Finding space

River Ouse between Southease and Rodmell

I grew up in Harrogate…

… a spacious spa town in North Yorkshire.  Now I live in Lewes, a medieval town in East Sussex, tucked into the Downs and characterised by its narrow flint-walled streets.

In architectural terms, ‘space can only be created through the use of form’*. Think of the way European cathedrals encourage your thoughts and prayers to float heavenwards, and how they make human beings feel small and insignificant.

When visiting a friend who’d set up a work station in the area under the stairs I noticed he was pulling in his shoulders and elbows.  He felt he needed to make himself smaller to fit in; but in reality he had plenty of room - an example of our faulty sensory awareness playing tricks on us.

On the other hand you get people on trains and planes who spill over into their neighbours’ space. I’ll be charitable and assume they are unaware of what they’re doing rather than knowing but not caring.

‘The relationship between a building and its surrounding is … a critical part of design’*. This relationship is important for humans too but, unlike a building, we can adapt to suit our surroundings.

Habitual hunching

We don’t want to make ourselves smaller unless it is absolutely necessary. Habitual hunching impedes our breathing and digestion. So it’s important to use all our senses (not just sight, but proprioception, hearing, smell, temperature perception, etc.) to help us function in the best possible way.

To help ourselves find our balance, and know where we are in space, we ask not to tighten muscles unnecessarily, because when we do, we interfere with the way information is transmitted around the body. We don’t need to grip around our joints; on the contrary, we want them to be free to move as required. It’s almost as if we are expanding in all directions into the space around us, like bread dough that’s been left in a warm place to prove.

How to understand space

Edmund de Waal wrote: ‘All the philosophy in Japan is about the inside of vessels. The Zen philosophy is all about how to understand space.’ Imagine your body calmly doing what it needs to do - and no more - just as it’s easier to work with a tidy desk, uncluttered by extraneous and distracting objects.

Being outdoors and away from buildings can help you tap into the idea of 3D expansion. You have fresh air all around and above you, with the support of the earth beneath your feet. You can breathe freely, away from traffic fumes and other annoyances. You have more than enough room to expand. This often frees up your thinking, as though the breeze is blowing away the cobwebs in your head. The Dutch even have a word for this: uitwaaien

So how does one face the challenge of the streets of Lewes?

Notice what’s happening around you. Look and listen. Let your feet absorb information from the pavement and send it up to your brain, through a springy and responsive body, while the top of your head connects with the spacious sky above. Your neck is released, your jaw soft, and you’re alert and ready to respond – should you need to. Most of all, stay back in your back, i.e. don’t allow yourself to be pulled forward in space and time. Enjoy each moment of movement as it happens!

* Taken from Gio Valle’s website.