Sideways

I was thinking about the rare times my body moves sideways in everyday life: stepping around someone in the supermarket aisle, squeezing myself into a small pantry closet, turning past a prickly bush as I find another fishing spot along the Pecos River.

These sideways movements demand more attention because they happen less often. Moving forward feels more natural: stepping into the next moment, the next task, the next thing on the list. Progress.

I recall the movie “Sideways.” Two middle-aged men embark on a wine-tasting road trip. Along the way, there is an unraveling, a sideways drift. Yet that shift in perspective allows for a reframing, perhaps even a fresh start.

I always feel a little bit of a fresh start as I finish Daughter in the Valley and get ready for Carry the Ball to the Side. I’m now going to move sideways for the first time. There is a breaking free as I move into a side-to-side rhythm. Perhaps some dissonance too. As I step to the side the margin becomes the new center.

Circles with the ball: one, two, three, pause. One, two, three, pause. One, two, three, longer pause. Now back the other way: circles and shifts and a wonderful fullness of polarity. My favorite part is the mental emphasis on the trailing hand as the ball passes my tan t’ien. And for me the ball feels lighter as it comes back up the circle. There are so many opportunities to activate and circulate the vital force.

At the end of Carry the Ball, I always feel a need to ground a little longer and sink a little deeper. So much has been going on.