In the hit TV series, Once Upon A Time, the beloved children’s story character Peter Pan is a malevolent trickster demon whose shape shifting shadow helps imprison people in an eternal hellish present. The X-Men are all shape shifter heroes, though often tormented by their very powers.
I once asked my sister, if she could be a shape shifter, what she would choose to be. “Ten pounds thinner,” she shot back. But for many of us, shape shifting takes place every moment, as we react/respond to life’s challenges. A hardened face can melt under the influence of a hug. A person can age twenty years in a moment in the face of tragedy.
What shapes do you inhabit? Do you know the characters you portray? Feldenkrais lessons allow us to sense our shape, as well as shift…towards a clearer self-image, a more heroic stance, or just our authentic shape. With greater awareness, we can choose our shape, instead of watching helplessly as our claws or fangs emerge at inopportune moments.
Want to explore the Shapeshifter Archetype more deeply? Join me in Costa Rica this January – Myth, Archetype, Feldenkrais. Oh and did I mention sun and beach?