Movement and Performance

Moving in Liminal Spaces: Fascia, Story, and the Places that Shape Us

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

This blog post was written by Lauri Nemetz, MA, BC-DMT, LCAT, ERYT, IAYT and author of The Myofascial System in Form and Movement.

Photo by author

The outdoors is my sanctuary, a space not only to move but also to think. I spend a lot of time near (and sometimes on) the Hudson River in my home state of New York. Standing at the river’s edge, one can notice how two realities meet: sand with debris and the water lapping against the shore. Neither cancels the other out; instead one shapes the other. The sand holds the imprint of the Hudson’s tidal waters as they ebb and flow, and the water continually moves and changes against the coast. The meeting place is liminal, a threshold between two realities, where one fades and the other takes shape. It represents both/and.

Nature rarely fits neatly into human categories. Multiple realities can coexist simultaneously, and contradictory patterns can coexist without canceling each other out. Systems adapt precisely because they hold paradoxes like stability and change, order and randomness. Fascia’s capacity to be both stiff and fluid is a perfect example. The natural world is full of edges like the shoreline that is a changeable boundary and bridge, separation and unity all at once. To look closely at fascia is to confront a paradox.

Continue reading →

What is IMPRINTING in Pilates?

Singing Dragon 0 Comments
Image with text on the left side: "Volume 2 examines locomotor system health conditions, including scoliosis, kyphosis, and more, illustrating in detail how movement sequences improve gait, balance, and quality of life." The text on the right side: "Dr. Suzanne Clements Martin | Chapter 1 Pilates and Spinal Asymmetry: Effect on Gait"

This blog post was written by Dr. Suzanne Clements Martin, contributor to “Chapter 1: Pilates and Spinal Asymmetry: Effect on Gait” in Pilates Applications for Health Conditions Volume 2. This blog post originally appeared in Pilates Intel.

Imprinting is a beloved term used in Pilates

Attributed to our Elder Eve Gentry, imprinting is a subtle action involved with detailed movements of the vertebra in a supine position, where the imprinted motion seeks to “release” the individual vertebrae. In physical therapy terms, it would be called an anterior-posterior Grade 1 or 4 self-mobilization. Contemporary-minded Pilates allows liberty for interpretation. While mobilizing vertebral bones is one way of using the term imprinting, may I suggest others?

Fascia’s Importance

It is no secret that the fascia world concepts have inundated the field of Pilates, yoga, and exercise in general. How fortunate this age is to have new and exciting ways to look at not just fascial anatomy, but actual fascial movement, its connecting impact and coordination with the sensory and psychological self. Already being an advanced mover starting the journey over 25 years ago in cadaver studies, the glaring observation was how abundant the fascia was/is throughout a body, not just humans. Curiosity of fascia’s importance through observation of the outrageous amount of back-up tissue for infrastructure was immensely reassuring for my world, the mover population.

Thanks to interested surgeons, researchers, along with popular anatomists, a clearer, working knowledge of the structure, form, and function continues to emerge.

Continue reading →

Learning to Feel Movement Thoroughly Is as Subtle as Learning to Taste Water

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

This blog post was written by Handspring author Sherry Brourman, author of From Bodily Knowledge to Intuitive Movement.

When it comes to sensing distinctions within our own movement, I believe natural human longing for safety coupled with our perfectionistic culture breeds a special self-conscious movement impatience. We’re compelled to know, to rush, to categorize, to perform—whether for others or ourselves—and all of this obstructs bodily presence and the self-awareness that comes with it.

Even the simple intention to shift into a calmer, slower gear—the state needed to take the time to truly feel movement can seem ambiguous or uncomfortably unfamiliar. Initially, just setting that intention may bring anxiety. This isn’t resistance to truth, a character flaw, or the absence of some innate ability that only some people have. Yet it appears and feels subtly defensive.

In over fifty years of observing, discussing, and guiding people toward greater movement sensitivity, I’ve come to believe that simple underexposure is the main barrier. Whether chemist or athlete, most people have had little experience with this kind of inner attention—and so we can grow shy, even to our own witness, much less someone else’s.

Continue reading →

“I feel my tension begin to melt away”: How water treatments increase the effectiveness of bodywork

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

Written by MaryBetts Sinclair, author of Hydrotherapy for Bodyworkers: Improving Outcomes with Water Therapies.

           In combination with skilled touch, water treatments are perhaps the very oldest and most revered of all healing modalities. Pain from injuries, issues from damaged muscles and joints, circulation problems, chronic tension, chronic pain and emotional stress have long inspired healers to relieve suffering this way.

From ancient Rome’s great baths to Russian saunas, Indian Ayurvedic steams, Native American sweat lodges, Turkish baths and Japanese hot springs, peoples the world over use and love hydrotherapy and massage together. In Germany, the warm waters of Baden-Baden have been used for over eight thousand years, and in Bath, England, for ten thousand. 2800 years ago, Irish sweat houses made of sod and stone were used for rheumatism.

As a bodywork student or practitioner, you may be wondering what is the advantage of adding water treatments to your skill set. Here’s how it can improve your effectiveness:

*** Like massage, hydrotherapy can relieve discomfort and pain, stimulate the flow of blood and lymph, and make connective tissues more pliable and comfortable to the touch.

***Hydrotherapy is soothing and stress-reducing. The ancients realized the effect depression and stress can have upon a person, and over centuries, chronic depression was called everything from gloom or melancholia to neurasthenia or dysthymia. In ancient Greece, while warriors bathed to reduce fatigue and promote wound healing, warm baths were also ordered to relieve “dejection and low spirits.”  The founder of modern psychiatry, Philippe Pinel, (1745-1826) recommended warm baths to calm “overwrought nerves.”

Continue reading →

The Complete Yoga Anatomy Coloring Book: Gluteus Maximus

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

Illustrated with anatomical drawings for coloring throughout, The Complete Yoga Anatomy Coloring Book by Katie Lynch covers physiology of the breath; movements of the joints; workings of the spine, shoulders and pelvis and in-depth muscle information before moving onto Asana Anatomy specifically related to the main standing, seated and inversion postures.

We are happy to share with you our first excerpt from the book, covering the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle of the “glutes group” and the primary muscle for hip extension.

Continue reading →

Meet The Singing Dragon Author: Dr. Steffany Moonaz

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

As part of our Meet The Singing Dragon Author series, we speak to authors to discuss their motivation for entering their respective industries, inspiration for writing their books, what challenges they faced and who they would recommend their books to. Is there a specific Singing Dragon author you would like to hear from? Let us know in the comments or join the conversation using #MeetTheSDAuthor.

Dr. Steffany Moonaz, author of Yoga Therapy for Arthritis

How did you become interested in yoga therapy? Were there any challenges you faced in entering this industry?
I started working as a yoga therapist before I knew what yoga therapy was. After my 200-hour training, I was hired by Johns Hopkins University to help develop a yoga program for people with arthritis. My training was essentially safe, but largely inadequate to meet their needs, so we learned from each other. I brought the fullness of my yoga training and they brought the fullness of their arthritis, and together we figured out what worked, what was most helpful, what needed further adaptation. Since then, with additional training as both a yoga therapist and a scientist focusing exclusively on this population, I’ve come a long way. I’m proud to say that since learning about yoga therapy, I’ve been actively involved in the professionalization of the field and its representation in the broader movement of integrative health. There was so little work being done specifically in arthritis when I got my start, despite how prevalent it is. I was basically handed my dharma and have been following it ever since.

Continue reading →

How Increasing Self-Awareness Can Unlock Your Creative Potential

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

Galvanizing Performance, a new release from August, is an application of the teachings of the Alexander Technique to the performing arts. This collection demonstrates how deliberate movement and specific practice in theatre, music, song and dance can improve the art form, as well as the artist’s wellbeing.

We have an extract from the book, in which you can read about how increasing self-awareness can increase self-confidence and lead to an unlocking of creative potential.

Read the extract here.

If you would like to read more articles like this and hear the latest news and offers on our books, why not join our mailing list? We can send information by email or post as you prefer, and please also tell us about your areas of interest so we can send the most relevant information. You can unsubscribe at any time.

More Books Like This

The Energetic Performer

Amanda Brennan

New anatomical and physiological knowledge is combined with eastern energy techniques and traditional actor training methods as the basis for this pioneering approach to actor training. Practical exercises extend understanding of the somatic systems and how to create flexible bodies for truthful performances.

Click here to read more.

What is Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?

Singing Dragon 1 Comment

Isobel Knight discusses new research, co-morbid conditions and management strategies for hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in this Q&A. Find Isobel Knight’s books on hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome here.

 

For those who are unaware, could you briefly describe what hypermobility is?

A hypermobile joint is one that has a larger than normal range of movement. If you look at the figure of the elbow picture below, the joint looks ‘inside out’. Hypermobile people tend to be people we consider ‘flexible’ or ‘bendy’, and as such there is a high prevalence of hypermobility in the dance and performing arts sectors.

Hypermobility can be generalized at a range of joints – for example knees and elbows, or sometimes found in peripheral joints (e.g. hands and feet). It is perfectly possible to have joint hypermobility and be asymptomatic, but for some people their hypermobility can cause pain, dislocations, soft-tissue injuries and there can be other findings – such as extensible and stretchy skin which might be more suggestible of a form of heritable connective tissue disorder such as hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

There are now new and strict diagnostic criteria in place to distinguish between those who have generalized or peripheral joint hypermobility through to those who have what is now called a Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) or hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). The diagnostic criteria that I discuss in my books refer to the old names of Hypermobility Syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility-Type or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Type III) – but although the name and diagnostic criteria have changed, the overall management strategies remain very much the same for these conditions.

Continue reading →

Preparing the Body for Work: Working for Coherence

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

In this blog by Amanda Brennan, author of The Energetic Performer, Brennan provides an overview of her method of acting and how increasing awareness of the body can enhance the acting experience. 

I recently ran a series of workshops for professional actors in Santiago, Chile. The course was designed to refine performance skills, explore the craft of screen acting and discover how to create a rich and complex inner life. In my book The Energetic Performer, I refer to the inner life as all that moves with in, thoughts, vibrations of the nervous system, the beat of the heart, the flow of breath, all feelings and emotional expression. Its cultivation is at the heart of screen performance, where the real action is on the inside. To achieve this aim, I began with what I believe is the fundamental necessity: preparing the body for work.

Continue reading →

Warm up games for any group

Singing Dragon 0 Comments

Rutherford_Book-of-Games-a_978-1-84819-235-5_colourjpg-webThis extract from Leo Rutherford’s The Book of Games and Warm Ups for Group Leaders features games and exercises to get any group energised, comfortable with each other, and ready to work together. Many of the exercises are based on Shamanic principles and are suitable for workshops, martial arts groups, classes or any gathering of people looking to feel connected to each other.

Read the extract here…

Leo Rutherford has an MA in Holistic Psychology and runs Eagle’s Wing, a centre for contemporary Shamanism. He teaches Shamanic practice including the wisdom of the medicine wheel, Shamanic journeying and trance-dance, healing the inner child, sweatlodge, visionquest and other ceremonies, dance and playfulness. The Book of Games and Warm Ups for Group Leaders is available from the Singing Dragon website now.