One of the methods that my directors have always fallen back upon to teach rhythm to notoriously-rhythmically-challenged vocalists is called eurhythmics. I don’t mean the fun 80s pop kind, but rather the method of linking music to movement. The idea is pretty simple. You move on the beats that you feel in the measure, whether that be the bigger ones or in smaller subdivision. By engaging your whole body, hypothetically you are feeling the music better, and therefore singing better. (Of course, if you’re me, you’re also two seconds away from falling, you lose some of the grace the movement was intended to provide.)
Which is why the following passages about walking meditation in Guarantana struck me:
We walk slowly not only so that we can observe the details of the movements but also so that we can watch what is going on in our minds…
When we are mindful of walking as it actually is, it is also easier to understand that it is not a self or soul that does the walking. All of this activity has not been made possible by some permanent being inside us. It arises interdependently because of causes and conditions, which we can train ourselves to notice.
It’s amazing, the power of the mind-body connection, even in something as simple and straightforward as walking. For me, it truly brings home the idea of the body as an instrument, and the mind as an extension of the body.
Maureen 