Complementary “Daughters”

My mind wasn’t still while doing my practice. It was filled with thoughts about writing: How could I write about Daughter in the Valley (DITV) without writing about its complement, Daughter on the Mountaintop (DOTM)? That’s the way I was taught, the way I practice, and the way I teach: to practice both together. I see them as a whole and one, flowing together yet separately, as individual as daughters can be.

These movements bring me the most peace. When I’m down in the valley, the “daughters” lift me up, moving me through troubled waters. They embody freedom from stress. With them I do not feel alone. The whole Universe is on my side, directing my feet and guiding my hands as I shift my weight in the way I move. As Martha Lynn Armstrong says in her poem, Universal Movement, “I, as daughter, soar above the highest mountain as my feet sink into the deepest valley … coming unto myself, coming home.”

Students sometimes ask how they can distinguish which “daughter” starts low or high. Mountaintop begins with “M” and many people walk the switchbacks of the “M.” So for DITV, I invite them to recall standing at the top of the “M” where they will begin going down into the valley. This helps them remember that the hands begin high as they move down into the valley.