Why Attention to Contact is for Everyone

If you look at any beginner movement class, you'll see widely-varying degrees of bodily awareness. However, regardless of how someone moves, with a little bit of cueing, anyone can feel if they are in contact with the floor or not.

You don’t need skill or imagination to sense your contact with the floor. You may not be paying attention to it most of the time, but it doesn't require anatomical awareness to grasp what 'weight-bearing' is or to notice which of your parts have the most pressure.

Weight bearing is a constant thing (unless you are temporarily airborne, space traveling, or swimming, you are bearing weight, somehow).

Yet, the details of rolling contacts are rarely zeroed in on outside of higher-level movement environments. But...they could be.

What are some of the benefits of focusing in on the details of contact?

  • A better foundation for the rest of the body (ground up alignment);

  • Access to creativity through following your weight shifts;

  • A more sensual experience;

  • Easier access to Flow State.

I like to start movement lessons with things that are very easy to sense. Before asking anyone to mimic a complex pattern or assume an unfamiliar form, I ask them to first bring awareness to what they already do daily. Stand, Sit, Lay, Weight Shift, etc. From there, we make it more pleasurable and more playful, and we turn up the volume on the EXPERIENCE of it all.

In all of my videos and live events, you will see and hear cues that point out the details of weight transfer. Whether you're training at home, or are an instructor looking for new ways to explain movement, paying attention to HOW you contact the floor is a great place to start.