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Guylaine

Asia Shcherbakova 01:40 Before you joined the program, when you saw the information, what was your impression of what it was going to be? What were you expecting from this program?

Guylaine 01:48 I went to watch a few videos online about your method, the Baseworks principles. And so I already had a sense of what you were going to talk about. I knew we’d be working a lot at the kinesthetic level. But at the same time, there would be a lot of verbal content — you would have a lot of information to convey. And at the same time, we’d also have to do the movements. But what really interested me was the aspect of that deeper inner connection we were going to develop through movement. But I didn’t quite know yet what that would be. That’s just how it was. I was going to watch your videos. Some with you, some with Patrick. I was ready, I was curious.

Asia Shcherbakova And what makes you interested in movement? Maybe can you explain a little bit your professional background or any movement background which connects to your interest in movement and this program?

Guylaine I’ve been teaching movement for years — at first it was more yoga, meaning in my adult life it was more yoga; when I was younger, I did other types of physical work. And for years, I worked with people of different — how to put it — women in the performing arts, women, children, women with newborns, people with multiple sclerosis, people with cancer, women with blood cancer. So right away, I worked on adapting yoga to suit those clients who had particular needs. And for the past few years, I had in mind to bring people more and more into inner contact with themselves — not just moving for the sake of moving. So when I read about Baseworks, I thought, “Yes, this is good, this will improve or add more to my teaching.” For me, it was because from the very beginning I saw that it could benefit me personally — and if I feel it deeply, it will be good for my students.

Asia Shcherbakova 04:54 So you primarily thought that you might be able to find tools or new approaches that you could use in your teaching practice, right?

Guylaine 05:03 Yes.

Asia Shcherbakova 05:04 Okay And then let’s say you come to this program. It’s your first experience with Baseworks. Can you explain what the experience of doing Baseworks is like, in your own words?

Guylaine 05:18 Yes. Well, for me, when I tried it, very quickly I felt the inner effect — a kind of inward expansion, where I felt as if… my arms, my body in space, there was something decompressing, if I can put it that way. That’s not quite it. It’s difficult to put the inner feeling into words. But there really was a… I don’t know, maybe also a freedom in the body, a greater freedom — even though through yoga work you can work deeply and all that — but with Baseworks, the way of using movement differently, that extension to reach the fascia, that’s what I felt. There was really something like… wow, I love this!

Asia Shcherbakova 06:17 Thank you. And in Baseworks we do a lot of things at the same time. and we have to pay attention to a lot of things at the same time How did it feel especially at the beginning?

Guylaine 07:03 It was… Well, I already have a good body awareness. And I usually have a good physical sense in my movements. But there, there was the activation, the DA (Distributed Activation). I really liked this distributed approach, but applying it to all movements at the same time, without moving from one to the next, trying to combine them. Because often, when we teach, we go through them, we say okay, the feet, then this, this, this, and that. But with Baseworks, what I understood is that we were combining all the movements at the same time, and that produced something totally different — you immediately felt the effects, much more quickly, of movement in the body.

Asia Shcherbakova 07:55 And was it immediately obvious to you what we were trying to do with this Distributed Activation, or did it take some time to understand what you were supposed to do in class?

Guylaine 08:06 It was more… I understood the instructions, and… but it was about figuring out how to do all these movements without putting too much attention into them, too forcefully, too much {demonstrates strained expression} — but being able to listen much more while at the same time activating the body, maintaining the activation without putting in too much tension. That’s it, that’s my challenge. I sometimes felt like I was doing too much, putting in too much, making too much extension. And it was about combining — and still today — it’s about calibrating the presence of the movement, [la patrouille en maître?], putting in just enough. But that’s something we could perhaps discuss. How you, the way your movement is, how you stay, when you take the extension and everything, how it’s experienced for you — it would be nice to share that information with us.

Asia Shcherbakova 09:13 That’s a good point. And in relation to this, if you were to say that this practice is this many percent cognitive and this many percent physical, like how much is it physical and how much is it a mental or cognitive work, what would you say?

Guylaine 09:33 I think it’s both.

Asia Shcherbakova 09:35 But like 50/50?

Guylaine 09:37 Yes, 50/50. But at the beginning, you need to learn the method. So it’s certain that at the beginning, you need the cognitive. A lot. But at the same time, the cognitive and the physical are intertwined — you can’t really separate one from the other.

Asia Shcherbakova 09:55 And once you understand the method, what you are supposed to do , so when you’re used to it, what would you say? Is it more cognitive or more physical or completely mixed?

Guylaine 10:21 For me it’s mixed. By my nature, I’m someone who combines both in what I am. I think that’s it. That’s how I…

Asia Shcherbakova 10:34 Yes, okay. I understand. So after doing Baseworks, have you noticed any changes, either in your movement, or daily life, or your teaching? Did you feel any effect outside of what we do in the practice?

Guylaine 11:05 Yes, yes. Absolutely. Because I continued to practice it at every opportunity, because I also introduced… I offer, when I teach, I have my way of teaching, but I introduced some Baseworks concepts. And I also noticed very quickly that people were much more focused and they had better balance. The balance was quite remarkable — that’s what I noticed. These are people I teach online and on Zoom, four days a week, a group I’ve known for years, so I know them well — I see them on a large screen, I can see when they manage to do… And they loved working this way too. But I’m adding it all — of course it’s still in my own way — but it’s truly remarkable, it works well. - Okay, okay. - That’s what I noticed.

Asia Shcherbakova 12:14 Okay, okay. - Thank you. And if you were to describe Baseworks to a friend - somebody who you know very well who have never heard of Baseworks - how would you describe it?

Guylaine 12:27 I’ve already started trying to describe it. So I begin with the idea of distribution, the DA. That’s what I talk about first — it’s the foundation. And then we work a lot, we start with — since we’re at the beginning when learning the method — you have to start with the visual aspect of the movement, then the auditory, but then we also want there to be that inner connection in the movement as well. That’s roughly how I’ve written it up. Quite brief — would you like more?

Asia Shcherbakova 13:09 So for you, Distributed Activation is the biggest definitive feature of Baseworks? This is how you perceive it?

Guylaine 13:23 No, that’s the beginning. It’s the foundation. The foundation of Baseworks. And after that, there’s the symmetry — not going beyond what you can do. How do you say that in English? It was the distribution.

Asia Shcherbakova 13:46 Yes, the distribution.

Guylaine 13:48 No, that’s not what I meant. Then the different… It’s not clear. - Micromovements? - The micro-movements. Yes, that’s it. Oh yes, that’s it. Thank you for giving me the words. Yes, the micro-movements. That’s one of the very important things I also explain when I describe it. Because there are a lot of people around me who are in movement, who are dancers, who are… And we do work together… everything together, and people ask me, “What are you doing these days?” And I try to describe it a little, and of course they’re interested.

Asia Shcherbakova 14:28 There we go. - Thank you. - Is it okay? - Yeah, yeah, no, no, no, it’s perfect. So I have a couple of, so I’d like to ask a couple of questions specifically about the combination, the format of in-person sessions and the primer. So how did the combination format work for you? Did you find it beneficial? Was it easy to follow?

Guylaine 14:53 For me, I found it very educational — it’s very interesting. I think it allows you to deepen the approach. If we had only done in-person classes, we wouldn’t have had the depth that the reading and the visual content bring. Sometimes I would read, watch the video, practice, but then later I would come back to the reading or watch the video again. And then when you do it here, what’s great is that it also brings the adjustments, the corrections — things you thought you’d done well, but when you check, there are small adjustments. The in-person component is important, but I think it’s truly complete — visual, reading, and practice. I find it well structured and well done. It’s an approach. I think it resembles a little bit, in fact, the Japanese approach to learning. There’s something to it. I found it very complete and very well done. It’s well structured and all.

Asia Shcherbakova 16:15 And when you were watching the videos with highly conceptual information and then you are coming to the in-person sessions, did you feel the connection? And did the pre-study online help you to deepen your experience during the in-person sessions

Guylaine 16:34 Yes, of course. Because the body has already memorized it, the body has already experienced the movement. So once you’re here, you know the stages of the movement. The body has physical awareness. The body has done the movement, so there is an awareness of the movement, and then it’s easier to do in class. When you’ve already done it, seen it, and practiced it.

Asia Shcherbakova 17:04 Okay, thank you. And also you were mentioning that you are sometimes coming back to previous lectures. Did you make use of the smart revisit feature on the program.

Guylaine 17:17 I went back a few times to review them, but what I would do was more go looking in the Primer — I would seek out a movement, a form I wanted to redo, even if it was in session 2 or session 3. I would look for it more than using the… I did use the revisit feature, but I also went to find them myself in the different sessions — the movements I wanted to go back to.

Asia Shcherbakova 17:50 Yes, yes, no. I mean, we are interested in understanding how different people work with the course, and what I hear is that sometimes you felt the need to go back and revisit. We obviously encourage it when people, on their own, feel like they need to do that. That’s great, we’re very happy. Okay just a couple of more questions. So, the Primer itself. Do you think if there was no in-person session, you would be able to understand the approach? Or do you feel like the in-person sessions were necessary for you to get something you couldn’t get from Primer alone?

Guylaine 18:34 No, I think you can truly learn everything {nods}, yes. Nothing is lacking. But it’s certain that… yes, you can learn the technique, the method entirely online. But there is always a little something extra when you meet in person — it deepens things. You can still learn everything about the method online. It’s very complete. But what I like — I went to look, I started the sixth session and I went “ah” and I understood things. Yes, this is good — we’ve finished learning the foundation and now we’re moving to a working level. I’m excited, I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Asia Shcherbakova 19:30 Yes exactly. In the first half we explain what we are supposed to do. When we were posting session reviews or answering questions on the forum, did you find it useful?

Guylaine 20:00 The summary you give every week?

Asia Shcherbakova 20:03 Yes.

Guylaine 20:04 Yes, yes. I like that. I’m… I like… I’m the kind of person who loves to learn. So I’ll go and look at things. But that’s it. More so at the beginning, but then I kept doing it. - Yes. - But then, afterwards, you start to understand the technique too. So it’s good, it’s good. It’s yet another plus for understanding, and especially for understanding the foundation well. I think it was good. The summaries also serve as reminders. That’s good. Yes, I like it.

Asia Shcherbakova 21:26 Is there anything about this experience that you would like an outsider to know? Something that is not obvious from the program description?

Guylaine 21:36 Ah, okay, in that sense. I’m not quite sure what to answer — I would say that. How could I approach that? I need to think about it. No answers come to me spontaneously.

Asia Shcherbakova 22:02 Okay, no problem, and just a very quick question. Your expectation about how much time would be required to do this program with all the online study? Do you feel like the time commitment is more or less what you expected or do you feel like you are doing more than you expected? Basically the perception of the time commitment

Guylaine 22:25 I think it’s very individual. Each person will study according to who they are. So there isn’t a… I adapted it to myself, with my schedule, my activities, with everything I have to do. I integrated it, and it worked. There wasn’t any… I was able to integrate it. And the time — it’s up to yourself… You are responsible for the time you put in, you know. I can read everything three times and do the exercises four times. It’s up to me to decide the time, so I can adapt it. I think everyone will adapt it.

Patrick Oancia 23:29 From the time when you first looked at our promotions, and then you started to do the course, was it different in terms of time commitment than you thought?

Guylaine 23:50 I had no… I had no… I let myself be carried along by what was presented. So I adapted based on the sessions, based on the weeks when we had so many things to do. I would adapt. That’s my nature. I go with what is presented. So I had no idea it would be long or short. There you go. So I hadn’t put that in my head, “Oh my, it’s going to be long and everything.” So I had — no expectation about the time. Okay. That’s more it. So I took it as it came. There you go.