The Fluid Nature of Being

Foraging is only a part of our human nature. This new book, which I am a contributing author to, celebrates the nature of our bodies to: express, create, connect, heal and move.

My chapter explore the nature of being human. How connecting to our bodies, animals, plants, minerals and the elements can deepen our experience of what it truly means to be a living, breathing human.

Front cover of The Fluid Nature of Being

About the book 'The Fluid Nature of Being'

This book was conceived by Linda Hartley. Linda is my long-term body-awareness and movement teacher and founder of the Institute of Bodywork and Movement Therapy (IBMT).

Each chapter is written by a different IBMT practitioner from a diverse range of perspectives. My co-authors also reside in a range of countries: UK, German, Russia and Lithuania. We all share the common ground of completing the 3 year diploma training in IBMT.

The book is made up of six parts, spanning themes of: Body and Earth, Embryology, Birth, Therapeutic Practices (themes of holding and trauma) and Dance Research. There is also additional links to video material and poetry related to some of the chapters.

Ch. 2. Becoming Nature by Rachel Lambert

My chapter was inspired by my experiences of: foraging, time in nature, interactions with animals and somatic explorations. 'Soma' means to experience the body from within.

I explore questions of what it means to be a fully-fledged human being and the role of presence, acceptance and change. The text is interspersed with my own nature writing and excerpts from my movement journal.

I start by naming the separation of Human and Nature;

We have transitioned as a society from forager to farmer, from soil to concrete, from manual to mechanized, from heart to head. Our relationship to ourselves and our surroundings has changed considerably. One such change is an increased sense of disconnection from nature.
Becoming Nature by Rachel Lambert (The Fluid Nature of Being, Part 1, p.23, edited by Linda Hartley)

Chapter by forager and movement practitioner Rachel Lambert

I then go on to ask what it is to be a 'nature being' and how to 'sense as nature intended'. Other sub-headings include; What part of nature am I? Cows, skin and the environment. The natural evolution of change.

I sit up against the bark of a solid yet flexible tree, its age and wisdom talking to me in ways that words cannot. I know its roots, entangled with a network of mycelium below me, will be communicating with other trees about threats and fine-tuning their immune responses naturally - sensing not through a brain, as such, but through a broader intelligence.
Excerpt from Ch. 2 Becoming Nature in The Fluid Nature of Being

Who is the Fluid Nature of Being for?

Anyone interested in body and nature, practitioners of healing, body therapies, dance or collective health. I have loved reading the different perspectives on the nature of the body. The chapters offered are diverse in their style and content.

Mari Joyce's chapter (excerpt above) describes how Authentic Movement can help us navigate the ups and downs of life, including how to live with uncertainty. She writes about how this contemplative movement practice helped her through the pandemic in a compassionate and embodied way.

Chapter by mover and writer Anna Feoktistova

Chapter 8 by Anna Feoktistova is titled; 'Support on the Path of Motherhood'. Anna takes us with her on her journey through pregnancy to parenting. She describes how to listen to and respond to one's own needs in order to be there for our own children. I'm not a mother, but I found her invitations for body and emotional awareness kind and helpful.

Chapter 19 is written by dancer and movement artist Gaelin Little. I have met and moved with Gaelin a few times. She is a sensitive and mesmerising dancer who writes about the meditative, creative practice of movement from her own perspective. She straddles themes of letting go, solitude and spatial awareness.