The pelvis is at the base of the spine and shaped to contain the entire upper body. A small twist or imbalance in the pelvis can result in much larger and more painful twists and imbalances in the spine, neck, shoulders and face. Twisting and imbalance in the pelvis can also affect breathing, vision, hearing, digestion and elimination. Our hips move up and down, forward and backward and in circles when we walk and run. Balanced mobility in the joints prevents wear and tear and overuse. Is a stable, mobile, balanced pelvis the answer to all of our problems?

In martial arts, movement and intention comes from the hara, or center, for power and effect. Yoga postures depend upon the relationship of the pelvis to the head and the length of the spine between the two. Athletes of all kinds have to be able to move the pelvis through space and change direction, orientation and balance at speed.

Giving birth, the most fundamental of human functions, requires a strong and flexible pelvis. Women's bodies are built for birthing, but in the West we are disconnected from the physical work and movement that prepare us for that experience. Labor is purposeful, intense and actually enjoyable when we yield to the force of nature and work with it.

Freedom, power and grace
Growing up in Southern Africa, I often watched tribal dancing. It was familiar because it was all around me, but it was also foreign because of my ballet training. A ballet spine is long, strong, unwavering and flexible. It has to rotate along its axis, flex and arch, and maintain its length, always highly controlled so that the head remains high and poised. The technique demands that the hips are held in strict alignment so that the upper body is light and movement is floating, airy and elegant.

African dance is quite the opposite: Hips move freely so that the effect is earthy, strong and exuberant. The spine is mobile, rotating, bending sideways, forward and backward, the head and eyes moving freely in response to the pounding feet. I like to think that I became a mix of color, continent and culture, an Afro-Celt -- which I began to understand through my exploration of different dance forms and study of movement.

Moshe Feldenkrais was a physicist and martial artist who devised hundreds of movement "lessons" that reveal how we move, think, act and sense in a world of gravity. He famously said that to do what you want you need to know what you do. The Feldenkrais Method has helped me inhabit my body more consciously. Knowing something about my habitual way of being in the world helps me to change, shift perception and move in safer and more efficient ways. The process is one of paying attention, observing without comment and expanding awareness so that other options and myriad possibilities are revealed. As my awareness expands (knowing what I do, who I am), I reach toward potential, finding freedom, power and grace.