Body-Mind Centering® is a method for movement education and body therapy that has been developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. As a somatic approach, it is emphasizing the internal experience of movement rather than certain external aesthetics and choreography. Movement is allowed to arise from within and to express itself outward in a unique way. The work supports the experience of being fully present with all that is there through a variety of movement and hands-on explorations.
Anatomy serves us as a point of departure for our explorations and as a reference for finding more orientation in the body. We get to know our body systems: the skeleton, the muscles, the organs, the glands, the nervous system, the fluids, the ligaments and the fascia. We practice to differentiate, sense and move from all of these tissues. Becoming aware on the cellular level and initiating movement from any cell of the body is a key element of this work. Each tissue holds the potential to express uniquely in movement and to bring about a specific movement quality. We gather direct experiences of the body systems through movement and touch.
Another important aspect of Body-Mind Centering® is the study of our ontogenetic and phylogenetic development. We acknowledge that our body has its own history. We remember and physically reconnect to the different forms and movement strategies that we have been expressing along the journey. The characteristic human feature of walking upright on our own two feet against gravity has had its own time to develop. We refine our coordination through the exploration of our senses and perception, Primitive Reflexes, Righting Reactions, Equilibrium Responses, the Basic Neurocellular Patterns and Embryology. Revisiting earlier stages and patterns of origin potentially increases the ease, efficiency and diversity of choices we can make while moving and being in the world.
Visualization and somatization are key principles on our way towards more embodiment. In our explorations we work very detailed and zoomed in to eventually let go of the focus, zoom out and release the body-mind into free movement.
For me, Body-Mind Centering® is of great value in the process of reclaiming my authentic self with all its ability to sense, feel and act. I am experiencing myself as more agent and less helpless on all levels of my being. I am very grateful to have been supported in my Somatic Education Program at Moveus by a team of skillful, attuned and kind teachers as well as by my co-students.
