Duchamp and twists

So if you live in Philadelphia and have been to the Museum of Art you might recognize this painting by Marcel Duchamp. It’s the Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2.

Once I heard a seated twist described as your spine opening up like a spiral staircase. This Duchamp painting popped into my head. It’s been the image in my mind every time I do a seated twist. What I like about the painting and seated twists are the multi-directional action that is happening and the many parts of the body that flow when the spine spins. The painting makes it even more poetic and beautiful to imagine that is what is happening in my body.

How often do we really see our bodies and the position we put them into as beautiful and poetic. Typically we’re seeing or imagining how they look from the outside. But what about what’s happening on the inside. Sure there are bones, and muscles and blood and nerves. But it’s also energy and nothing short of miraculous that we can move in so many ways.

What if every movement of your body was like a beautiful Duchamp painting? Not being judged by how it looks from the outside, but how it feels from the inside. Just imagine…