364qm² of freedom

how living in confined environments can teach you about the most important factor related to freedom

„I’ve learned so much about freedom! “

“Yes I can imagine! You have spent about three month on a really confined place following a precise scientific schedule every day.”

“Yes. And I enjoyed a lot of freedom!”

“You did what???”

It’s the ending day of a three month duration bedrest study. I am taking the last two participants to the train station in my car. Outside my window, it’s dark already. People are wearing thick winter jackets and think about Christmas presents. I remember that the first days of the study, I arrived in shorts and 

I would meet up with friends in the local beer garden after my shift.

A short flashback of my last three month: I’ve visited five different countries, presented scientific ideas to the public, I’ve partied and I saw the seasons changing. I lived a completely normal life, while 12 young people would spend their days in an isolated habitat, in which everything, even the temperature of the space, would be controlled and documented. Every day they would wake up at 6:30am – and there was no moment in which they could decide about their nutrition or just enjoy a walk outside.

And now, this person, sitting next to me in my car, tells me how much he enjoyed the feeling of freedom during the experiment.

How can we explain this phenomenon of a person subjectively feeling free, while objectively living in a confined extreme environment?

During my work, I had the chance to analyze the satisfaction surveys of the past studies we have conducted at this place. We would research isolation, physiological changes and other related questions. One of the last questions in this survey directly asked the participants, what would help them the most to survive this time. The answer would be the same every time: the social support by our team. A familiar atmosphere, jokes, someone listening to you or a hug when you feel sad.  

What I’ve learned out of this is: if everything is missing: fresh air, autonomy, your favorite meal or privacy, there is one factor which can lead you through this time: human support.

Let’s enjoy a small flashback into history to verify this idea: here we meet the famous psychologist Viktor E. Frankl, who survived the under the horrors of Holocaust in the 1940s. He summed up his life in Concentration Camps and detected some factors which would him and his mates to go through this situation. There, he mentioned optimism and humor as a significant factor, but also the future perspective and – human support and love. These things, embedded in his daily life, would help him to forget bad moments and to conquer the hate surrounding him every day.

There are studies which research the effect of social support on those, who have to suffer chronical diseases. Results of these studies show, that there is a correlation between social support and positive progression of a disease. Means: those who enjoy people supporting them during a stressful period of time might conquer the disease much better than others without people close to them.  

We are still in my car, nearly arriving at the train station. I have hard times imagining how someone being stuck on 364qm² might talk about freedom like this.

“There is another factor, which helped me to feel free during the time.”

“Like what?”

“We all met in really pure conditions. Through the work we would know things about each other; we usually do not share to people in society.”

“True. I know how often you would have to go to bathroom and how fast you fell asleep at night.”

“Yes! And not having to hide these things, just being, that creates a feeling of freedom.”

I can see the train station at the end of the road. Pictures of different environments, related to caring situations, appear in my memory. I remember how much we laughed, when I worked in an old people’s care. How I felt a deep connection, when I lived in China to support young autistic children and their families. All these situations created boundaries between people in a natural and intense way. We would experience the smell of our skins, and through that, the bases of our thoughts.

If we sum all this up, we have a short but intense conclusion: in order to feel freedom, we must share love.

teach me how to fail

a statement for teachers who don't call themselves teacher

It’s more than ten years that I am into movement research. The first steps towards my passion of analyzing dance happened to be my own experiences of a young dancer in a theatre company. I remember hours of intense training, guided by the motivation to become a perfect copy of my former idols, such as Pina Bausch. 

 

Reflecting my thoughts and my expectations at the age of 15, I can sum it up like this: my goals differed from what I would try to achieve today. At the age of 15, my major aim was to look good on stage, to receive admiration for my physical skills and express myself through this. I was bored by analytic and slow methods, such as Alexander technique – instead I wanted to push myself towards my physical limits and shock the public with amazing choreographies. 

 

At that time, we were all rebels, physical revolutionists and body lovers at the same time. I thought, I will be a good dancer, once I dance well – even though I didn’t know what that “well”-thing would be about.

Today I consider myself to be a researcher in movement. Even though I love dynamic and acrobatic movements, I use to integrate more and more moments of stillness and patience into my dance. My drive to move is influenced by an internal curiosity to explore the movement from the inside, instead of showing it to the outside. Sometimes, when I think back to my theatre times, I start to understand the deeper meaning of several exercises and the purpose of complex and slow techniques.

One might say I grew up ‘physical mature’. This is a process; many dancers have lived through as well. 

Sometimes I attend classes hosting beginners and professionals. There I often observe an interesting phenomenon, which can be transferred into many other systems of education – the lack of empathy for this “process of beginning”. 

Teachers usually have experienced stages of development during their own process, which leads them to the point where they can label themselves a teacher. Often they try to show us the world from their current point of view- forgetting, that this perspective is not accessible for a beginner yet. In order to understand a certain practice, it is important to live through all the failures and achievements a process might offer you. People, who learned to dance beautiful ballet, might end up with minimalistic contemporary movements. Performers who used to jump and scream around during improvisation classes develop the courage to enjoy stillness and silence on stage. 

But - in order to realize the positive aspects of stillness or reduced movement, you have to try the opposite before. Teacher should not teach us to jump over a certain level, but guide us through it. A good teacher teaches us how to fail. 

This idea of teaching people how to fail, allows us another thought: once I fail during a process, I have to think about solutions on my own, which enquiries my creativity and offers the possibility to find new ways of exploring. 

If you are a teacher, take your time and reflect your first days of a beginner. Maybe you remember your first unconfident tryouts and your questions, your curiosity and your hesitation. 

Once I heard a nice quote, I want to share with you: “I would never consider myself to be a professional in any way – because I aim to keep the awareness and the openness of a beginner.”

vestibulo

Have you ever imagined how it would feel being weightless? Most people need to rely on their imagination to have a similar adventure or – go to space. But that’s not the only possibility to turn the world upside down! Currently the German Aerospace Center and the European Astronaut Center conduct a study, in which 12 participants stay in bed for 60 days. That might have an impact on your sense of gravity… 

a participants protocol 

„Das erste Mal hatte ich das Gefühl schweben zu können, als ich vom Training  kam. So ab dem 10 Tag in Bettruhe. Zuerst hatte ich es nur bei hellen Decken, dann überall – das Gefühl, dass ich schwerelos bin. Am liebsten fliege ich über Rohre, die sind ja so uneben. Und wenn ich in die große Halle fahre, wo die Decke ja mehrere Meter höher ist, habe ich das Gefühl, dass ich falle. Ich sage dann dem, der mich schiebt „Vorsicht, Stufe!“ Aber dann fällt mir ein, dass mir nichts passieren kann, weil ich ja schwebe und jemand der schwebt kann nicht fallen.

Zuerst wusste ich nicht, ob ich mir alles nur einbilde. Werde ich jetzt verrückt? Dann habe ich mit unserem Arzt gesprochen, der mir gesagt hat, dass das alles völlig normal wäre. Der Gleichgewichtssinn schaltet sich nach einer Weile einfach von selbst ab – und man nutzt nur noch seine Augen zur Wahrnehmung Dann ist eben oben gleich unten.

Ich habe keine Angst vor dem Schweben – ganz im Gegenteil, ich freue mich jedes Mal darauf. Es ist wie ein Abenteuer. Ich weiß ja, warum ich mich so fühle und kann es deshalb vielleicht genießen. Ich habe gehört, dass es nach dem Aufstehen nach 60 Tagen auch vorkommen kann, dass man nicht weiß, ob man sich selbst bewegt oder jemand anderes. Es ist eine ganz neue und spannende Erfahrung für mich und ich freue mich, dass ich sie haben kann.

Ich kann nur schweben, wenn ich mit dem Bett gefahren werde. Dann spüre ich selbst meinen Rücken, der auf der Matratze liegt, nicht mehr. Ich denke auch nicht mehr an meine Füße, da ich sie ja nicht brauche, wenn ich fliege. Es fühlt sich alles schwebend an. Ich habe früher immer den Traum gehabt, einmal ins Weltall zu fliegen um Schwerelosigkeit zu erleben. Jetzt ist es gar nicht mehr so stark, denn ich „weiß“ ja wie es sich anfühlt.

Aber, wenn ich mir vorstelle, nur noch in der Schwerelosigkeit leben zu müssen, dann würde ich den Boden unter den Füßen schon vermissen. Schwerkraft ist ja schon ziemlich praktisch.

In unserer Einrichtung gibt es auch ein Deckenfenster. Aber wenn ich dort entlangschwebe freue ich mich jedes Mal so sehr den Himmel zu sehen, dass ich selbst das Schweben vergesse.“

“The first time I felt weightless, just happened after my training. It was my 10th day in bed. First, I only had the sensation, when I passed over bright ceilings, but then I would experience it, every time someone would shift me from one place to another. My favorite sensation is, when I pass pipelines, which are settled in a lumpy way under the ceiling. Once I travel towards the big hall, which is much higher than the corridor, I have the impression of falling. I tell the person guiding me: “Pay attention to the steps!” But then I realize that nothing can happen to me, because I am weightless.

The first time I had the sensation of being weightless, I wasn’t sure if I will turn mad now. Our doctor assured me, that this is pretty normal, because my vestibular organ loses it orientation. Then, I only use my eyes for orientation. This could turn my world upside-down.

I am not afraid of being weightless – no: I really like it! It is an adventure. I know why I feel like that, which offers me a safe feeling to enjoy the journey in zero gravity. I’ve heard that the same effect can reappear after my bedrest phase. Some former participants could not distinguish between their own movements or the movements of other people. For me, the whole thing of being weightless is a new experience and I am thankful to have it.

I can only ‘fly’ when someone is moving me in my bed. Then I even don’t feel my back, which is settled on the mattress, anymore. I even don’t think about my feet anymore, because I don’t need them while flying. Everything is weightless. Years ago, I’ve always been dreaming of going to space one day to feel zero gravity. Today, I don’t think I have to there anymore – I’ve been there!

But, if I think about spending every day in zero gravity, I would decide to live on earth under normal conditions. I would miss touching the floor with my feet – and gravity has some practical benefits.

In our research department we also have a window at the ceiling. Every time I fly by, I am so happy to see the sky, that I even forget being weightless.”

 more about the RSL bedrest study:
https://davidrsl.wordpress.com/
https://paulrsl.wordpress.com/

and: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Bedrest_studies/60_days_and_60_nights_in_bed

more impressions: live at http://www.spaceup.nl/

A keynote from Kaunertal

„Ahhhh – your playing a mission to Mars on a glacier. How fun!” 

I think, I’ve heard that sentence at least every second time, I’ve been telling people about the analogue mission to Mars I would participate in. 

The purpose of AMADEE15 was to simulate a real trip to Mars within two weeks. We focused on testing spacesuits in several experimental conditions in order to evaluate their usage regarding EVAs on Mars. We analyzed the environment – a glacier – in order to understand how life in extreme environment can s urvive. We simulated a real time communication to Mars, learning about the difficulties of a ten minutes time delayed communication. The aim of our mission was to target as much as possible a real manned mission to Mars and to prepare future astronauts, using our experiences, for the biggest journey mankind ever has conducted. 

 

After finishing the mission, my personal result looks like this: We arranged really careful and precise, but there are two things we can’t prepare in advance. The first aspect addresses the radiation and the second – the psychological factors of human spaceflight. 

Let us focus on the last aspect – the psychological human being in space. 

team communication

“You never listen to me!” “You have no idea about what I feel!” “- We all know these kinds of sentences, having experienced similar situations in our relationships to friends or partners. Let us assume that we solve most of these conflicts by talking about them. We might share a meet up, start talking – and at some point we find a common base again. 

Now – let us imagine we are travelling on a spaceship to Mars and need to solve a conflict. On earth, or even during an analogue mission, it’s not such a big problem: people can meet, have a beer, talk it through and continue their work. But on Mars we have a time delayed communication of 

approximate ten minutes – which forces us to improve the communication to that point, that not only information regarding the operation will be transmitted, but also clearness about the psychological aspects.

But – in order to have an efficient emotional and operational communication, people need to adapt good communication skills and rules – to learn HOW to state their own aspects and thoughts. 

Therefore I suppose that a future mission to Mars must prepare in a way that communication skills and rules are trained within the entire team (includes astronauts, ground, scientist). Intense communication training will – of course – teach methods of sharing ideas and thoughts, but moreover increase the awareness for the fact that communication is a subtle and sensitive mechanism – which brings me to my next point.

awareness and introspection

Everyone being involved in a working process might have experienced moments when you are caught in your own work, forgetting about everything else surrounding you. 

Regarding space missions: we need to create more transparency and exchange in our team. That could have helped to zoom out of everyone’s frog perspective and capture the whole mission more from an outside view.

We were divided into several teams, such as Flight Planning, Science Support, Astronauts, Field and Ground Control. To my opinion, one of the biggest issues we have to work on is the question how we can increase the awareness for each teams work in order to decrease the potential number of misunderstandings between them.

I would have loved to invent the position of a runner in each team during a mission such as AMADEE15. That means: each day a team member switches to another team – just to observe the way they work: the questions they have to deal with, the targets they have etc. 

One of the astronauts described a possible situation on a real Mars mission using a funny quote: “The Science team wants me to bring the results, the Flight Plan team wants me to follow the schedule, the Media team expects an interview while collecting the results and being in time – but they all forget that I am carrying a heavy suit.” 

pre-selection process

I realized that people set a high focus on the astronaut selection – also from the psychological point of view, but less on the selection process of people working on the ground. 

In a real mission to Mars it is important to change that. Selection process should include pre-trainings for everyone participating in the mission. That would also increase the awareness of the entire work, not only of someone’s specific position. We should check for someone’s resources and motivation.

Brings us to our next point….

decrease of motivation

During missions, it happens that plans fail. Experiments have to be shifted due to outside conditions etc. Astronauts experience boredom while the feeling of the first excitement disappears. That can decrease the astronaut’s motivation and provoke bad working results and conflicts. 

I suggest facing this aspect from a preventive perspective. We need to be really aware about everyone’s internal motivation to participate in a mission, to check his resources and use them. Internal motivation cues can be really tiny and invisible but can have a huge impact on someone’s psychological status.

and the last one – can we fake reality?

I have a conclusion about the factor of simulating a mission as well: I think, even though we call it a simulation, we act within reality and therefore we can’t fake reality, because we actually never leave it. AMADEE15 ended his daily simulations around 3pm but I think it never ended and still goes on, including the discussions, the following thoughts. The only thing we can’t test yet is the factor of being far away from earth.

photos (c) AMADEE15 (Claudia Stix&Paul Santek)