Bounty of Murmations, Exaltations of Larks

 One of natures greatest and most fleeting phenomena

Take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh…..
From a birds eye view humans walk, stop, run, and dance  en masse.
Exalt in life’s dance. Move with it, occupy and witness it. “The time of the lone wolf is over.” The more you emphasize the joy of following, the greater the collective dance. Flock for fun!

 

To create improvisational ensemble, use InterPlay’s directions for Walk Stop Run.
(You can have music playing throughout or start the music when you are actually ready to Walk, Stop & Run.)
Walk in any direction. Change direction. Change direction again.
Find the edges of the space as well as the center.
Change direction.
Walk backward. If you run into someone say “thank you!”
Walk forward again.
Walk in an unusual path.
Change direction.
Notice who else is in the room.
Walk right by someone.
If you are able, take it into a little run.
Change direction.
And stop.
Walk.
Run.
Stop.
And walk.
Now play with these three elements: Walking, Stopping & Running on your own time and with each other. Ready, go. SimpleThingsAreHoly: Linda Breitag

 
What kind of a flock are you in?
A siege/sedge of bitterns
A peep/brood of chickens
A clattering of choughs
A covert of coots
A herd of cranes
A murder of crows
A trip of dotterel
A dole/dule of doves
A flight of doves
A raft of ducks
A charm of goldfinches
A gaggle of geese
A flight of goshawks
A rasp of guinea fowl
A cast of hawks
A siege of herons
A train of jackdaws
A desert of lapwings
An exaltation of larks
A tidings of magpies
A suit of mallards
A watch of nightingales
A parliament of owls
A pandemonium of parrots
A covey of partridges
A muster of peacocks
A nye of pheasants
A kit of pigeons
A congregation of plovers
A drift of quail
An unkindness of ravens
A parliament of rooks
A wreck of seagulls
A wisp of snipe
A host of sparrows
A murmuration of starlings
A game of swans
A spring of teal
A dole of turtledoves
A fall of woodcocks
A herd of wrens?

 

Discover 1000 ways to InterPlay! Check InterPlay.org to find willing folk.

Raise a hand (like a bird) and connect through body wisdom to friends far and near!

YAY! Disassembly Required: Discernment practice

Take a deep breath, let it out with a sigh.

Lucky us. No matter what, artists thrive! Even when we must disassemble our work, body politic, a pattern or our life!

We can play with it! This is an InterPlay secret!
Deconstruction can be fun!
Disintegration is integrating.
Two do not need to become one.
In discerning, some disassembly is required.
Let it dance!

Enjoy a discernment practice from Dance: The Sacred Art: Discovering the Joy of Movement as Spiritual Practice.

If you need to make a decision between two choices, it can be helpful to do a dance using your two hands. Put one choice in one hand and the other choice in the other hand, and do a dance of decision making. This dance can also be done with a partner, or you could watch two people dancing hand to hand.
Dance of Decision Making
• Press your palms together, then pull them apart. Recognize that push and pull are part of decision making.
• Now, let your two hands flow and come together in random connections. Make different shapes as they connect.
• Bring your hands back together, palm to palm. Notice the feeling of this simple connection.
• Begin to open the space between your palms, letting them move apart.
• Drop your hands, then bring them together again.
• Imagine one hand holding one choice and the other holding the other choice.
• Release your focus or worry about the decision.
• With music or in silence, let the dance evolve any way it wants to. Select a piece of music from Phil Porter’s website. musicplayer.htm
• When you are done, take time to write, or simply take notice of  your body wisdom,  returning to the choices you held in each hand. What do you notice about the relationship of these two choices? Do you feel moved toward one or the other? Has any wisdom offered itself?

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Take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. Shake it all out.
Even in this moment we assemble. Raise a hand in connection to friends far and wide.

Know someone in discernment? Send them this link!

New: The Boldness Report!

Take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. In our world, that’s a bold move.

People today are getting bolder by:
–dancin’ down grocery stores aisles! (Thanks Levity Project!)

–occupyin’ public space in complex, messy, creative wholeness to stand up for human needs, inventing group hand signals like “irrelevant elephant,”to signal a speaker on a mic when he/she is off topic, and human mic, using call and response to tell a big crowd key news.
–infiltrating spiritual care as patients learn the power of prayer in a hand dance and mental health experts watch struggling folk find joy by encouraging them to move, sing, speak in made up languages, and shake it out.
…Bolder yet? A government diversity officer proposed InterPlay to her city as a wellness strategy.

Harriet Platts, InterPlay leader in Seattle invented the boldness report to claim the wonder of fearless play, the fast track to well being.

Ready to embolden your own public display of body wisdom?

Practice Flaps Up! Flaps Down!

Flaps Up!  Lift your arms up in the air. Reach up with heart and soul into space, the big All!
Flaps Down! Gather that openness back into yourself, bringing your arms down easy at your side. Savor inner spaciousness.

Lift your Flaps to get out of yourself, connect to something bigger. It feels good to exercise your wings. Give your boldness a nudge! Some chronically melancholy folk consistently counteract the blues with this move!

Flaps Up! Stretch into heaven! Flaps down, bring spaciousness into your little body.

To the music of InterPlayer Soyinka Rahim raise a hand to connect with others, dancing on behalf of a million bold, life-giving connections.

Did you know there’s over 250,000 InterPlay connections counted on our website? Let’s party and count your 2011 connections with boldness reports of surprising InterPlay moments that made it into your world. Read connection stories on  InterPlay’s website by clicking here!

Wheeeee. Now take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh!