Blue Mind - Where it started
Blue Mind began glowing in the back of my mind during 2019, I was experiencing a lot of panic attacks and began taking note of what took me out of that state: water. Whether that was physical water, a cool shower or splashing my face, or imagery and visualisation. A particular visualisation included a high and wide waterfall, bright green leaves with splashes of cold water that stroked my skin as I passed, and a deep blue pool that trickled into a babbling brook past where I had walked from. This scene naturally came to mind in panicked moments, and I realised that I had been seeing it since I was very young, to help me fall asleep. I was training on my MA course at the time and I also began noticing how water based imagery was really aiding my creativity, technique and ability to pick up corrections. I suddenly began to understand that I had a deeply personal connection with water and upon research, found that it wasn’t just me.
Wallace J Nichols describes the term ‘Blue Mind’ as “the mildly meditative state we fall into when near, in, on or under water”, please see his book under the same title for some more factual information. Personally, I like to have validation and backup from the science about my own experiences and find it fascinating to read about why I respond the way I do. I then use this self-assuredness and found body-intelligence to melt away into the state of mind and physicality that is brought on by water (rather than turning the science into movement per se).
So, I knew that I wanted to dive into personal research on this and therefore I created an installation for my MA thesis aiming to put my individual experiences, thoughts and feelings into a visual so that I could better understand it myself, whilst also beginning to share it with others. I studied photography before moving onto vocational dance training and have an ongoing admiration for the art form, I love how you can capture a specific moment in time that can emote so much and never be honestly replicated. Capturing the moving element of water was something I wanted to play with, not only did it create an intensely mindful task, it also allowed me to hold onto those moments throughout the pressure of a thesis (and the stress of a pandemic!). Savouring moments is also something I am fascinated with in terms of movement and I could see so many links between these art forms and the Blue mind concept; focus, peace, honesty. Unfortunately, this installation ended up being set up in my house because of Covid… However, this did add to the self-reflectiveness of the project because I truly was on my own and searching for a mindfulness tool. I believe that the best situation to be in before sharing ideas with the world, is one of grounding in your own experiences and knowing the reasons why you want to share them.
Blue Mind has been commissioned by Dance City and will come to fruition in Autumn 2021. I’m so grateful that this project is going to continue developing and being shared with audiences, I hope it can help in the movement towards better mental health focus in dance training, as well as in all of society. I hope each person that experiences Blue Mind can take something useful away with them, as well as having a moment of shared calm and relaxation with the performers and their fellow audience members.
I’d highly recommend going on a walk to find a river, stream or even a few puddles now, and I hope to see you and your Blue Mind soon.
Ellie
