"Non-Directed Body Movement" (NDBM)

Once the body's tensegrity starts diminishing it stays diminished,
and the resulting locked-in tissues become exaggerated over time,
creating a self-generating feedback loop. There aren't too many ways to
restore reduced tensegrity --- the methodologies of our culture work
with biochemistry more easily than with the physics of structure. By
remaining in a cause-and-effect relationship with matter, an understanding
of any new premise cannot enter into the equation.  But once we say, "is
there some other way," we become liberated from the educational box we
are limited by, and are again free to roam in the world of unrecognized
potentials.

The new premise we're proposing is one of participation, of a total
inclusiveness of the entire system that we call a human, and employing
awareness as the methodology of participation.

Tensegrity is the most generalized way of understanding a body. We've
become masters of specialization --- and not just masters, but extreme
experts. The specialization of the nervous system has been ongoing
for probably the last 3,000 years and has accelerated incredibly in
the last century. We identify with our brains. But to repair requires
generalization. To evolve requires generalization. The whole organism
comes back into play and we need a model that recognizes the indivisible
wholeness of the entire human system --- and not just physical, but what
we might call personality traits, emotions, thoughts, consciousness,
the "I" itself - all become projections of the tensegrity of matter,
structure.

Feelings are the way (we are familiar with) that the body tries to
restore tensegrity. They are our clue that tensegrity has been lost. So
any attempts we make to not feel and deliberate actions we take to change
what we feel stop the process of restoration. Feelings are our route to
repair. They put us on notice that damage has been done, restoration
is required. When we head for the pain killers, the antidepressants,
the anti-inflammatories, the alcohol, the food, the favorite addiction,
we have very abruptly stopped the process of restoration

But there are many more subtle ways we interrupt restoration. Our
experiences at the Mill have generated a list of the more common ways
we've all tried to inhibit ourselves from feeling during awareness
sessions and in daily life.  Some of these "inhibitory methods" have
become culturally promoted techniques for survival in a very amped up
and stressful postmodern society. Yoga, which most likely began during
a time and culture where following the body's lead was accepted, has
become boxed into a very structured technique. Body alignment must be
just so, postures must look just like this, timing must be rigidly
adhered to. Stretching, which the body uses to bring oxygen flow to
an awakening structure, has now become a tyrannical imposition used
to fight off the contracting forces of daily stress. What used to be a
gentle participation in the cycle of sleep is now a survival tool for
cause-and-effect conflict... etc.