In the Preface to Mastery of Movement, Laban cites the story of the centipede who became immobilized and died of starvation because it was ordered to “move first with its seventy-eighth foot, and then to use its other legs in a particular numerical order.” Laban sees this as a warning against “the presumption of attempting a rational explanation of movement.”
Nevertheless, Laban knows that making movement the subject of focal awareness has many benefits. For him, “application of the common principles of impulse and function is the only means that can promote the freedom and spontaneity of the moving person.”
Whatever you have to do this holiday season, occasionally make an effort to pay attention to how you are doing a task. According to Laban, this shift in awareness can further “the spontaneous flow of movement” and guarantee “effective liveliness.”