I just listened to a podcast about how babies learn to speak (严艺家 Yán Yìjiā, Ep. 150). Before a baby is born, while still inside the womb, the speaker said, “The baby can hear the sounds from the outside.“

I stopped for a moment, and I realised: “At this point, the baby has no concept of »outside«. Nor of »inside«. The baby has no experience of this difference, no concept of it, no knowledge of it.”

I was wondering what that felt like. Can I remember? Can you? Can you remember the time when there was no outside, no inside? What was that world like?

And then, when we were born, we learned about the outside world. We learned the difference between being inside and outside an embrace. Inside and outside the protection of someone. And much later, we learned about being inside and outside a room, inside and outside a house. Inside and outside a country, a culture, a language sphere. Everything is learned.

And little by little, we put words on a lot of that. That’s what I reasoned when I stopped for a moment, while listening to that podcast. That’s what I made up myself, that’s what I thought. “Good podcast,” I said, because it could make me think, because it could tickle that realization out of me.

So what do we learn from all this?

When I teach movement lessons, and you follow along, I hope you do not just follow my instructions of rolling around, but you also stop for a moment. Stop, and make your own discoveries, and realize things that sound most amazing to you.

Just like the podcast, it didn’t tell me the realization. It created the conditions in which I discovered it. And that’s what I want my movement lessons to do.

And when you get up from the floor, after the lesson, you will feel: “What a great insight I just had!” And also: “What a great lesson. What a good teacher that Alfons is.” 😁😇

Thank you for reading.