Awareness and Movement

Rosen Method Movement

When Marion Rosen was practicing as a physical therapist, her clients used to ask her if there was anything they could do to prevent injuries in the future. In response, Marion developed Rosen Method Movement, a sequence of stretches, joint mobilizations, and dance-like movements that are done to music.

Rosen Method Movement teachers are trained to notice where students are holding back as they move. Based on what she observes, the teacher introduces specific movements. Students find they are able to dissolve the barriers that keep them from moving freely. No two classes are ever the same.

The emphasis is on enjoying the movement of our bodies. When the body begins to move as a whole, we regain the freedom and joy of early childhood. By the end of a 60-minute class, students are inevitably laughing, and they leave feeling renewed and light-hearted.

I have attended classes with some of Marion’s original students from 30 years ago, women who are now in their 90’s. They are still lively and flexible. Rosen Method Movement is designed to help people age gracefully and retain the joy of living.

I am a Rosen Method Movement teacher and have taught at a number of locations, but am not currently offering ongoing classes. I try to do my own version of a mini-class, just for myself, for half an hour every day. It’s wonderful for keeping the joints lubricated and, thanks to the music, the spirit lifted.

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Rosen Method Movement Teachers

Here is a list of movement classes in the US and Canada. You can also find teachers on the Rosen Method Professional Association website by searching for the word “movement.” This includes students who are still in training, who often offer their classes inexpensively.

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Rosen Method Movement is normally done with other students, led by a teacher. This book contains a description of the most basic movements and, since they are so simple, you could easily learn the movements from the text. The book also gives a history of Rosen Method Movement, discusses some of the physiological basis for the effectiveness of the work, and recommends music. See below for a video you can use at home.

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Essential Motion

Karen Roeper is a Rosen Method practitioner and senior teacher. She has combined her work as a dance therapist with a deep understanding of the mind/body connection to create two movement practices that are powerful and transformative: Essential Motion and Eyes of the Beholder. You can read about them on her website.

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Continuum Movement Meditation Classes

Continuum Movement is based on the premise that our bodies consist primarily of water. Classes combine breath, sound, and imagery, leading to an experience of movement on the cellular level. Lucia Mirachhi (the Director of the Body Therapy Center) is an inspiring Continuum Movement teacher. She offers classes Wednesday evenings at her studio in Palo Alto. She asks students to donate $15 to breast cancer research in exchange for the classes. The phone number for more information is 650-329-0130.

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5Rhythms

Whether you consider it movement therapy, aerobic exercise, or a spiritual practice, a 5RyhthmsT dance class is a great experience. The practice comes from the work of Gabrielle Roth, known for her Gabrielle and the Mirrors CDs (see below).

Classes consist of moving to spiritually inspired trance-dance music. There is theory behind the work — the sequence of the rhythms and what happens to you as you move through each rhythm — but you don’t need to know anything to benefit and enjoy.

I discovered Gabrielle Roth’s work when I was attracted to this subtitle — movement as spiritual practice. When she was promoting this book, I met her one evening at East West books in Mountain View. She had everyone push the chairs out of the way, she put on some music, and everybody danced. It was wonderful! The book is largely her spiritual autobiography, but also explains how dance can be a path to the true self.

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Lots of drumming. Almost all of the eight tracks have didgeridoo. There are a variety of rhythms on this album. From the cover art: “Trance/dance music that calls the soul into the body, the body into the beat and the beat into the belly.”

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Very trance-like, but it’s a low-keyed trance, not an exhausting one. From the cover art: “Ancient and modern worlds unite in this urban-primitive, trance-dance music for dancing and listening.”

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This is a good album to start with. You can choose to do just the five rhythms (flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, stillness) as a daily practice. This is followed by a track called Body Jazz that warms up each of the body parts (head to feet). The final track (Initiation) puts it all together and features haunting, evocative vocals.

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Spiritually inspiring and a pleasure to listen to. Among my favorites: Om Shiva!, Self Inside Self (I once spontaneously broke into this song while moving across the dance floor at a Karen Roeper workshop), Everywhere Longing, Remember Me.

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Alexander Technique

Alexander Technique is a re-education of the body, a remembering of what movement felt like before we acquired the tensions and holdings that interfere with the body’s health and vitality. It’s very well known among dancers, actors, and musicians — people who develop tension through habitual use of the body or voice. It’s also known for its therapeutic value in connection with stress-related disorders, respiratory ailments, bad backs, gastrointestinal disorders, hypertension, and arthritis.

Alexander Technique was the first bodywork I experienced many years ago. It doesn’t claim to bring about psychological or emotional changes. But in my experience, when I learned to release the tension I was holding in my back, my whole life became more relaxed, especially my relationships with other people. It has also helped me considerably with scoliosis. I consider myself a serious student of Alexander Technique and hope to continue exploring the benefits of this work for the rest of my life.

There are quite a few books on the Alexander Technique. I recommend this one as a place to start. It makes an excellent accompaniment to lessons for a new student. The revised edition (1995) has an excellent chapter at the end with answers to commonly asked questions about the Technique.

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This is the best book I’ve read so far on Alexander Technique. Frank Pierce Jones was an American student of both A.R. and F.M. Alexander in the 1940’s. He wanted to understand the mechanism that accounts for the changes brought about by Alexander Technique lessons. Although not a scientist (he was originally a Classics professor at Brown University), he organized, funded, and performed experiments to demonstrate the mechanism.

What really impressed me was the earlier work of a German scientist, Rudolph Magnus. His experiments demonstrated the importance of the head-neck reflex in physically orienting to the environment. I experienced a major increase in my day-to-day awareness of the directions (“Let the neck free, to allow the head to go forward and up.”) after reading this book.

Freedom to Change was originally published as Body Awareness in Action: A Study of the Alexander Technique and was not available online, as it is now. It was, however, available from Mornum Time Press, a publisher that performs a valuable service by making Alexander Technique books available.

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The Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education

Feldenkrais is a relatively well-known movement therapy practice. Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, a Russian born physicist, developed the work. It’s based on principles of physics and biomechanics, as well as on an understanding of learning and human development.

Lessons usually consist of slowly performing small movements. The idea is to expand awareness of your potential for moving, rather than be limited by the habitual patterns you’ve developed. It’s especially beneficial for anyone with chronic or acute pain in the back, neck, shoulder, hip, legs or knee.

Richard A. Urrutia is a well-known teacher in the San Jose area. He teaches at various adult education centers. If you are over 55, you can take a free Feldenkrais class through the East Side Unified School District Life Long Learning Center. Classes are offered in South San Jose at the Evergreen Community Center (4860 San Felipe Road) on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM and at the Southside Community Center (5585 Cottle Road) on Thursdays at 4:00.

Richard Urrutia’s phone number is 408-293-2241, or you can send email.

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This book has excellent chapters on both Alexander Technique and the Feldenkrais Method. For more on this book, see the Rosen Method Basics section.

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