Fall Updates

Fall Updates

We’ve had a busy summer at Body-in-Motion: a new DVD launched at the BMCA conference, two instructor training programs, new 3-D sequences, new ways to teach weight shift and other activities. Plans for the fall include webinars for instructors and for the public as Q&As and thematic topics such as what we learn from 3-D.

The Chair Edition™

This past in June I launched 3-D Workout: The Chair Edition™ DVD at the Body Mind Centering Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. Most of the professionals who attended my workshop were new to 3-D Workout; they enthusiastically received the experience of The Chair Edition™. This DVD offers whole-body movement of great variety by using the space around the body. It challenges range of motion and activates connective tissue (fascia) with the elastic reach of the body into space. It results in movement that is both elegant and fun to do. To discover more about moving well from the security of a chair, go now to the BiM store and order your copy of 3-D Workout™: The Chair Edition™.

Congratulations to newly certified instructors

This summer, seven new instructors qualified to teach Level I and eight more attended the Level II training. The training has expanded in a variety of ways to include more attention to fascia, to improving weight shift and to stimulating the body’s mechanoreceptors. 3-D has always been good at preparing the body for life; now it’s even better.

Michael and Carrie are in the Instructor Trainer program; Elaine took the training as professional development; Barnaby took both programs this summer and survived very well!

Barnaby wrote this elevator pitch to young athletes, their parents and coaches: “If you are trying to improve your strength, flexibility or general mobility, you need a foundation. 3-D Workout builds such a foundation. Through specially designed sequences, stretches and exercises, 3-D Workout will give you a shot at performing and moving at your very best.”

Fiona Macdonald (Level II class) wrote this elevator pitch: “Do you have aches and pains? “Are you sore or exhausted after a workout? 3-D Workout will help you to feel balanced, refreshed and restored!”

Level I: left to right–Ann Rose, Vicki Berman,Megan Andrews,Mary Ganzon, Maureen O’Donnell, Suzanne Huard, Barnaby Ohrstrom

Level I: left to right–Ann Rose, Vicki Berman,Megan Andrews,Mary Ganzon, Maureen O’Donnell, Suzanne Huard, Barnaby Ohrstrom

Level II: left to right—Fiona Macdonald, Elaine Biagi Turner, Carol Boggs, Carrie Lynn Nieves, Barnaby Ohrstsrom, Gloria Megarry, Sally Staley, Michael Gatbonton.

Align your spine

For about a year I have been exploring ways to stimulate the mechanoreceptors—sensory organs in the muscles and fascia of the back. These sensors detect pressure from the lightest feather touch to the deep pressure of certain massage techniques. Stimulating these receptors seems to help balance the tensions and asymmetries on either side of the spine.

I’ve named the new material “Mechanorolls.” Used in conjunction with Bartenieff’s Heel Rocks, the mover detects gentle alignment changes in the spine and vertical axis. As the back changes, so does the quality of the wave action in the Heel Rock. This kind of creative discovery is a thrilling process. I taught the Mechanorolls series and Dural Tube Slides to 14 students at the 2014 training programs; they are now part of 3-D Workout. Contact me at info@3dworkout.com to locate an instructor who can introduce this body-opening experience.

PS: Thanks to Carol Boggs for a wonderful image for Heel Rocks: “sliding inside the skin.”

Mary Ganzon doing a Dural Tube Slide

Mary Ganzon doing a Dural Tube Slide

Modes of Access: a conceptual framework

The essential ways in which we interact with our environment are two paired actions, coined and named by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, the founder of Body Mind Centering. These actions are yield/push (Y/P) and reach/pull (R/P).

When I wrote my doctoral dissertation in 1992, I created a conceptual framework for these two, paired terms and named it, Modes of Access. It is through these movements that we acquire access to and interact with, our earthly environment. A Y/P example: In order to push away from a surface, we must first yield or exert our weight into that surface. This applies if we are closing a stuck door or touching a keyboard. A R/P example: The manipulation of objects such as reaching for the phone, or a knife and fork requires a reach and a pull—your hand goes away from the body to touch/grasp and then draws the object toward oneself or moves it to another place.

At the BMCA conference at Skidmore College, I spoke to Bonnie about my concept-coinage “Modes of Access” as a way of capturing the intention of these two, paired actions. She was excited to include this idea in her book-in-progress. For my part, I am working on symbols for these two Modes of Access. Stay tuned.

Irmgard Bartenieff on Wikipedia

Now on Wikipedia, is a biography of one of the most important actors in movement training and an inspiration for 3-D Workout, Irmgard Bartenieff ((1900-1981). Along with other colleagues I contributed to this entry, which was coordinated by Sandra Hooghwinkel, CMA.

What do you “learn” at the gym?

If your workout feels like a series of arbitrary exercises, it probably is. Fitness should teach you about your body and how it works—how it functions. 3-D does that in a direct way by the design of the exercises and by the vocabulary of movement analysis. 3-D gives you tools for living in your body; it translates into life. With 3-D practice you learn HOW to hone your skills of balance, weight shift, whole-body coordination and much more. The fact is, in the 3-D approach to fitness, we LEARN about our bodies and our movement. What do you learn at the gym? Do you go away with better function or did you just put in the time with a series of arbitrary exercises?

A new approach to weight shift

Developing a good weight shift is one of the most challenging parts of any movement training including 3-D Workout. A secure weight shift in any direction will help you jump and run on demand, catch yourself in a trip or fall, or get yourself across the street safely and in good time. I often say: you have only two feet and you have to stand on one of them to take a step. The standing part is accomplished by shifting your weight fully onto one leg in any direction. Weight shift is the key to a good gait pattern.

At this summer’s training program we used new spatial cues to produce better weight shift and level change. Contact a certified 3-D Workout instructor to learn more. See the community page for an instructor near you.

Progressive Radio Network: prn.fm

I occasionally do a program on prn.fm, Progressive Radio Network during which I get to talk about whatever is on my mind about movement teaching and thinking. Most recently on 26 September, I spoke about the summer training programs, the BMCA conference, on teaching weight shift, how mechanoreceptors work and other things.

The program on which I speak, A Woman’s Perspective, is hosted by Virginia Reed and airs on Fridays 11 a.m.-12 noon. Virginia was one of my instructors at LIMS during my CMA training in the early 80s. She is now the president of LIMS. We reconnected last April when I spoke at the opening of LIMS’s lovely new space in Brooklyn, NY. The prn.fm programs are archived; for best results, enter Virginia Reed.