the art of bodies in motion



Sunday, January 30, 2011

What is "PranaStretch"? What is "Prana/Pas Seul"?

Prana, meaning "vital energy," is most readily accessed through the breath. Prana and thought flow together. PranaStretch is a yoga-based practice that brings the breath and attention together in the moving body. Riding on the breath, our awareness combs through the inner body, releasing blockages, developing optimal alignment, and an ease, joy and power in moving in the world. This process releases tension which, in turn, opens us to our full range of motion, flexibility and articulation, and enables us to deepen our access to the body's core energy, its strength, wisdom and honest expression. The class is non-competitive and deeply strengthening: an intense yet profoundly relaxing practice.

Moving from the solid foundations of PranaStretch, Soul: pas seul is a physical exploration of relationship: one's relationship with one's environment, one's relation to another being, and one's relationship to many others. Whether in physical contact or not, the work challenges the depth, awareness and honesty of our relationships, as well as awakening us to our interdependence in the world. "Pas Seul" can be translated as 'not alone' as well as 'a single step.' Perhaps we could describe the work as an exploration of the energetics of partnering. It is for anyone, and everyone. We work from where we are and move forward together from there.

This work, developed by Ann Moradian, is originally based on the work of Eric BEELER who, during his life, taught "American Yoga" to professional dancers in New York. In addition to its yogic base and foundational links with Alexander, Pilates and Niklaus Techniques, PranaStretch and Soul: pas seul also incorporate elements from the martial arts, kinesiology and dance. It is, in essence, the dance of each breath as it journeys profoundly inward and flows out again extending that (which is us in that moment) beyond our bodies, out into the world and toward each other.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Yellowstone

YELLOWSTONE © Ann Moradian. All rights reserved.

Rains seldom fall here.
Snowmelt races across rocky shelves
that barre water from soil,
carving valleys into the roots of the rising peaks.
Layers beneath
water wanders
lost,
smelling the life above that calls in thirst.
Heat sets the waters a-broil
to leech out into azure pools
or drip castles down the mountain side
and belch muddy sulphur in relief.
The earth seems still and lifeless with its
stingy speckled green.
Do not be deceived.
This is a volcanic land -
the birthing ground of mountains.

--
Ann Moradian, January 9, 2011


photos copyright 2010, Kenneth L. Tharp.

I wanted to share these photos my father took. The terrain is distinctive and fascinating, though harsh. I tried to put words to the memory of that land -- not quite a poem, but maybe an idea shared.