Movement Therapy
According to ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association):
“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.
The purpose of somatic movement education and therapy is 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.”
According to ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association):
“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.
The purpose of somatic movement education and therapy is 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.”
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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 Agneessens, 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, and 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 is 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 is 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!
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 is 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 is 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!
| 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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