MOVEMENT 

Dynamic Balanced Movement is a synthesis of techniques/perspectives/explorations I have experienced over the past 40 years, including the work of A.D. Hutchinson, Barbara Clark/Mabel Todd, Bartenieff, Laban Movement Analysis, Joanna Duncan (Dance Artists Classical Coaching Studios), Embodyoga (Patty Townsend, after Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen), Diane Arvanites, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Wojciech Cackowski (Zoga), Zero Balancing, and many, many, various dance techniques, dance teachers, and bodywork teachers/perspectives.

 

Dynamic Balanced Movement focuses on proper bio-mechanical body use and quality of movement, and examines how the patterns of energy and weight transfer/use create patterns that dictate how we move/rest in stillness.  These patterns can hinder or help us.

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Dynamic Balanced Movement is a system of movement education, analysis, and recovery that assesses and explores our energy and weight transfer and use.  It helps us increase our awareness of how we move and rest.

 

Movement Rehabilitation Through Experiential Awareness  is developed from Dynamic Balanced Movement.   All movement classes/sessions are based in concepts of Dynamic Balanced Movement and Movement Rehabilitation Through Experiential Awareness.  The format of classes/sessions may vary- i.e., Ballet, Modern, Yoga, Cardio-flow, etc., but concepts remain the same.

How much time is spent directly on these concepts will vary class to class, based upon student needs/interests. Some of my classes may not spend much time on these concepts and thus may not seem to be very different from other classes; some classes will spend more time exploring these concepts.

"Experiential Explorations" is an integral part of how I teach/work with students/clients.

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Dynamic Balanced Movement uses exercises from the worlds of dance, developmental movement, bodywork, and yoga, as well as meditation techniques.

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~ It takes into account how both our habitual postural patterns and our habitual thought patterns influence our bodies, in movement and in stillness.

~ It offers general exercises to address key areas of the body, and specific exercises tailored for the individual.

~ It can be experienced in different settings: individual bodywork sessions, individual conditioning/functional movement repatterning sessions, group classes - dance, yoga, or Dynamic Balanced Movement classes with a specific focus (i.e., (Dynamic Balanced Movement: Back Pain, or Dynamic Balanced Movement: Basic Yoga Asanas).

 

Dynamic Balanced Movement is an approach to movement and stillness that combines a practical understanding of how our bodies are designed to move with an understanding of how our habitual postural and thought patterns can interfere with optimum usage of that design.

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All movement classes are taught from this perspective, with attention to musicality (when applicable), and incorporating imagery and practicality within the modality of the class.

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Dynamic Balanced Movement helps us to increase our awareness of how we move and rest. It also helps our bodies to unlearn patterns of movement that are no longer helpful, and to learn more bio-mechanically desirable ways to move/rest in stillness.

 

When there is less struggle to maintain balance and equilibrium, the body is more at ease and can instead use that energy to maintain the proper functioning of our systems.

Without the constant struggle to maintain physical balance/adjust to physical discomfort, our bodies can find both freedom and grounding, and our "psyche" can release from protective holding, finding more patience, energy, and ease.

 

Courses in Dynamic Balanced Movement (currently being taught are: Introduction, Part 1, Part 2) teach basic principles and specific exercises. Courses such as Dynamic Balanced Movement: Back Care, or Dynamic Balanced Movement: Basic Yoga Asanas, are taught periodically. Please click on "Classes" on the header menu to find out more.

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Dynamic Balanced Movement guides my approach to bodywork, movement education, and movement classes.

Functional movement patterning is the basis of my work.  Bringing our awareness to how our bodies are moving or resting in stillness is where we begin.

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(Individual sessions and small group classes available)

(See Blog Post 1/31/2023: Why is a Therapeutic Movement session with 

Bodywork Beyond Massage different?)

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Our daily lives are filled with functional movement- reaching, sitting and standing up, typing, walking from one room to another, etc.. Our functional movement patterns may become compromised/restricted.  Bodywork Beyond Massage's sessions can help to repattern functional movement.
 

These sessions will help bring to the client a new awareness of how they are moving, and to help their body to unlearn patterns of movement that are no longer helpful, and to learn/remember more biomechanically and energetically desirable ways to move/rest in stillness.

Understanding some of what happens in our bodies when we breath properly can allow us to create fuller breath patterns, which also allows more freedom in muscles and joints, and provides more oxygen throughout our body;  understanding how our weight is designed to move through our joints can help us to come into a more balanced and at ease posture; understanding what we feel like when our muscles are tightly clenched and learning what we feel like when muscles are pliable and able to respond with ease to changes gives us options for being in movement and in stillness with ease.

For clients who have previously avoided exercise because of pain, these sessions can offer a way to begin an exercise program without increasing their level of pain.

These sessions can also be helpful for clients who do exercise but would like to increase their ease/efficiency of movement.

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I may guide the client through some of their daily movements, as well as through movements created from the worlds of dance, developmental movement, and yoga, rather than from the traditional fitness/strength building world.

  I am also now incorporating concepts and exercises from  Advanced Myofascial trainings (Til Luchau) and its partner movement therapy "Zoga" (Wojciech Cackowski); Zena Rommett's floor barre (Diane Arvanites); and classes with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (Body-Mind Centering).

I am pleased and excited about how all of this work matches up with the work I have been doing already, how it gives me more specific tools and strategies to use for hands-on, in-person, sessions/classes, and how well it adapts to a Distance/Online format.

 

Exploring the relationship between key joints/areas of the body as they are moving, and guiding the client through slow repetitive motions, can help to change patterns of movement and bring us increased ease as we move/sit/use our bodies. Because our goals include learning how to move with ease, these movements may be done with gentle hands-on guidance, slow repetition, and the use of imagery, encouraging proper balance and use.

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