Today in Company we were doing a meditative/yoga exercise know as Sun Salutation. It is a simple stretching, focus, alignment exercise that normally takes about 90 seconds to complete. We have been using it as the predominant warm-up for our work on Viewpoints. It has always been a very effective way to leave the school day behind, take inventory of the body, and be more mindful in the moment for the work of the day.
In our work on tempo, I decided to have the group take the exercise at a medium tempo, a super slow tempo and three takes at a super fast tempo. Today I asked the group to take the super slow draft of the salutation at a truly super slow tempo. I wanted it so slow that I barely noticed any movement at all. The group got in its circle and began the moment – – done all in unison without a word being spoken. Medium tempo went just fine. I asked for the tempo that felt comfortable to them. This, they executed without effort.
Then came time for the super slow. This group took what I said quite literally. It took over FIFTEEN minutes for them to complete this one sequence of moves. You could see that the crawling slow speed was quite uncomfortable for some. Their body itched with the impatience. Even I, seven minutes into the event, was tempted to say, “Stop, class, stop. I was only kidding about that slow. I think we got the point. Now everybody drop the poise. Let’s get this class STARTED.” But I did not. I experienced the slow, quiet world with them. It was VERY uncomfortable, then truly beautiful. Tension and dis-ease disappeared. Even I felt more grounded.
At the conclusion of the class we talked about the impact of just this one component of the day. We all agreed that teenagers face a non-stop world that keeps shouting fast, faster, and fastest. Everything is time limited and time sensitive. Clocks are ticking. Deadlines. Deadlines. These actors get speed but they are newcomers to slow. Slow is delicious. Slow heals and calms. Who knows what just “slow” could do for a scene? If all we got out of class is the value of slow – – then I indeed have done my job.
One comment on “Sun Salutation”
Love this! Ah, if only I had appreciated the intentional deliberate s-l-o-w-n-e-s-s of The Flick when I was in the audience. Alas. One of the great joys of teaching is discovery. Thanks for sharing this.