Forgotten Friends of the Forest
This week I moved like a worm.
Let me explain. I took class with one of my favorite movement teachers, Kara Duval; she has an online studio called Range, and it’s the only online movement subscription I have ever consistently used. One of her recent themes created storytelling around moving like a worm in the soil. This was a deeply transformative experience in ways I didn’t expect.
Worms don’t have eyes so they tunnel through dirt by feeling their way forward with their bodies. Their body cavities are mostly liquid, and they move by rhythmically contracting the muscles of their body that create “waves” in the liquid that help project the worm forward. So there is an intuitive fluidity to how worms move that Kara captured and transmitted through her storytelling and class structure.
But she also spoke to how worms are deeply important to the foundations of our ecosystems. Worms help to break down decomposing organic matter. They aerate the soil, improve its structure, and create nutrient density that benefits plant growth. They are, as she calls them, “the forgotten friends of the forest.”
While creating wave-like, intuitive motion in my body during her class, I also considered how worms are a reminder that the dark, muddy parts of ourselves should not go unexplored. Rather, we can often grow something beautiful from the dirt. And allowing ourselves to roll around in the mud every now and then, allowing ourselves to be messy and imperfect, is part of the human experience. Moving like a worm this week reminded me that rebirth is a natural part of life and it is open to all of us.
If you would like to experience the absolute magic of Kara’s teaching, below is a link to her collection of free classes on Range. I can’t recommend them enough.