40 Gestures to Remind you You're Still Here | Cara Hagan

Part of an installation called, Essential Parts: A Guide for Moving Through Crisis and Unbridled Joy At Elsewhere Museum, 2021

Experience is a detonator. Sometimes when things explode, they cease to be. You are indestructible.

Sometimes, remembering that is hard.

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You’re Still Here.

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Holding the precious particles of you in proximity to one another is made easier by holding onto something that has taken shape in the world — something that has mass, texture, color, and other such properties.

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Some things in the material world exist to instruct us on how to move through crisis and unbridled joy, even if their original purpose was for something far different. Open yourself and listen to what they have to tell you.

Show up, and show out.

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As a way of listening deeply, you may choose to move your body in accordance with the gestures in this book. When we listen through our physicality, we access wisdom residing deep in the corners of our minds.

You can fly, you know.

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Two is where “together” starts. One, two. I love you.

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Knuckles on the ground. The vibrations there will change you.

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Hello is quick, doesn’t cost anything, and can be the beginning of help, questions, camaraderie, and more.

Sit down. Resting feet equal a resting mind.

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Take hello and make it a stretch.

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Sometimes, you won’t know. Enjoy that. Not knowing is an opportunity for new wisdom.

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Hold onto the things that are most important to you. Be dogged. Don’t let go.

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Open your shoulders and chest. Take a big breath.

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Expel your energy. Run. Jump. Pant.

Take a step back sometimes. That’s ok, too.

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Scream at the sky. It’s good for the lungs.

Lose control sometimes. It’s ok.

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Take time to see the beauty around you.

Remember they’re gorgeous.

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Invite the sights and sounds of the natural world to speak to you.

Embrace the ferocious parts of you.

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Behold the gems of their lessons.

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Remove the cuffs you’ve put on your own wrists and experience the world as a free being.

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Bury things that are dead — not to hide them forever, but to offer them in love to the earth.

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Allow yourself to reach out in many directions — there is inspiration to be found everywhere.

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Look back on your life and laugh, if you can.

Don’t forget to be still sometimes, to look at where you’ve been, and where you’re going.

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Brace yourself if you must.

Make a target and practice hitting it, with everything you have.

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Some things are best kept at arms’ length.

Throw your gifts out into the world and await what is thrown back in your direction.

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But remember to soften, too.

And opening.

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And opening.

Soft doesn’t mean small. You’ll be surprised how big you can be when you allow yourself to grow.

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Keep opening.

Let your body settle into a rhythm.

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If a door is not open, open it yourself. Open a door for someone else.

Float, like petals in the breeze.

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Give and receive, willingly, deeply, graciously.

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Train your eyes on that which feeds your soul.

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You are electric. Ride the wave of your own energy.

Remember your magic.

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