MOVEMENT FOR HEALTH AND CENTERING

with Jude Binder

Breathe, Center, Balance, Move

In 1976 I sustained a serious injury to my knee. At the time I had little knowledge of anatomy and had not been schooled in the anatomical repercussions of the rigors of dance. My injury was a wake-up call, as injuries often are. I began to study anatomy and I was fortunate to be given a copy of “The Thinking Body” by Mabel Elsworth Todd. This book influenced me tremendously and continues to guide me today. As I read it for the first time, I began to understand the universal power of gravity and its dominance in our lives as pedestrians and as dancers. Over the years I have developed a syllabus called Movement for Health and Centering which is based upon the precepts laid out in Mabel Todd’s book as well as what I’ve learned in my further studies of anatomy, dance, theatre, visual arts and woodcarving. I see before me One Big Art, whose principles are universal and whose design is exquisite and sublime. The Movement for Health and Centering syllabus informs all of the curricula at Heartwood in the Hills.

The goal of the Movement for Health and Centering Syllabus is to increase understanding of the body within. Students are guided towards appreciating the body as beautiful in form and efficient in engineering. With knowledge of certain basic principles of human anatomy, it’s possible to recognize and re-pattern the physical habits of daily life that are responsible for much of our chronic pain and discomfort.

Move and stand wisely, and with pleasure.

I’m alive inside my body. The more I sense this, the more centered I become. While centered, I give myself permission to immerse in the moment. Immersed, I’m open to the potential for spiritual, creative and physical enrichment.

Through a series of activities and exercises we explore the human skeleton…

Head & Eyes
Spine
Ribs & Sternum
Pelvis
Arms, Hands & Fingers
Legs, Feet & Toes

…and compare it all to a bird’s – with the aid of an articulated human skeleton, a mounted Flicker (Woodpecker) and an assembled Pigeon skeleton. With the comparative anatomy in mind, movements such as lifting the eyes and opening the arms wide on the inhale (the warm up dance “The Bird”) are experienced in a new and exhilarating way.

We study balance with feathers, peripheral vision with group movement, string wooden “vertebrae” into spines, and experience the release of physical and emotional tension through movement and rhythm. My desire is to share what I myself have learned: to dance; to breathe; to rejoice in the wonder of being alive.

Movement for Health and Centering Class Objectives

The Movement for Health and Centering syllabus is designed to aid students in the achievement of certain goals:

. Development of sensitivity to breath, – learning to sense the nourishment of full breathing;

. Development of centering skills through guided imagery and movement; sensing movement from within –the kinesthetic sense

. Improvement of skeletal alignment through balance study and anatomy study;

. Recognition of faulty body habits and movement patterns, and re-education and re- patterning of body habits through movement and analysis;

. Lengthening of muscles and other structures that have been shortened by poor alignment and tension, and the toning of those that have been overstretched;

. Stimulation of the brain through the use of unaccustomed positions and movement patterns to increase physical and mental potential;

. Improvement of co-ordination through the repetition of movement sequences designed for that purpose;

. Release of emotional stress and physical tension through lyrical and aerobic movement

. In a non-competitive atmosphere, where the focus is on sensation and healing rather than on performance, to work towards a general upgrading of the body through a series of exercises that “travel” from the top of the head to the feet.

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