to interact with the other actors in the scene. Rather than “saying” their lines when necessary they can allow their lines to come out organically based on the situation they are in. The action then becomes more like real life… or it becomes what real life can be like if we are present.

To learn to ride a motorcycle we have to memorize or learn how do do certain things. We learn how to steer, how to use the brakes, the accelerator and how to change gears. Ideally we learn these things in a controlled environment where we don’t have to worry about things like other traffic. Once we’ve learned these skills so that we can do them “without thinking” we then can test ourselves on a windy road… or one curve at a time. We can then test ourselves further on a road with traffic. If we’ve learned to ride the bike well then we can handle the changes in the road and we can handle other traffic on the road all while staying on the bike. We can dance with change.

If we are really in our element we can sense change as it happens and respond to that change instantaneously. Rather than ourselves, the bike, the road and the traffic on the road being separate entities, we can move as one, still separate entities but all tuned in to the same source.

Knowing what
You are Doing

That might be a bit far fetched to imagine and perhaps it doesn’t suit the motorcycle riding analogy. Another setting might be two people who’ve learned to dance together so well that they move as one. What get’s them to that stage? Learning their moves and their partners moves. We might not think of this as memorization but the result is the same, they know what they have to do and so they can focus on doing it.

Inputs and
Outputs

The brain is like a computer. It receives inputs, processes them and then sends out an output based on the program that is active at the time.

Memorizing a set series of moves we download a program into our brain. We can then sense inputs from the world around us or from within ourselves and respond to those changes according to the program that we’ve downloaded and made a part of our selves. We can then train our brain by noticing the changes that are happening now and responding to those changes.

In the dance of shiva we create the changes that we observe by moving according to a set sequence of moves. The challenge is to do the moves correctly according to the algorithm but also to sense our body so that the parts of our body are also doing the movements as good as possible.

If we sense errors, we correct ourselves.

As I mentioned in my previous article, you don’t need to do the Dance of Shiva to practice this. If you understand that in anything you do the better you know what you are trying to do the better you can handle change while creating the change that you desire, then you can train your brain.

Doing the Dance of Shiva is simply a good way to practice this so that it is easier to apply in other aspects of your life. The nice thing about the dance of shiva (apart from the fact that it leaves you feeling energized or awake) is that you can practice it in fifteen minutes each day. You can also do it in five minute stints and all you need is room to swing your arms.

Sincerely

Neil Keleher

What if you could develop your ability to sense potential, the ways to do things rather than the reasons to stop, and balance the sides of your upper body. You can even learn to think from right to left as well as from left to right and learn how to think from “another point of view.”
The Dance of Shiva offers all of these advantages, while exercising the brain and the body at the same time.

Training
The Brain

In the Dance of Shiva a small part of training the brain involves remembering. Is that enough to turn you off of training your brain? What if memorizing was made simple. Rather than focusing on the idea that you have lots to remember, why not focus on learning little bits at a time. Make memorization bearable or even enjoyable by doing it a little bit at a time and not worrying about what you still have to do.

It’s not a big stretch to remember bits at a time. So while comfortable and doable, how does this train the brain? In a way it’s like learning to ride a bicycle. Initially you have training wheels so that you can focus on steering and using the pedals. Training wheels don’t really help you with balance but they do help you to get comfortable with the “idea” of riding a bike. Then when the training wheels come of you can practice looking ahead and finding that thin line of force that helps to keep you upright when the wheels are turning.

Once you’ve learned to ride a bike without training wheels using training wheels is an encumberance. With the training wheels off you have so much more freedom to ride the bike. You can handle corners quickly. Likewise in the dance of shiva. Once you’ve done something simple like learning the basic positions so that you don’t have to think about them you gain a bit more freedom. Then you learn the next stage-how to move between those positions.

Freedom
To Act

Here again is a little bit more memorization, but again with memorization comes the freedom to use your brain in other ways. Instead of trying to remember what the positions and the moves are you can focus on doing the positions and the moves. You can focus on sensing your body at the same time and based on the ideas that you have memorized, you correct the positions of your body as necessary. The faster you do the movements (the faster you are able to do the movements because you’ve memorized them) the faster you have to use your brain to check and correct your positions if necessary.

Computers and books aren’t a bad thing. Obviously I am sitting here writing to you on my macbook pro. But over reliance on computers and books at the expense of not-memorizing or learning, we miss a chance to help our brain (and body) grow. It doesn’t matter if there is “too much to learn or memorize” the point is you just have to start now. And if you focus on learning little bits at a time, not only do you train your brain and your body, you can have fun and enjoy life at the same time simply because you are practicing being present in what you are trying to do.

]]> http://zeroparallax.com/danceofshiva/2010/02/memory-and-understanding/feed/ 0