The other day I was working with a client and as we were talking about bio-mechanics and imagery I said, “ok let’s step out of the world of science…” and then she piped up, ”and into the realm of possibilities.” I paused and let what she said sink in and then I laughed…She stated quite simply a paradox that I have struggled with for a long time. I have a very logical and scientific mind, but there is a part of the world of science that doesn’t sit well with me. In that moment, I flashed back to arguments that I had with a friend who was a scientist…We would argue for hours about double blind studies and proving things and statistics. And I would always ask, “What about the person that doesn’t fit into the statistics?” “What about the people that are within the margin of error?” “How is it possible for a single variable experiment with a control to give us knowledge of complex problems?” These arguments would end with both of us staring at each other…exasperated.
Then, I was introduced in a very general and simple way to systems theory, and chaos theory (my knowledge of these complex fields is so very small) enough to know that in my next life I may come back as a mathematician or physicist…The very few and simplified articles and books I have read, one of which is called Fuller’s Earth: A Day with Bucky and the Kids a book that explains the theories of Buckminster Fuller so that even a child can understand, have opened up my mind to the thought that science isn’t just statistics or the double blind studies that are touted to prove the efficacy of pharmaceutical brands. YAY! I can be a proud scientist again…Except that there is still something else in the definition of science that bugs me. This sent me on an Internet search to see why people who espouse scientific explanation cause the obstinate twitch to come from my being. I found it in the following definition:
Science: the state of knowing: knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding
OH PLEASE!!! I’m sorry but that definition illustrates it all. My problem is not with science; my problem is with the hierarchy of it all! Who is to say that scientists are the only ones that are searching for the world’s truth? What about the truths that artists portray in paintings or on stage? What about the truths spoken of in the world’s spiritual centers? What about the profound truths spoken by children? What about the truths that come from the body?
Why do we grasp onto our own truths like bulldogs that are playing tug-o-war? Don’t get me wrong I know that scientists are not the only bulldogs in this world. I guess my problem is with the tug-of-wars. Can’t we all learn to listen and empathize with ideas that are outside of our worldview? And better yet could we allow these ideas to enter into our worldview and see how they fit? Can we creatively weave opposing ideas together into brand new ideas? What would it take to do this? AND WHAT THE HECK DOES THIS POST HAVE TO DO WITH PILATES?
A person that works with an instructor at the Pilates Studio is working with a person that is well versed in biomechanics, anatomy and physiology. This person is working with a Pilates instructor that understands the science of the body, but a person who is working with an instructor at The Pilates Studio is also working with an instructor that will meet the client wherever he or she is in time, space and knowledge. There is a profound respect at the Pilates Studio for the body’s knowledge that may be unexplainable! There is a profound respect for the mysteries that may take the student on a movement path that has no end or answer. The instructor and the student are a team without hierarchy! Science and Art work as one with the mysteries of the world at The Pilates Studio. We often step outside the world of science and into the realm of possibilities.
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