Slow Walk

As a group, stand together with eyes closed for a few minutes of standing meditation, bringing the awareness to the body, to breath, to gravity, sensation. Just feel the body standing, breathing, listening. After a few minutes as a group you open your eyes and move from where you are at to some distant point in space, very slowly. You take an hour to attempt to walk a distance that could be covered in a minute of normal walking. Try to keep the body and breath easy during the walk, and allow the body to be at ease. Do not feel the need to create an image or do anything special with the body… just walk from the stand to the agreed upon point. If you get distracted by something along the way, feel free to follow that distraction for a while, then come back to moving towards the goal.

I first tried this with John Dixon in a class he taught at the Seattle Festival of Alternative Dance and Improvisation. He got it from Kei Takei in New York. Try this exercise in a studio, in a building, through the city, somewhere in nature. It is simple and potentially profound, dropping as a group into this simple exploration of slowness.