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Thank you. This piece has pulled on all sorts of threads yet there is something particular coming up for me, a half-remembered segment of a teacher speaking or from a book. Something about the mirror itself and how it reflects unconditionally whatever appears and leaning into that quality of the mirror rather than the appearances is the ‘practice’. It feels really helpful to have bee reminded of this image 😀

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May 17·edited May 17Author

Oh that is profound; thank you for pointing to that quality, it reminds me in turn of the phrase 'mirror-like awareness' from the Buddhist meditation traditions. In other words, awareness that is purely reflective, clear and not judgmental or corrective.

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🙏🏼💖🌺🐝 lvzzzz

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What comes to mind is the difference between "part" and "aspect". A part is something separate, that can be abstracted and seen as an independent whole. An aspect is always connected to something else; one side of a coin, that always suggests something of the other side.

Movement is about aspects; the body in movement suggesting the internal state. Ironically, when we elevate the internal state, we may be committing this sin of partitioning the self.

The mirror certainly tempts this, and the effect is parasitic.

Thank you for sharing your experiences (and this brilliant Magritte quote!).

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Thank you Flynn. The distinction you're drawing between part and aspect strikes me because in Laban movement we talk about the Part/Whole as one of the fundamental themes of movement. Being a (non)dual pair they are inseparable, but sometimes we forget that and get lost in one half or Part of the Whole.

I have been appreciating many of your recent posts, especially the ones on anxiety. Happy to be connected here on substack.

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