The possible human_ a course in extending your physical, mental, and creative abilities

256 Pages·1982·27.215 MB·English

by  Jean Houston

A
COURSE
IN
ENHANCING YOUR PHYSICAL, MENTAL,
AND
CREATIVE
ABILITIES
HOUSTON
JEAN
COAUTHOR OF MIND GAMES
Also by |ean Houston
Life Force: The Psycho-Historical Recovery of the Self
Coauthored with Robert Masters
The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience
Psychedelic Art
Mind Games
Listening to the Body
Human
The
Possible
A Course Extending Your
in
Physical, Mental, and Creative Abilities
Houston
Jean
a
P. TARCHER, INC.
J.
Los Angeles
Distributed by Houghton Mifflin Company
Boston
LibraryofCongress Catalogingin Publication Data
Houston, Jean.
The possible human.
Bibliography: p. 222
Includes index.
1. Mind and body. 2. Self-actualization
(Psychology) 3. Body image—Therapeutic use.
4. Body, Human (in religion, folklore, etc I
I. Title.
BF161.H78 1982 158 82-17070
ISBN 0-87477-219-2
ISBN 0-87477-218-4(pbk.)
The authorwould like tothankthe followingpublishersfortheirpermission to reprint:
Excerpt fromASleepofPrisoners byChristopher Fry. Copyright © 1951, 1959byChristopher
Fry. ReprintedbypermissionofOxford University Press, Inc.
Excerptfrom "BurntNorton"inFourQuartets byT. S. Eliot. Copyright © 1943 byT. S. Eliot.
Reprinted bypermission ofHarcourt BraceJovanovich, Inc.
Excerptfrom The Madwoman ofChaillot inFourPlays (Vol. I)byJean Giraudoux. Copyright ©
1958. ReprintedbypermissionofFarrar, Straus& Giroux, Inc.
Excerptfrom "TheAleph" inTheAlephandOtherStories byJorge Luis Borges, translatedby
NormanThomasdiGiovanni. Englishtranslationcopyright © 1968, 1969, 1970by Emece
Editores, S.A., and NormanThomas de Giovanni. ReprintedbypermissionofE. P. Dutton, Inc.
Copyright © 1982byJean Houston
All rights reserved. No part ofthis work may be reproduced ortransmitted in anyform by any
means, electronicormechanical, includingphotocopyingand recording, orbyany information
storage orretrieval system, exceptas maybe expresslypermitted by the 1976 CopyrightActorin
writingby the publisher. Requests forsuch permissions should beaddressed to:
J. P. Tarcher, Inc.
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Designby MichaelYazzolino
Art Editor: Jane Prettyman
Illustrations on pages 10, 15, and 99byJeanette Lendino
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Q
10 9 8 7 6 5
For the dancers of the Dromenon

1
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction: Rhythms of Awakening xii
How to Use This Book xxii
Chapter Awakening the Body
1 1
Exercises
1. The Kinesthetic Body 13
2. The Ideal Body 22
3. Contacting Your Body Wisdom 26
Chapter 2 Awakening the Senses 3
Exercises
1. Cleaning the Rooms of Perception 39
2. Fine-Tuning the Lenses 44
3. Listening to Music with Your Whole Body and Synesthesia 47
4. Pleasure and Then Some ... 49
5. Sensuous Bouts 52
6. The Epiphany of the Moment 54
Chapter 3 Awakening the Brain 59
Exercises
1. Left Brain/Right Brain 63
2. Multitracking 72
Chapter 4 Awakening Memory 79
Exercises
1. Priming the Memory Bank 87
2. Recalling the Child 91
vn
5
THE POSSIBLE HUMAN
viii
Chapter 5 Awakening Your Evolutionary History 95
Exercises
Exercises in Evolutionary Memory 102
Chapter 6 The Art of High Practice 1 1
Exercises
1. The Art of the Mensch 127
2. Dyads of Acknowledgment and Communion 129
Chapter 7 The Creative Realms of Inner Space 133
Exercises
1. Becoming Units of Time 164
2. The Yardstick of Time 167
3. The Archaeology of the Self 172
4. Skill Rehearsal with a Master Teacher 177
Chapter 8 Toward a New Natural Philosophy 181
Exercises
1. Orchestrating the Brain and Entering the Holoverse 200
2. The Creative Intention 205
Epilogue 212
Notes 215
Bibliography 222
Index 225
—
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my close associate, Robin Van
Doren Beebe, whose intensive editorial efforts over many months and
in many places did much to bring this book to its final form. Addition-
ally, a good deal of Dr. Beebe's original work and writing is reflected in
the essay portion of Chapter 2, "Awakening the Senses."
The always provocative musings, goadings, and lyrical outbursts of
my poet friend Rhett Kelly helped inspire the basic form and content of
the manuscript.
My publisher, Jeremy Tarcher, provided warm encouragement
and lucid, expert advice, as did his editors, Kirstin Grimstad and Millie
Loeb. I am particularly grateful to Ms. Loeb for her skillful midwifery in
the final months of the book's gestati—on.
And then there are my students the dancers ofthe Dromenon
possible humans all. Their active participation in the exercises and
experiences described in these pages, their challenges, questions, and
innovations, their willingness to live and explore at their edges, even
though they might fall off the map of the known world, ignited and
sustained my commitment to the possible human and the possible
society. It is to them that this book is dedicated.
IX