What is authentic movement?
Authentic movement is a non-verbal, improvisational, movement practice and therapy. It allows you to be present to yourself to access your deepest bodily knowing as well as to be seen. It is like a spontaneous moving meditation in which you are moved and viewed by an outside witness. Authentic movement draws upon C. G. Jung’s method of active imagination. When you move, you can be directly in touch with your psyche, soul, and creativity, as well as with the Collective Unconscious. The process enables you to access internal images, movement impulses, pre-conscious memories and shadow material.
Mary Starks Whitehouse, a dance therapy pioneer, was the founder of authentic movement, which was further developed by Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow. Becky, a registered dance-movement therapist, was privileged to study with Mary Starks Whitehouse. Becky has used authentic movement for over thirty years in private practice and as her personal somatic and spiritual practice. She has taught it at Washington University and at McCallum Place in St. Louis, a treatment center for adolescents and adults with eating disorders.
What are the benefits?
- Discover your authentic self.
- Feel more alive with improved energy.
- Become more physically grounded.
- Cultivate a contemplative frame of mind.
- Inhabit your body in a new way.
- Listen to your bodily intuition.
- Enhance your creative expression.
Who is it for?
- Adults who seek a movement oriented practice that provides psychological insights.
- Artists/writers who want to return to the Source of their creativity and develop their artistry.
- Therapists who need a relaxing practice for their own personal growth.
- Adults who are overly verbal who need to cultivate stillness and balance.
- Adults /adolescents with eating disorders who need to re- connect to their own bodies.
- Anyone interested in entering the sacredness of all life.
What will your sessions be like?
It takes several sessions to learn authentic movement. First you will relax. Becky teaches you a focusing technique by Eugene Gendlin, Ph.D. to access you internal “felt sense.” You will close your eyes and listen to your body. You will allow yourself to be moved in response to internal sensations. You are not directing your movement, but allowing it to unfold naturally. Becky will carefully witness you and observe the qualities of your movements in a non-judgmental way. She does not assume what your experience is, but explains the images that come up for her. Afterwards, you will engage in dialogue about the possible meaning of your movements in relation to your personal themes.
“Authentic movement invites contact with the healing power of the self as it seeks expression through the cellular intelligence of the body.”
-Tina Stromstead, Ph.D.