103 Comments
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Michelle Akin's avatar

This is the most compelling piece of writing to enter my inbox in as long as I can remember. I’m still digesting. Wow. Incredible work.

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Wow, thank you so much and thank you for reading, Michelle! šŸ’“šŸ’“

daniel brottman's avatar

fr!

Simon Ohler's avatar

what a fine combination of black and white ink splotches; exquisite bold and italics, and the ongoing recombination of letters tickles and tingles my brain =]

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Lol. Thanks for opting in to the brain tickles and tingles, Simon!

Ilona Vinogradova's avatar

I’ve been shaking my bones for joy for three years - qi gong, tai chi, CI, other somatic movements- and it’s exactly that - shaking your bones and dismantling your inner bricks so you can get to your inner child. I always liked to move and dance but only recently I’ve realised how movement - that shaking of your bones for joy - helps you to dismantle your inner bricks.

Thank you for the piece! Hope more and more people will try it - will shake their bones consistently and for long enough to liberate their walled-up inner child

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Thanks so much for sharing, Ilona! Wonderful to hear about your journey. What is CI? I'm curious!

Ilona Vinogradova's avatar

It stands for contract improvisation dance. Steve Paxton developed this form in the early 1970s, drawing from his experience with modern dance, aikido, and the Judson Dance Theater . Whenever I go in the world I always find a CI community now - it’s an interesting tribe :)

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Oh yeah, I know CI! Very cool. Sometimes I think about mixing qigong with dance—I didn’t even think about making it more than a solo practice!

daniel brottman's avatar

wow, beautiful writing alex. you'll be an amaaaazing qigong teacher :D

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Thank you Daniel! Hope we can meditate and do qigong together sometime soon! ā¤ļø

daniel brottman's avatar

yaaa i'd love that <3

Kristin Posehn's avatar

This is electric!! A dimension of qi gong I haven't seen before and didn't know existed... feels like you're melding and smelting something new, earthy, cosmic, and utterly delicious.

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Thanks Kristin! And thanks for all your support and coaching through this piece. It wouldn’t exist without you!

Chris Mellen's avatar

I love qui gong it is the one movement practice that always makes me feel good. What you've written is a children's story for adults about bringing back play and aliveness into the world. And don't forget dancing. I try to dance at least once a month it is the best form of "somatic therapy"

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

I love dancing too!! And I also do qigong because it always makes me feel good. Sometimes I dream about doing a dance > qigong class.

Love the frame of a children’s story for adults—thanks for reading!

Elisha's avatar

This. Was. Incredible.

Thank you so much.

I've felt that feeling once, returning to my body and feeling the energy circulate. And while I read this, I remembered it. It was 18 years ago once in a drama class at school. The first time and last time I felt in my body and not my mind. You just returned something back to me that I will now seek, knowing it was real. Thank you 🫶

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Hi Elisha, wow thank you so much for your deep reflections. What were you doing in that drama class?

May it feel easeful, flowing, and safe for you to feel at home in your body.

Clare Stevenson's avatar

Beautiful piece - so glad the algorithm found it for me! I’m going out the park to shake! 🤩

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Yesss do it! Lmk how it goes!

Clare Stevenson's avatar

Alexandra - I went dancing šŸ•ŗ- I twirled and jumped and shook - and felt many times better xx

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Yesssss!!! So glad to hear! Thanks so much for reporting back! šŸ’—šŸ«”

Cynthia Rylander Crossen's avatar

Oh, I love this so much, Alex!!! And I love shaking these bones for joy with you šŸ’žšŸ„°šŸ’–

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Same! Looking forward to the next round 🄰

grnplanet's avatar

I read it twice. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you writing this.

I remembered an indescribable energy that I felt while bouncing on a trampoline!

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you bounce on a trampoline and feel that energy again soon šŸ’—

Vvvvvv's avatar

Wow

So beautifully written and even that falls short

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Thanks so much for reading and for your kind comment, Vvvvvv šŸ’—

Dhare D Pal's avatar

This is beautiful! It felt like a guided meditation at the end I felt calm and energized as it happens after a good meditation.

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Thanks Dhare! Love the comparison to a guided meditation. Wishing you great joy!

David Todd's avatar

Simply beautiful. An absolute stunner of a piece of writing. Thank you.

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

David, thanks so much for reading and for your kind words! Wishing you great joy šŸ’—

Kimbra's avatar

This shook MY bones just reading and I'm so grateful to have stumbled upon this. Thank you. Truly.

Alexandra @ Inner Pathing šŸ’—'s avatar

Oh wow hi Kimbra! Thanks so much for reading and for your music! Wishing you great joyous bone-shaking šŸ’—šŸ’—

boscohorowitz's avatar

That corpse wasn't planted in clover;

Ah, nothing of her was found

Save those grey bones that Hare-foot Mike

Gave me for their lovely sound;

And as once her dancing body

Made star-lit princes sweat,

So I'll just clack: though her ghost lacks a back

There's music in the old bones yet. F.R. Higgins

boscohorowitz's avatar