What is somatics?
Soma: the body experienced from within
Somatic approaches support you to develop body connectivity, re-pattern habitual alignment and movement patterns, expand your dynamic range, increase kinesthetic awareness through embodied anatomy, and learn skills for deepened communication with self and others.
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In this workshop we will be primarely drawing from 2 complementary somatic disciplines: Body-Mind Centering® and Laban Movement Analysis
Body-Mind Centering®
on the photo: Saliq Savage and Jennifer Polins
BMC is an integrated approach to transformative experience through movement re-education and hands-on repatterning. Developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, it is an experiential study based on the embodiment and application of anatomical, physiological, psychophysical and developmental principles, utilizing movement, touch, voice and mind. This study leads to an understanding of how the mind is expressed through the body and the body through the mind.
The study of Body-Mind Centering ® is a creative process in which we learn to meet and recognize ourselves and others through the exploration of embodiment. Each person is both the student and the subject matter. Principles and techniques are taught in the context of self-discovery and openness. We learn to engage ourselves and others non-judgementally starting at the place where we are and the place where others are. In this way we seek to find the ease that underlies transformation.
Body-Mind Centering ® has an almost unlimited number of areas of application. It is currently being used by people in movement, dance, yoga, bodywork, physical and occupational therapy, psychotherapy, child development, education, voice, music, art, meditation, athletics and other body-mind disciplines.
from http://www.bodymindcentering.com/
Laban Movement Analysis
Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) is a system and language for understanding, observing, describing and notating all forms of movement. Devised by Rudolf Laban , LMA draws on his theories of effort and shape to describe, interpret and document human movement. Used as a tool by dancers, athletes, physical and occupational therapists, it is one of the most widely used systems of human movement analysis.
Extended by the work of Irmgard Bartenieff, the system is known also as Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis
Laban Movement Analysis has been used for many years in professional practices such as dance technique training, actor training, somatic re-patterning work, various therapeutic approaches in clinical work, dance and dance therapy training, choreography, Yoga, Wellness and Fitness, Anthropology, Public Speaking; and in application and research across the diverse spectrum of studies which include awareness of human movement, and nonverbal communication.
(more info: http://www.imsmovement.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laban_Movement_Analysis)
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To learn more about other somatic disciplines and how they are used at Moving On Center, please visit:
http://www.movingoncenter.org/
