A Movement Practice for Westerners?

The mission

Hello, it’s Kevin.

Happy Spring Equinox! I want to tell you about my new project and what to expect from this Substack newsletter.

Let’s get psychophysical.

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The problem

A central problem in the Western philosophical tradition – whether it is known or unknown – is the lack of a movement based mind-body practice.

The West has no movement practice similar to yoga, Tai Chi, walking meditations, and the sacred dances etc. we find in other cultures and traditions.

And at the same time our posture and coordination get worse, our attention spans get shorter, and we can’t consciously control our minds or bodies for more than a few minutes.

Do you think these two trends might be related…?

The mission

My task is to (re)discover the West’s missing movement practice.

A movement based mind-body practice that is part of the Western wisdom tradition itself, and not just extracted and imported from other cultures.

I don’t have all the answers – this isn’t gurumaster coming down from the mountain! – but I will be sharing my ongoing learning with you.

There will be short essays on Substack, plus training videos in different lengths and formats, available here and on Youtube. You can also have 1 to 1 lessons with me.

Background

The first question to ask is: why is the Western tradition lacking a movement based mind-body practice?

There are three possibilities, either:

1. The West never had a movement practice, it’s one of the things that makes the west different from other cultures, for better and/or worse.

2. The West did have a movement practice but it was lost and forgotten at some point in time, and never recovered. Or:

3. The West does have a movement practice but it survives in a fragmented form, different pieces found in various disciplines and activities, running like a golden thread through the ages.

If you are reading this you can guess that my answer is number 3.

What we’ll explore

The missing practice is based on a principle as old as human beings – but the best place to start is with Ancient Greeks.

Imagine some sort of discipline that is halfway between philosophy and athletics. I think the Ancient Greeks left us clues to such a practice in their sculptures, art and writings.

But this is not a philosophy of movement where theory and practice are still separate – which for us moderns is literal: a philosophy department over here and a gymnasium over there, different places, different people.

What we need is: Philosophy in Movement.

We moderns can barely imagine what such an integrated discipline would even look like. It’s not just reading some Plato then going for a run (although sounds fun, brb.)

Do you think the ancient Greeks didn’t apply mathematics and philosophy directly to war and athletics? Or their “intellectual” arts didn’t grow out of their “physical” arts in the first place? And in fact, it’s our modern splitting of the two realms that makes us blind to everything “in between?”

What’s more, I’m convinced that such a psychophysical practice has been formulated into a learnable technique once again, in our own time.

So what is this mysterious technique – and where can you learn it? Well, that’s the purpose of my upcoming series of mini-essays and training videos.

Who this is for

This is an ongoing, long term project, for a dedicated group of practitioners.

We need to think in terms of cultivating a “spiritual practice” that people will still be doing in 1000 years.

We won’t pretend this will solve the spiritual crisis in the West, it’s too far gone, at least in its current form. Our role here is planting seeds for whatever comes next. Let’s be good ancestors.

We need more people who can reduce philosophical ideas down to practical procedures, while at the same time lift up existing practices into their wider philosophical context.

My original plan was to package all these videos into an online course and sell it for $99 etc. You know the drill.

But this contradicts my method which is to bridge the gap between theory and practice. We need to work on both at the same time - what we’ve forgotten in the West.

And if the technical, how-to information is hidden away behind a paywall it will be harder for me to “find the others.”

So I will be sharing what I learn here, for free.

Join me on this journey

All of these essays and videos - and 1-to-1 online lessons – will be based in the spirit of the gift economy.

I’m not a land owning Athenian aristocrat – and don’t have many cattle to sacrifice to the gods – so if you want to help me keep this free, you can become a subscriber.

You’ll see an option here to become a paid subscriber at $7 a month or $70 a year. The paid subscription content is exactly the same as free. It’s just for those who want to give extra encouragement and support me and my work.

I’ll keep you updated on where the money goes… I promise only a little will be spent on stockpiling the sweet, sweet Cyprus honey that fuels my brain…

Thanks for reading,

Kevin

P.S. Please get in touch if you’re working on something similar! This is only one piece of the puzzle…