Effort is not only about doing; it is also about being, or what Rudolf Laban calls movement thinking. “Movement thinking could be considered as a gathering of impressions of happenings in one’s own mind, for which nomenclature is lacking. This thinking does not serve orientation in the external world but rather it perfects man’s orientation in his inner world.”
Laban relates movement thinking to effort in the following way: “Man’s desire to orientate himself in the maze of his drives results in definite effort rhythms.” Laban goes on to describe these drives in effort terms. The way he conceives it, there are four effort drives: the Action Drive, the Passion Drive, the Vision Drive, and the Spell Drive. Laban’s mapping of effort rhythms makes it possible to explore this world and its inner landscapes by moving mindfully. I had one such adventure during my training to be a movement analyst.
I chose a phrase with the Spell Drive configuration in it. The Spell Drive combines effort qualities of space (direct or indirect), weight (strong or light), and flow (bound or free). Spell is the timeless drive, hypnotic and mesmerizing. As I note in Meaning in Motion, “When our sensation of the passing of time disappears, we usually find the experience to be slightly unreal, even uncanny.” And that is indeed what happened to me.
I struggled to embody an effort rhythm combining strong, bound, and indirect qualities. When I finally succeeded, I was transformed into a Grendl-like creature. It was a very real experience. It shook me up, and started me on a long journey to understand the psychological ramifications of effort.
We use effort to assert our will over things in the outer world, but the effort choices we make also influence our inner worlds.