10 March 2006

Detail

The figure of eight can be thought of as either a circle that has been twisted in which case tightening the curvature to pull towards the centre of the circle (the node or nexus of the eight) requires an increase in energy or intensity, or it can be thought of as a central seed from which expand in turn two embracing loops, in which case a surge or pump of swallowing (open-expand-embrace-close) energy is required each time a loop is generated. In the first case a full-size image already exists of the eight, and the body or mind just traces it out. In the second case the eight exists in tiny embryo form and is “grown” anew each time it is expressed. Both are useful. If the intensity is increased when tracing or generating figures of eight then the eights want to speed up and reduce in size (tighten), but also we find that if the body remains relaxed then those parts of the eight that are generally slack (those parts the body finds easy) tend to flesh out with intricate details. These details are in fact tiny and very fast figures of eight embedded within the path of the main figure of eight. A figure of eight requires two waist turns (left followed by right or vice versa) so an intense figure of eight with much detail will require many waist turns - a vibrating waist.

1 comment

Caroline Ross said...

Here, a week of T'ai Chi with Mark almost completed, 10 of us spiralling, yielding to the best of our abilities. Working together in a group with one's teacher is such a gift. Yesterday: in-figure-eighting / invigorating - ourselves, but mainly each other. Contagious deepening group energy.