Movement Therapy
According to ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education & Therapy Association describes this as:
“Practices of somatic movement education and therapy encompass postural and movement evaluation, communication and guidance
through touch and words, experiential anatomy and imagery, and movement patterning. These practices are applied to everyday and
specialized activities for persons in all stages of health and development to enhance human processes of psychophysical awareness and
functioning through movement learning. Practices provide the learning conditions to:
Because of my own background in dance and yoga, how I understand and work with the body naturally involves very much "moving into
balance." Rolf Movement encourages me to bring this dimension more fully into the bodywork aspects of Structural Integration.
I also learned much from Carol Agneesens, the author of The Fabric of Wholeness and my Unit 2 Rolfing instructor, Jane Harrington and
Suzanne Picard, from whom I took my Rolf Movement Training in 2004, as well as my original Rolfer back in 1985, Rosie Speigel.
Rolf Movement Integration is framed by the same basic principles of Rolf Structural work and how they translate into functional activities of
daily life. This begins with the client becoming more sensitive to qualities such as weight, direction, balance, flow and effort in their own
movement. Two fundamental themes explored in this are the client's experience of both Support and Adaptability.
Support ~ the quality that allows any activity to be relaxed and functional. Rolf Movement encourages the client to find for themselves how
their base of support can move with them in what they do. Strengthening co-ordination around the body's core and midline fosters greater
economy of effort and helps us keep full dimension throughout the body.
Adaptability ~ our ability to respond freely and creatively to the on-going changes in our environment. Stress and fatigue set in when we
feel that we don't have many options, so an important part of the work lies in exploring the sequencing, rhythm and range of our movement and
finding new ways of doing things.
Rolfing continues to evolve. In recent years one strong influence has been the work of Hubert Godard, a French Rolfer and dance educator,
who has highlighted the role of perception and perceptual shifts in directing our motor habits. Godard now regularly co-teaches workshops in
Continuum Movement with Susan Harper, one of my original and dearest teachers. For an overview of Godard's theories, several good articles
are available at Kevin Frank's site: http://www.resourcesinmovement.com/Archive.htm
Rolf Movement Integration is a process in which the Rolfer and client together explore where proprioceptive awareness and our ability to
innovate and express ourselves through movement come together. Its promise, ultimately, is the grace that comes when people sense
themselves as being fully in present time with their bodies!
According to ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education & Therapy Association describes this as:
“Practices of somatic movement education and therapy encompass postural and movement evaluation, communication and guidance
through touch and words, experiential anatomy and imagery, and movement patterning. These practices are applied to everyday and
specialized activities for persons in all stages of health and development to enhance human processes of psychophysical awareness and
functioning through movement learning. Practices provide the learning conditions to:
- Focus on the body both as an objective physical process and as a subjective process of lived consciousness;
- Refine perceptual, kinesthetic, proprioceptive, and interoceptive sensitivity that supports self regulation;
- Recognize habitual patterns of perceptual, postural and movement interaction with one's environment;
- Improve movement coordination that supports structural, functional and expressive integration;
- Experience an embodied sense of vitality and extended capacities for living.”
Because of my own background in dance and yoga, how I understand and work with the body naturally involves very much "moving into
balance." Rolf Movement encourages me to bring this dimension more fully into the bodywork aspects of Structural Integration.
I also learned much from Carol Agneesens, the author of The Fabric of Wholeness and my Unit 2 Rolfing instructor, Jane Harrington and
Suzanne Picard, from whom I took my Rolf Movement Training in 2004, as well as my original Rolfer back in 1985, Rosie Speigel.
Rolf Movement Integration is framed by the same basic principles of Rolf Structural work and how they translate into functional activities of
daily life. This begins with the client becoming more sensitive to qualities such as weight, direction, balance, flow and effort in their own
movement. Two fundamental themes explored in this are the client's experience of both Support and Adaptability.
Support ~ the quality that allows any activity to be relaxed and functional. Rolf Movement encourages the client to find for themselves how
their base of support can move with them in what they do. Strengthening co-ordination around the body's core and midline fosters greater
economy of effort and helps us keep full dimension throughout the body.
Adaptability ~ our ability to respond freely and creatively to the on-going changes in our environment. Stress and fatigue set in when we
feel that we don't have many options, so an important part of the work lies in exploring the sequencing, rhythm and range of our movement and
finding new ways of doing things.
Rolfing continues to evolve. In recent years one strong influence has been the work of Hubert Godard, a French Rolfer and dance educator,
who has highlighted the role of perception and perceptual shifts in directing our motor habits. Godard now regularly co-teaches workshops in
Continuum Movement with Susan Harper, one of my original and dearest teachers. For an overview of Godard's theories, several good articles
are available at Kevin Frank's site: http://www.resourcesinmovement.com/Archive.htm
Rolf Movement Integration is a process in which the Rolfer and client together explore where proprioceptive awareness and our ability to
innovate and express ourselves through movement come together. Its promise, ultimately, is the grace that comes when people sense
themselves as being fully in present time with their bodies!
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In my own experience, the basic elements of Movement Therapy are interdependent and form a kind of matrix or mandala. As you explore any one of these paths, it will lead into the others as you go deeper... Some of these essential pathways for exploring movement are: |
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