Somatics is a field in the study of bodybuilding and movement that emphasizes internal physical perception and experience. The term is used in motion therapy to signify an approach based on soma , or "body as perceived from within," including Alexander's technique, Feldenkrais Method, and Rolfing. In dance, the term refers to a technique based on the dancers' internal sensations, in contrast to "performative techniques," such as ballet or modern dance, which emphasize external observations of movement by the audience. Somatic techniques can be used in body exercises, psychotherapy, dance, or spiritual.
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History
Early pioneers of modern somatics are traditional Asian practice movements, such as yoga. Somatic movements in Western culture can be traced to the turn of the 20th century. At that time, the increasing popularity of phenomenology and existentialism in philosophy led philosophers such as John Dewey and Rudolf Steiner to advocate experiential learning. Meanwhile, choreographers such as Isadora Duncan, Rudolf von Laban, and Margaret H'Doubler challenge the traditional conception of Europe about dance, introducing a new and expressive paradigm of movement. Together, these movements set the stage for the first generation of "somatic pioneers".
The earliest somatic technique was developed in Germany at the end of the nineteenth century by Elsa Gindler and Heinrich Jacoby Gimmler. Built on their work, the "somatic pioneers" Frederick Matthias Alexander, Moshe Feldenkrais, Mabel Elsworth Todd, Gerda Alexander, Ida Rolf, Milton Trager, Irmgard Bartenieff and Charlotte Selver were active, especially in Europe, throughout the early twentieth century. Particularly motivated by their own injuries, they introduce a variety of techniques intended to help restore and prevent injuries, and to raise physical awareness.
Throughout the 20th century, the practice of the first generation was codified and passed on by their students, some of whom, including Anna Halprin, Elaine Summers, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, and Lulu Sweigard, went on to build their influential schools or styles. In the 1970s, American philosopher and therapist Thomas Hanna introduced the term "somatic person" to describe these practices collectively.
Towards the end of the century, the trend of "cross-fertilization" arose, with practitioners combining different "lineages" to form an idiosyncratic style. In recent decades, the field of somatics has evolved to include dance forms such as contact improvisation and Skinner Releasing Technique, and has been used in occupational therapy, clinical psychology, and education.
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Movement Discipline
Traditional Practice
Many of the disciplines of traditional Asian movements affect Western somatic practices that emerged in the 20th century. The oldest and most practiced somatic discipline is yoga, but many others exist.
Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual exercises that originated in modern India before 500 BC. The ultimate goal of yoga is spiritual, and yoga practice generally involves physical assumptions and moves through the asana or body position of the codified. Yoga physiology describes a system of interconnected bodies, possessing different physical and spiritual attributes but are interrelated. The concept of energy flow through the corporation channel reappears in other somatic forms, including contact improvisation and Qigong.
Qigong and tai chi are traditional Chinese practice practices that can serve to support somatic practice. They usually involve moving meditation, the coordination of slow flowing motion, deep rhythmic breathing, and a quiet state of mind meditation. They claim to balance and cultivate qi, which is translated as "life energy". Aikido is a Japanese martial art that includes internal awareness and non-aggressive emotional states; some styles emphasize this with separate "ki development" training.
Exercise drills
The Pilates method was originally developed as a somatic form of physical fitness conditioning in the early 1920s. However, most contemporary Pilates forms focus on true physical techniques more than proprioceptive awareness. The founder of the method, Joseph Pilates, emphasized the somatic principles of mind-body connection, proprioceptive observation tracking, and attention to breath.
Dance
All forms of dance require the attention of dancers for proprioceptive information about the position and movement of every part of the body, but "somatic movements" in the dance refers more specifically to techniques whose primary focus is the personal and physical experience of the dancer, rather than one of the visual audiences. Somatics has been incorporated into dance communities around the world, with variations from country to country due to the history of local recognition in the field as well as wider cultural differences.
Genre
Some dance techniques are considered somatic forms. Contact improvisation is a somatic genre developed by Steve Paxton and others in the 1970s, consisting of two or more dancers responding organically to the physical sensations generated by their mutual contacts. Contact improvisation can be done for the audience, but not designed to have a certain visual impact.
The Ruth Zaporah Action Theater, developed in the 1970s and 1980s, is an improvisational performance technique based on "embodied presence", a state of consciousness in which players maintain conscious contact with their somatic experience, "according to Susanna dance specialist Morrow.
Education
Some dance educators use somatic principles and training, in particular Laban Movement Analysis, Ideokinesis, Alexander, and Feldenkrais, in performative technique classes. These practices are used to train the proprioceptive skills of dancers and to adjust the alignment, and are claimed to reduce the risk of injury.
The practice of somatic teaching is a practice that builds students' attention towards the sensation of dancing. They may include correcting by touch, in addition to verbal instructions; focusing on energy and processes, not the physical form they produce; and deliberately unwind with overused muscles too often. Warwick Long claims that using dance training in English, by strengthening the dancers' knowledge of soma , makes their techniques more "intrinsic, internal and personal." He claims that immediate direct direct offers are especially valuable for today's professional dancers, who are increasingly being asked to work outside of canonically codified engineering structures such as ballet or Graham techniques.
Alternative medicine
Some alternative forms of treatment consider the body senses important.
Alexander's technique, an early example of such a practice, was developed by Frederick Matthias Alexander, an actor, in the 1890s. This is a somatic technique of education that is intended to undo student habits using unnecessary strain in movement.
The Feldenkrais Method is a somatic movement pedagogy developed by Moshà ©  © Feldenkrais, partly inspired by the Alexander Technique. He claims to improve his welfare by bringing attention to motion patterns that the advocates say are inefficient or unnecessary tense and replace them with other patterns.
Structural integration, including Rolfing and Hellerwork, uses bodywork, mindfulness, and retrospective training as a tool for somatic education. Practitioners claim to make the body and mind more adaptable and tough, by improving "harmony" and movement.
Trager uses a soft bodywork and a relaxing workout called Mentastic to explore sensations and move easily. The practitioner enters a state of meditation and seeks to physically communicate a sense of lightness, curiosity, and play through practitioners' contacts. Mentastics is the exploration of weight in gravity.
Some alternative medicine practitioners working with mental health have a somatic focus. For example, in a somatic experience, clients learn to monitor internal sensations.
Spiritual training
Spiritual discourse in the field of somatic people tends to reject the monotheistic system that places spiritual authority in the external hierarchy, rather than sanctifying the direct perception of the internal "power of life". Although not entirely in line with certain spiritual traditions, somik literature generally views Christianity and other monotheistic religions unfavorably and supports an eclectic mix of non-Western approaches to the sacred, including Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and various types of Shamanism.
Some spiritual practices, such as circling Sufis and Buddhist walking meditation, mainly deal with the Javanese. Spirituality is a component of the work of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, a leader in contemporary times who combine elements of Zen Buddhism with modern dance and Laban Movement Analysis.
See also
- Somatic Experiencing
References
- References
External links
- Media related to Somatics in Wikimedia Commons
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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