I Wonder If René Descartes Enjoyed Dancing

Hi folks,

There are two famous quotes by Frenchmen about the nature of life, “Je pense donc je suis” (I think, therefore I am [Cogito ergo sum] - René Descartes, philosopher) and “Rien n’est vrai comme ce qu’on sent“ (Nothing is as true as what one feels - Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, poet). One says he exists because he thinks and the other states that it’s really all about feelings. Two halves of one whole, as expressed in the sailing ship analogy of ‘The Prophet,’ by Khalil Gibran, “Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.” You need them both, with the sail (emotion or passion) providing the energy or will to act, and the rudder (reason) dictating the course of action. My decisions have largely been dominated by reason, to the point that I have in the past been insensitive to other people’s feelings, and I just could not understand why dancing was pleasurable. This deficit is being corrected through my studies of Continuum with Rebecca, which are teaching me the joy of feeling the dance.

I had a fascinating dance lesson today, which reminded me of some of my martial arts training years ago in which ‘feeling actions’ played an important role. The real issue for an athlete is to harness the power of your mind. Jack Heggie demonstrates this beautifully in his book, ‘Running With The Whole Body.’ My lesson today was a great reminder of this fact, and once again I felt the power of using one’s body differently, avoiding muscular force to embrace the flow of energy in my tissues.

You have to experience this to really get it, but I can promise you that it works, generating a feeling of effortless fluid motion. However, in order for it to work (sorry René) you have to stop thinking (I don’t think, therefore I dance)

-k @FitOldDog

 Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.