Being Ready

What has Being Ready come to mean for me? Well, it started with the Gurdjieff Movements but hasn’t ended there.

In the beginning, there was the injunction in movements class not to fidget. To resist the urge to straighten clothing or scratch one’s nose between dances. The idea was to use that time to relax tensions, get collected, clear the mind. In paying attention to that, I found myself conserving energy on the dance floor and worrying less about messing up.

Over the years, available movements classes became less predictable and opportunities more widespread. I could be in a movements class on a seminar at Claymont in West Virginia, participating in an intensive in Greece, or finding myself in a studio in Asheville, North Carolina. All with different teachers and never knowing which movement was about to be introduced. Yet, I’ve also gravitated to the front row of classes where I can’t lean on the person in front of me.

What I found, was that the only way to face not knowing what I am about to encounter is by Being Ready. So, how the heck do I do that?

The Practice of Being Ready

Turns out, Being Ready is a state. Not just a state of mind, but of the whole of oneself. Essentially, I let go of thoughts—worries about messing up. I engender feelings of curiosity and anticipation, rather than fearing the unknown. And yes, I put attention on relaxing bodily tensions (always). This brings me into a stillness that is open and leaves room for the body’s intelligence in matters of movement.

Last week, after forty-eight years of marriage, Jack’s and my anniversary could have been an afterthought. Instead, the practice of Being Ready within myself turned a busy chore-filled day into a celebratory one. Because I was able to adjust my ordinary state, going out to dinner was not just “going out to dinner.” The sense of celebration wasn’t because we went to a special restaurant or gave gifts or from anything external. It was about the internal—being open to the evening, letting go of the day’s concerns, relaxing into the moment, being there with Jack—sharing presence.

My take-away from this, is that the practice of Being Ready can be applied to many situations. What began as an inner exercise in movements class has expanded to a practice I can use in life.