Developing Somatic Awareness In Creative Practice Through Writing And Movement

This manuscript reflects upon the experience of developing a creative practice using a somatic awareness of the body in moving and in writing. Moving and writing are often perceived as expressions of the dualistic body and mind framework inherited from a Cartesian society, each aspect having little to do with the other, and the body subordinate to the mind. However, reflective language can be a powerful tool towards gaining new bodily insights, and moving can be a tool in finding one’s own authentic voice in writing. Over the course of four months, a creative studio practice was developed to find a way to integrate moving and writing from a felt sense of the body and the emotions residing therein. Through the use of somatic awareness, internal and external sensory information was collected and then expressed through the body and through writing. By creating a practice that alternated between moving and writing continuously, language was allowed to inform movement, and movement was allowed to inform language. While this practice physically manifested through dance and poetry, integrating the Cartesian conception of body and mind, it also helped the practitioner integrate the body and mind in an internal and personal manner, allowing the practice to have therapeutic effects. Finally, the practitioner choreographed a dance, using the research process as a score to explore the interaction of writing and dancing in front of an audience during a performance, as well as using movement vocabulary developed from the creative practice in ways that felt pleasurable and expressive for the body.