It’s nearly 5 months since my fall and it feels important to notice how far I’ve come. I can raise my left arm into the air almost as high as the right one. When my left hand is behind me, I can raise it slightly above my waist. There was a time when I couldn’t even get it behind me enough to try working towards this position. I’m moving through the world with more confidence, no longer afraid of falling when I venture out. I’ve been doing InterPlay movements more freely when I teach and when I practice alone. The next milestone will be going back to my Zumba dance class, something I have not felt ready to do until now.
Looking back over the past few months, I got some inspiration from one of the poems I wrote 20 years ago for my first book Stillpoint, which was on self-care. At that time I was visiting my son Kevin who was on the gymnastics team of his university. During the particular meet I was able to witness, each member of the team, when it was their turn, fell off their apparatus and was unable to complete their routine. I was struck by the dejection and disappointment in their body language as they exited the space.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Trained as a dance, I was used to the practice of covering a mistake, or at least not reacting to it with a grimace, or some body language that in theatre would be labeled “braking character.” As a dancer in the chorus I was trained to not react to a mistake or misstep but to proceed as though that was the way the routine was suppose to go. I imagined that if I had been the gymnasts’ coach I would have tacked the following note to their dressing room door –
Hey Team
Falling is not a giant zap from the gods
meant to embarrass, humiliate, or hurt you, but,
falling is one of the things that happens
in the process of “going for it,”
as you move too close to your growing edge.
It is a sign that you have made an error
and you need to;
BREATHE…….as in keep breathing
LAUGH……… as in keep releasing
GET UP… as in keep moving
LAUGH………as in keep enjoying
and get back on the horse,
ring, barre, or floor!
SMILE…………as you uncover, discover,
recover, the lessons of each particular fall.
