[Last modified: November, 20 2024 12:47 PM]
Walking to the climbing gym, it is cold and I am wrapped up in layers and scarves. Unfamiliar to winter climates, the cold makes me curl up into myself. I feel the freshness on my skin, enhancing the feeling I have on my moving legs, but my mind too, feels frozen and in limitation. I can’t think properly, only focus on my destination, although the changing leaves never fail to catch my awe and attention.
Arriving at the gym, my body slowly starts to warm up and my brain defrosts. Warming up is a routine—I move my head in circles, stretch my arms up high and move gently through my entire body, feeling each sensation and muscle stretch, focusing on the areas of tension, all the while watching other climbers and their unique styles—warming up the mind. As I move intentionally in this way, I connect with my body and feel myself entering new levels of embodiment. My awareness dissipates throughout my body, leading to more inclusive perceptions of the environment and my being in it.
I begin with easy routes, as I gradually feel into my body and practice movements, focusing on nuances. When climbing, there are learned ways of moving the body that focus on balance, flexibility, orientation and control, all which require and reinforce a highly embodied, subtle and intentional movement. Actions are performed in this way. When on the wall, one’s entire focus (mind and body) is on the route and it is a moment of deep presence. There are multiple senses engaged in navigating the route—eyesight and mind to think it through, and the touch of the fingers and hands to feel the holds. There are so many diverse ways that climbers climb—some more embodied and elegant, some less, relying instead on explosiveness, strength and determination.
Gradually progressing to more challenging routes, frustrations arise as well as feelings of accomplishment and bliss as I complete a route. After descending in less elegant ways, I take periods of rest and grounding, usually sitting on the mats. I feel the soreness of my muscles as the mind wanders or blanks or observes other climbers and their techniques—learning what I am able from them and this culture of movement. After the session, I cool down with stretching, turning inwards and observing my tired and engaged body. I am in an embodied, connected and satisfied state.