Walking on stones

For two years now I've been noticing a habit that has developed over years of training in dance. And I've been doing Klein technique as a way to 'reprogramme' my alignment. The trouble is, most of my walking has been in cities, even to the Klein technique class. How can a body function most efficiently in an environment that is so undermining to the structural complexity of the human body?

My study is primarily based upon the feet although as anyone interested in movement study will know is that no one part of the body can be considered in isolation.

A habit builds from repetitive action, habits in themselves aren't bad but movement can degenerate, muscular memory 'forgetting' the original discovery of the most efficient way. However how can we forget in a environment that is constantly changing? We need a constant for something to become a given and therefore accommodate habitual activity. Why does human nature seek this constant when it is change itself that facilitates life?

And what is Klein technique if not a habit, an exceptional habit? Like meditation this practice brings awareness of self and self in a structural, functional way. Self in relation to environment. This 'habit' of noticing therefore leads us to see the physical disadvantage we are immersed in through urban living. Klein technique exists because we are constantly battling against the health problems caused by city living. The interactivity of the Wii is a pointer of the commercial ventures embarked upon to ensure a new form of materiality.

Recently I went to a fancy shoe shop out of interest to see what the foot specialist would recommend for me. In their shop they had a machine that sensed the distribution of weight through the feet which is specfically what I was interested in. After being measured and observed I was recommended a pair of inserts for my shoes, specially to give support for the contours of my feet and my weight distribution. They were approximately £120. I could not understand the purpose of these insteps if it meant that after I had removed my shoes, my body would have no continued support of it's own alignment and walking patterns. It seemed like argonomics was crossing into body censorship of the thereaputic kind.

After months practicing Klein technique my body is further toward recognising the most efficient way to walk but still failing to attain it in everyday life. How relieved was I today to discover the pleasure and body's mind while walking over stones. There are 26 bones in each foot and each had a purpose. When so much of every day while I am walking in the city I feel as if I may as well have wheels or blocks for feet. If humans change an environment it is only a matter of time before solutions are found (and marketed) to the problems that are created. For every solution a problem is created. My personal problem is a growing adversion to urban/city spaces and how I physically interact with them.

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