While I was quite unwell, I desired to attend a movement workshop at a major dance institution in New York City. I truly wanted the experience of connecting with people I felt aligned with. I listed my needs in an e-mail to the program administrators and they returned back to me to let me know that the lighting could not be altered, the music could not be altered, and there could be no more breaks other than the allotted. They suggested I would feel more comfortable not attending in different words and that other previous participants with similar sensitivities all had to drop out. While I applaud the organization for letting me know that my needs would not have been met, how difficult would it have been to accommodate me? How many more neurodivergent folks and folks experiencing acute or chronic health issues didn’t have access to these sessions because of the rigidity of the space?
All people, especially those with chronic stress, who are neurodivergent, who are chronically ill need spaciousness, choice of participation in individual elements, flexibility, autonomy, various modes of interaction, and the ability to leave. Many of us have grown used to not having these things because we are used to the “default toxicity” of spaces. And what has happened to many of us is that when we step into a new space or are about to step into a new space, we get anxious. We do not get anxious because there is something wrong with us. We get anxious because we are uncertain about whether our needs will be met. We get anxious because there is a high probability that the space will have this “default toxicity” we are so accustomed to. And, in order to feel safe in that new space, we need to know that our needs will be met.
But what does it mean to truly see this “default toxicity” and address it?
Many of us are understanding that we have gone so much of our lives believing that there was something wrong with us – when in reality, it was our spaces that were not meeting our needs. When we enter spaces that are not a fit for our needs, spaces where our body is overwhelmed, we can call that space toxic to our body. Because systems of disconnection and conditioning pervade our society, many spaces have “by default” not met our needs and, therefore, have been toxic to us. Taking on the toxicities of all spaces we have inhabited through our lives, these toxicities “clog up” our bodies, often leading us to be “chronically overwhelmed”. This process of recounting the toxicities of our spaces is critical. Collectively and rigorously seeing the “default toxicity” within our past spaces (what I call “microsystems of disconnection”) provides us with intimate understandings of space elements that we can use to design or redesign our spaces of deep connection.
And there is so much more that we are learning we must unravel. What we often overlook in our spaces when we talk about designing spaces of deep connection where our needs are met is that which is much less obvious, the energetic space. To see all toxicities contributing to our spaces, we must be able to “see” and measure all of the energy of spaces (e.g., mental toxins created by racism, patriarchy; toxicities in our light, sound, air; patterns of disconnection that individuals bring with them). Fully seeing all toxicities, we can begin to understand where exactly our spaces (and our bodies) have been “clogged up”. Then, we can begin to experiment with moving that energy and unclogging our spaces (and our bodies).
Collective (movement) practice, which focuses on how we collectively move energy, then, is a powerful approach to designing spaces of deep connection. It is an often-hidden, ancient approach that many of us are seeking, studying, or drawn to, though we call it different things. I define collective (movement) practice as the collective practice of moving physical energy in a space to create the energetic conditions necessary for deep connection to be possible. I believe there is gold in the rigorous study of collective (movement) practice and these ancient wisdoms are here to teach us how to do our Work of designing spaces of deep connection. As we step into our full power to build spaces of deep connection that meet our needs, as we slowly uncover ancient wisdoms of collective (movement) practice, we all deserve the opportunity to learn the truth and the power of collective (movement) practice. Zooming out, we can see that, within this study of collective (movement) practice, there are thousands and thousands of years of ancient science, art, design, culture, and medicine guiding us as we build our spaces of deep connection. May we find each other, study together, learn together. May we fully step into our power as builders of spaces of deep connection. Join us at our Open House to collectively practice seeing the “default toxicity” of the microsystems of (dis)connection we’ve left behind and to co-learn, reflect, and share about how we use collective (movement) practice to design/redesign spaces of deep connection.
These ideas and questions are central to Raw Movement, an approach to inquiring about and experimenting with co-creating spaces of deep connection through collective (movement) practice. If you’re in the practice of creating grounding, deep connection, home, family, and desire to experiment with co-creating spaces of deep connection, find out more about Raw Movement at: www.rawmovement.org.
This writing is a part of my Conversations on Deep Connection series. If you’re also in the practice of creating grounding, deep connection, home, family and would like to get notified of new conversations, click here to get notified of new conversations.