With the
simple help of a nose plug, an entirely new level of exploration can
take place in aquatic bodywork. Practitioner and recipient establish
signals vis-a-vis breathing rhythms, and once under the surface, the
playful rewards take a quantum leap. "Leap" can be quite
literal, given the number of adventurers of this sort who report experiencing
communion with dolphins, whales or fish-like creatures.
Perhaps because of relinquishing one of the primary anchoring fundamentals
of "normal-reality", namely being upright, and knowing which
way is "up", the underwater work often offers the more fantastic
of the journeys to "the beyond". The range of experience
varies, and is highly individual. The visually inclined may experience
only a spectrum of colors, while others are visited by fairies, elves,
plant or animal spirits. Some are sung to by tribes people, or hear
singing from dear ones who have passed on. Some simply have a wonderful
somatic adventure as a skilled gymnast who can turn a triple back
flip, followed by a full lay-out, then a quadruple twisting whatchamacallit.
The external appearance is unrelated to the depth of inner experience.
Some of the most basic, simple movements may yield precious gems of
inner exploration.
A phenomenon which we have seen repeatedly in the underwater work
is the occurrence of spontaneous, non-directed wave-forms passing
through the body ... akin to a jelly-fish. This experience is similar
to the pioneering movement work of Emilie Conrad D'oaud, "Continuum",
and is affectionately referred to as "going South" in Agua
Alma parlance, as it is the essence of the playful receptivity of
the South direction.