Dr. Andreo Spina is a the founder of Functional Movement Seminars, world class movement educator and accomplished chiropractor. I had a great time breaking down what exactly is neutral spine and when is it important, how we can change our work environment to be more effective for our bodies and much more! The intro is recorded my new Spanish ‘girl friends’ house in Granada, Spain. The music is from beautiful flamenco show I went to the night before recording the episode, enjoy!
Buen dia mis amigos!
Alright I am currently sitting here looking out over a terrace here in Granada, Spain. To be honest, I am already studying the next movement practice of Flamenco but we will be chatting about ‘HUMAN TOWERS’ in this discussion!
This is something we generally will only see in cirque du soleil in the USA or the occasional curious and outstanding group of acrobats but rarely do we have the collaboration of 10’s or 100’s of people all together for the same purpose of precariously stacking eachother up to 10 people high while crowds forget to breath in concern and amazment. Moxeranga is the tradition of Algemesi in the Valencia province of spain and Castillers is the name for the practice in Catalunya. Both similiar but Castillers is gererally know to build larger towers and be a bit more competive about it. Moixeranga is more focused on the cultural tradition around people stacking!
What’s the Point?
From my outside Yankee perspective, I see the practice of human towers as phenomonal means of bringing people together and immediately developing trust and confidence. One could easily pontificate on the symbolism of the creating the strurdy base of numerous faceless people (faceless because you are told to keep your head down as you support for protection in case the tower falls) much like a father who works his whole life to facilitate his only son go college and create opportunities the he never had. The son is an extension of the father and the small child on top of the human tower is an extension of the hundred people forming the base in a Moixeranga tower. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants or in this case, 100’s of spaniard’s heads .
What Can We Learn from Human Towers?
Balance, integration, communication, organization withing yourself and in relation to your community to name just a few adjectives. The locking of arms is crucially important and the wider the base of locked off Spaniards, the higher the tower can grow. This is representive of the work that goes into creating success in your own life. The hours of intention, work and focus that noone visibly sees at the moment is what develops the potential for the height of your own personal success. It always starts with the development of the base and if you are like most people potentialy blinded by your current state of base development, it may behoove you to observe the tradition of Moixeranga and take pleasure in cultivating your foundation for success.
As said by my buddy Mr. Carl Paoli of ‘The glamour is in the grind’ and you can hear our whole fascinating conversation here on the Align Podcast.
Saludos!
Bonjour mon amour!
I happend to have been staying just up the street from the horrendous attacks and it was fascinating to see how the trauma impacted the physical movement of Parisians post attacks. I worked with several local dancers after the attacks and we noticed an impact on their breathing capacity since moving around the city trepidatiously in the previous days. I noticed in my own self how this hyper-vigilance directly impacted the organisation of my whole structure. Fascinating to think how our surroundings are impacting our physical architecture. Do you have thoughts on how your community impacts your movement? I would love to hear in the comments below and host a discussion!
Now back to the movement practice we will be focusing on for France! In truth, contact improvisation began with Steve Paxton from the USA in the 70’s but it just so happens that there is a thriving contact scene in Paris, France.
What Is Contact Improvisation?
It takes as little as two people and as many as you can comfortably move with in the space you have available. The goal is movement/thought exploration in a safe and judgment free environment. It’s amazing the potenial of the best kind of wierdness that can take place when you are in a room with 15 people crawling around on eachother with the occasional animal sound, whistle or burst of laughter. There are no rules confining what one can and can’t do except of course to keep eachother safe.
The main objective may be to follow eachother’s center of gravity via leaning your weight into your partners from a multitude of angles. Hips offer a fantstic means of support to lift, twist, flip or simply support your partners off the ground. The goal is always to find integrity in your own body which in turn presents a foundation for others to build from. Generally speaking during a session you will intend to keep moving much the way water would pass down a dry river bed forming to all the various contours of the dry earth. The intention is to fit comfortably and powerfully in the infinite movement potentials that exist in every moment.
Why Does It Matter?
Let’s take a shot at thinking of our body as a canvas and every movement we make is a brush stroke forming the masterpiece that is our structure. I’m out there, I know but our society can use a bit of ‘out there’ thinking these days. So everytime you go to a gym, by now I would hope you are atleast doing some squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, etc. These are all great by all means, but what they lack is dynamic full range of motion in response to another living breathing organism (your new-age buddy ‘Morning Wood’ wearing sparkling purple stretchy pants). Now jokes aside, Morning Wood has a ton to offer that an inert steel bar will not be able to provide. That is unprictability! This is the king of adaptation to a wide array of variables; literally having no idea what is coming next! Nothing will heighten your senses to a higher degree than constantly putting yourself in a physical/mental place of receiving what movement is coming next and responding accordingly.
Does this sound metaphoric for literally everything else in life? Well that’s because it is and the moment we begin seeing our movement as a representation for who we are at the deeper levels, we will see a dramatic shift in our overall physical organisation, pain and conduct in interpersonal relations. Carpe diem!
What is the “World Movement’ Exactly?
Alright, I’m technically in Spain at the moment and a bit late creating the first installment of what I am calling the ‘World Movement’ in which I am traveling throughout Europe and Africa for 4.5 months exploring far out movement practices typical to the various regions I may land. I am recording sound bites, videos and photos from each region of anything that catches my senses and posting them on the Align Podcast as well along with an explanation of the happenings of this epic journey! If you are interested in movement, travel and culture; I think this may be the place for you! I will be on the road until mid to late March and posting new content each week. Stay tuned for the next installment for Spain!
Image courtesy of https://mazmorra.net/forums/bdsm-en-el-arte/encuentro-de-cuerpos-en-estado-de-arte
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