During the Freedom/Mayday weekend I was at the Fynbos Estate on a Mindfulness/Biodanza retreat. Not really my 'thing' - the stillness stuff - but I love Biodanza, so I knew I'd be moving some of the time and there would be music. It was led by Lisa Firer and Simon Whitesman - two of my favourite people so I was curious about what it is that they are so passionate about in these two practices. The idea for this combination of activities seemed to come from a poem by T.S. Eliot:
At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
Do you really understand this? Well, I didn't. I'm not even sure if I do now. It seems to have something to do with being in the present moment. And it's true - when I'm dancing, I'm not often thinking of anything else other than moving to the music.
We were supposed to be able to achieve this "still point" by paying attention to our breathing.This was very boring and I fell asleep a lot.
