Work in Movements

“In man, as in the universe, everything is in movement. Nothing stays still or remains the same. Nothing lasts forever or ends completely. All that lives evolves or declines in an endless movement of energy. The laws underlying this universal process were known to ancient science, which assigned man his proper place in the cosmic order. According to Gurdjieff, sacred dances, handed down over the centuries, embodied the principles of this knowledge, allowing it to be approached in a dynamic and direct way”.

The Reality of Being (pg. 122)

Movements are an important form of work on oneself and are particular to the Gurdjieff teaching.

The Reality of Being (pg. 122)

Movements are an important form of work on oneself and are particular to the Gurdjieff teaching.

These are definite and precisely given postures which are practiced in tandem with music composed by Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann. Work in Movements is done under the guidance of a Movements teacher and with a group of fellow searchers. The Movements are not meant to be learnt or practiced alone. As in other forms of exploration, attention is the key to work in Movements.
“These Movements have a double aim. By requiring a quality of attention maintained on several parts at the same time, they help us to get out of the narrow circle of our automatism. And through a strict succession of attitudes, they lead us to a new possibility of thinking, feeling and action. If we could truly perceive their meaning and speak their language, the Movements would reveal to us another level of understanding”

The Reality of Being (pg. 122)

In The Reality of Being, Madame de Salzmann explains that Gurdjieff used Movements “adapting them to correspond to the phase of the work”. He would give certain exercises to direct the attention to that which was not developed. This could be the sensation or it could be the thought that was “not free and could not be open to a subtle energy.” Experiencing these through Movements allowed the pupil to understand better and see how to find this quality in life. Simultaneously, the work in Movements facilitates a direct experience of the laws that govern the transformation of energy.

“At the moment of a particular movement we no longer think of the movement past or the movement to come. We are not trying to express the form of a movement, an attitude that we make ourselves assume. We are entirely attentive to an energy that needs to be free to remain contained in the body in a certain way. One can know it only in subjecting oneself to it. … The Movements can show us how to be in life, how to experience Presence… Through the Movements, when all the energies are related, a new energy is produced. We can feel it. It has another quality, another force, and a consciousness that ordinarily we do not have.”

The Reality of Being (pg. 123)

The Movements are not just exercises or dances. Those who ‘bring’ the movements to others in a group have a grave responsibility as “We have to be very careful in changing the Movements, particularly the order of attitudes that expresses a law. Each attitude, each gesture, has its place, its length, its proper weight. If there is a mistake or if something new is introduced, the whole meaning can be distorted.”

The Reality of Being (pg. 126)

Movements are a call to a relationship with higher modes of being. This can be through a call to inward focused silent movements or through strongly affirming external postures. At these moments, it may be possible to witness the relationship between the automatism and a more essential aspect of oneself.
“There are two categories of Movements and they proceed in opposite ways. In quiet Movements, one can be related with a higher world and one sees one’s remoteness from it; and one has remorse. In these Movements, one has been freed from the usual worldly movements, and the music and the slow gestures all help one relate with the higher world, and one is quiet and receptive. The stronger Movements do the same by affirmation. I affirm myself, but only because I am related with a higher energy.”

Madame de Dampierre, as quoted in Heart Without Measure (pg. 49)

Work in Movements

“In man, as in the universe, everything is in movement. Nothing stays still or remains the same. Nothing lasts forever or ends completely. All that lives evolves or declines in an endless

movement of energy. The laws underlying this universal process were known to ancient science, which assigned man his proper place in the cosmic order. According to Gurdjieff, sacred dances, handed down over the centuries, embodied the principles of this knowledge, allowing it to be approached in a dynamic and direct way”.

The Reality of Being (pg. 122)

Movements are an important form of work on oneself and are particular to the Gurdjieff teaching.

These are definite and precisely given postures which are practiced in tandem with music composed by Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann. Work in Movements is done under the guidance of a Movements teacher and with a group of fellow searchers. The Movements are not meant to be learnt or practiced alone. As in other forms of exploration, attention is the key to work in Movements.
“These Movements have a double aim. By requiring a quality of attention maintained on several parts at the same time, they help us to get out of the narrow circle of our automatism. And through a strict succession of attitudes, they lead us to a new possibility of thinking, feeling and action. If we could truly perceive their meaning and speak their language, the Movements would reveal to us another level of understanding”

The Reality of Being (pg. 122)

In The Reality of Being, Madame de Salzmann explains that Gurdjieff used Movements “adapting them to correspond to the phase of the work”. He would give certain exercises to direct the attention to that which was not developed. This could be the sensation or it could be the thought that was “not free and could not be open to a subtle energy.” Experiencing these through Movements allowed the pupil to understand better and see how to find this quality in life. Simultaneously, the work in Movements facilitates a direct experience of the laws that govern the transformation of energy.

“At the moment of a particular movement we no longer think of the movement past or the movement to come. We are not trying to express the form of a movement, an attitude that we make ourselves assume. We are entirely attentive to an energy that needs to be free to remain contained in the body in a certain way. One can know it only in subjecting oneself to it. … The Movements can show us how to be in life, how to experience Presence… Through the Movements, when all the energies are related, a new energy is produced. We can feel it. It has another quality, another force, and a consciousness that ordinarily we do not have.”

The Reality of Being (pg. 123)

The Movements are not just exercises or dances. Those who ‘bring’ the movements to others in a group have a grave responsibility as “We have to be very careful in changing the Movements, particularly the order of attitudes that expresses a law. Each attitude, each gesture, has its place, its length, its proper weight. If there is a mistake or if something new is introduced, the whole meaning can be distorted.”

The Reality of Being (pg. 126)

Movements are a call to a relationship with higher modes of being. This can be through a call to inward focused silent movements or through strongly affirming external postures. At these moments, it may be possible to witness the relationship between the automatism and a more essential aspect of oneself.
“There are two categories of Movements and they proceed in opposite ways. In quiet Movements, one can be related with a higher world and one sees one’s remoteness from it; and one has remorse. In these Movements, one has been freed from the usual worldly movements, and the music and the slow gestures all help one relate with the higher world, and one is quiet and receptive. The stronger Movements do the same by affirmation. I affirm myself, but only because I am related with a higher energy.”

Madame de Dampierre, as quoted in Heart Without Measure (pg. 49)

Work in Movements

“In man, as in the universe, everything is in movement. Nothing stays still or remains the same. Nothing lasts forever or ends completely. All that lives evolves or declines in an endless movement of energy. The laws underlying this universal process were known to ancient science, which assigned man his proper place in the cosmic order. According to Gurdjieff, sacred dances, handed down over the centuries, embodied the principles of this knowledge, allowing it to be approached in a dynamic and direct way”.

The Reality of Being (pg. 122)

Movements are an important form of work on oneself and are particular to the Gurdjieff teaching.

These are definite and precisely given postures which are practiced in tandem with music composed by Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann. Work in Movements is done under the guidance of a Movements teacher and with a group of fellow searchers. The Movements are not meant to be learnt or practiced alone. As in other forms of exploration, attention is the key to work in Movements.
“These Movements have a double aim. By requiring a quality of attention maintained on several parts at the same time, they help us to get out of the narrow circle of our automatism. And through a strict succession of attitudes, they lead us to a new possibility of thinking, feeling and action. If we could truly perceive their meaning and speak their language, the Movements would reveal to us another level of understanding”

The Reality of Being (pg. 122)

In The Reality of Being, Madame de Salzmann explains that Gurdjieff used Movements “adapting them to correspond to the phase of the work”. He would give certain exercises to direct the attention to that which was not developed. This could be the sensation or it could be the thought that was “not free and could not be open to a subtle energy.” Experiencing these through Movements allowed the pupil to understand better and see how to find this quality in life. Simultaneously, the work in Movements facilitates a direct experience of the laws that govern the transformation of energy.

“At the moment of a particular movement we no longer think of the movement past or the movement to come. We are not trying to express the form of a movement, an attitude that we make ourselves assume. We are entirely attentive to an energy that needs to be free to remain contained in the body in a certain way. One can know it only in subjecting oneself to it. … The Movements can show us how to be in life, how to experience Presence… Through the Movements, when all the energies are related, a new energy is produced. We can feel it. It has another quality, another force, and a consciousness that ordinarily we do not have.”

The Reality of Being (pg. 123)

The Movements are not just exercises or dances. Those who ‘bring’ the movements to others in a group have a grave responsibility as “We have to be very careful in changing the Movements, particularly the order of attitudes that expresses a law. Each attitude, each gesture, has its place, its length, its proper weight. If there is a mistake or if something new is introduced, the whole meaning can be distorted.”

The Reality of Being (pg. 126)

Movements are a call to a relationship with higher modes of being. This can be through a call to inward focused silent movements or through strongly affirming external postures. At these moments, it may be possible to witness the relationship between the automatism and a more essential aspect of oneself.
“There are two categories of Movements and they proceed in opposite ways. In quiet Movements, one can be related with a higher world and one sees one’s remoteness from it; and one has remorse. In these Movements, one has been freed from the usual worldly movements, and the music and the slow gestures all help one relate with the higher world, and one is quiet and receptive. The stronger Movements do the same by affirmation. I affirm myself, but only because I am related with a higher energy.”

Madame de Dampierre, as quoted in Heart Without Measure (pg. 49)

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