Faculty 4: Movement

Centering Exercises

Center the Mind (f4)

"And I say the sacred hoop of my people was one of the many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father." -Black Elk

Faculty 4 exercises set the stage for stabilizing the hips. Centering the mind + body in relationship with gravity initiates our movement from a reservoir of core strength.

In Faculty 4 Mods, we move through a series of supine exercises that are variations on the traditional Pilates Mat routine. It’s not enough to just go through the motions-- like any “good routine” –the best results come from a commitment to performing the movement in the right way. A core change process demands concentration, discretion and ultimately, precision. Utilizing tactile feedback, sound, gaze and centering techniques, F4 Mods draws upon many checks and balances to highlight the inner alignment of the exercises as the key focus. The goal is to employ the senses, facilitate deep connections and empower centered strength and mobility.

In Faculty 4 Anya, we move through Warrior 1 &2 with one thing on our mind: Where’s center? In these strong shapes that are so easily led by the legs, we channel all of our attention and intention on the stabilization of the Hips. The postures become the muse for an architectural scavenger’s hunt! Locating the sacrum, equalizing the sitz bones, emptying the lower belly and establishing centerline provide a flurry of inner activities – ultimately, promoting a quiet and steady stream of consciousness.

Although Mods and Anya offer different styles of Centering exercises, they share the same vision:

Reunite the mind + body to experience the L.aw O.f V.astness E.xpressing (Love) as the core connection! When the paralysis of analysis has got us beat, quick quick, get up off that seat! Focus on center, stand tall and ground the feet! Individuate the legs and stabilize the hips to feel complete! Send “I think therefore I am” philosophies on retreat. Instead, investigate somatic places like where the sacrum and the spine meet. Empty the clutter of all that binds - light within holds treasures of all kinds!

Increased Attention/Intention on the alignment of the hips is a highly effective practice for harnessing the force within to foster stamina, confidence and healing. The phrase “proximal stability and distal mobility” comes alive as we feel the magnetic resonance of centerline illuminate an internal power, which, in turn, emanates exuberance in the external expression of form. As the extraordinary poet, sculptor and writer, M.C Richards describes, “When we act out of an inner unity, when all of ourselves is present in what we do, then we can be said to be ‘on center.”