The Gurdjieff MOvements

Have you ever noticed that you can spot someone you know well walking down the street from far enough away that you can’t see their face, but you know exactly who it is? Or despite being in another part of the house you hear a family member enter the house and you can tell who it is by the sound of their footsteps? By the time most of us reach adulthood our bodies have adopted a rather limited repertoire of intertwined postures and gestures. Our thoughts, emotions and bodily movements are woven together, each one influencing the others. The quality of our physical contenance, including the tension and tone of our gestures, directly affects our perceptions of life. If we are worried or in fear, we often find ourselves hunched over with a furrowed brow. If we remember a pleasant experience, we might find that our shoulders are more relaxed, or that our gait changes.

Working with the Gurdjieff Movements in a sincere way can help free us from the repetitive cycles of emotion and thought in our ordinary life. Our bodies do not have to carry the weight of our emotions, and our mind and emotions can disengage from the suffering of the body. In addition, these dances allow our organism to embody an immense spectrum of inner experience that happenstance alone would not allow. The Gurdjieff Movements can create a convergence of forces that ‘override’ the frontal lobe, even if only momentarily, allowing the experience of an expanded state of consciousness.

These Movements have been referred to as ‘Sacred Dance’, for they can act as a portal to a spiritual dimension. For a short time, the dancer relinquishes their ordinary physical, emotional and mental attitudes, and commits to meeting the demand of the exercise as precisely as possible. Over time, this effort cultivates a level of sensitivity and feeling capable of sensing the subtle currents which animate one’s life. The Work at the Movements can offer a dynamic exploration of expanded attention, and nurture an alignment with the essence of one’s spirit. 

Often, we read, study, or speak of our spiritual questions; but our bodies, which are conduits for finer energy, are forgotten or ignored. Anyone, whatever his physical capacities, can engage in the Movements in a meaningful way. This Work invites the possibility of a communion between a person’s physical body and the mysterious energy of life that moves within.