Movement for the Mind

Book written by Françoise Netter, Copyright © 1998.
Here is an excerpt.

Introduction

"I spent long days and nights in the studio seeking that dance which might be the divine expression of the human spirit through the medium of the body's movement ...." Isadora Duncan

This book will show you how to apply a powerful technique for creativity, problem solving, healing, and personal growth by combining two of our most precious resources -- the body and the mind. While there are numerous techniques available that stimulate the body/mind connection, Mindful Movement is unique in that it's foundation is rooted in both art and mental awareness. By incorporating movement principles that are easily learned and then expanded upon with directed mental imagery, you will learn how to actively create what you want and to use each session as a practice field for life. Furthermore, you will tap into an ancient calling for self-expression and joy that is found in the most basic use of this body -- dance/movement -- and has been largely abandoned and ignored by our modern culture.

Whether you are a working professional seeking stress management, or someone who is ill and suffering from chronic pain, or someone who is seeking greater peace and clarity in your life emotionally and spiritually, or someone who just wants to expand your creativity -- this book can offer you an expanded vision of yourself and the pathway to experience it. For those of you who have already experienced the aesthetic delight of movement, this book will teach you how to combine a sense of purpose and mental clarity with your movements allowing you to design dances that can heal or simply exhilarate. In an age that is dominated by the intellect and technology, this technique of moving mindfully takes you deeper into your psyche and at the same time allows you to safely re-connect to your body. Connecting to the body while focusing the mind allows you to capture the moment and pause in a space that can align you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This experience of internal alignment causes profound insights, and can lead to significant physical and behavioral changes.

Because the technique is largely internally directed, the fear of being watched or compared to others is eliminated. This allows you to discover a personal freedom in your body that you may have reserved only for childhood. Each person's experience is unique and yet universal themes such as feeling relaxed, energized, enthusiastic, alive, more aware, and connected are shared by individuals from all walks of life.

Mindful Movement can be practiced individually or in a group session and can also be used to strengthen communication and enhance relationships. Yet even in a group session, each individual has an opportunity to connect to what is personally significant.

For example, in a group session sponsored by a private corporation to enhance creativity in the work place, one executive abandoned his resistance to "dancing" and discovered that the tools for creativity and communication could be explored and enhanced significantly through Mindful Movement. Through a process that allowed him to substitute movement for words, he first learned to listen to the flows and rhythms in his body starting with the breath and then learned how to explore some of his work patterns and his communication skills with others.

In the session he practiced new ways of moving that also reflected the mental images of creativity that he desired. At the end of the session he shared, "I had no idea that I could learn this much about myself and others through this method of movement. Not only did I gain an awareness about my work patterns, but I was able to experience how it felt to be in a creative state and to literally move from this place. I feel great and I have some very useful information that I can apply at work and in my personal life."

Restoring a sense of wholeness and safety in the body is the result that Janice, a woman in her forties, gained from private Mindful Movement sessions. Janice spent most of her life trying to hide and appear invisible identifying herself as a nice person that never made waves, rarely took risks, and played it safe in all situations over which she had control. In the sessions, she discovered that the key to her fears and many of her self-limiting beliefs stemmed from wounds from her past. Engaging the body and mind through Mindful Movement allowed her to experience feelings and memories that she had buried, safely expressing and releasing them, and to make new choices. To her amazement, she discovered a bubbly, animated, and very expressive personality who loved to move and had no need to disappear or remain anonymous.

For Janice making these changes in her body transformed her world from drab to dazzling colors in every area of her life -- affecting her physical appearance, her job, and her relationship with her husband and children. The outer changes were significant, but for her, the most profound change was in her inner experience. "I am finally at home with my body, with myself." And for Janice that experience was everything. The rest of this book unfolds the stories of many others who bring to life the principles and applications of Mindful Movement and how it can be used to enhance your life.

How To Use This Book

The next chapter describes in detail the principles of Mindful Movement and how it works. Chapter Two walks you through a sample Mindful Movement session. The Warm Up and Creative Exploration sections can be used on their own or before the exercises in Part II to physically warm up the body and refresh your movement vocabulary. Part II of this book discusses four important uses of Mindful Movement: to reduce our stress levels, to give us greater access to our creativity, and to serve as an effective tool for psychotherapy and physical healing. Each of the chapters concludes with a Mindful Movement session that you can do in your own home. The final chapter is a compilation of writings by some of the individuals who have experienced this work. They have used their own unique styles to narrate their experiences and to illustrate the dynamic quality that is also available to you.

You can read and do the exercises in order as suggested. Or you may read the whole book from beginning to end and then go back and do the exercises that speak most directly to you. You can also use the tape on Mindful Movement that accompanies this book. Either way, it is the experience of this material that will bring the concepts alive for you.

A great teacher of mine once said, "Don't believe the words I tell you. Experience them within yourself. Then you will know the truth."

Through this book I invite you to discover the joy, creativity, and knowledge that lies within you. To rediscover the most natural language of your body, dance. Dance, not as a specialized art form for the few, but as a soulful, purposeful language for all. Dance that reunites your body with your mind. Dance that awakens your body as a vehicle for guidance and insight, expression and inspiration.

E-Mail or phone (303) 402-0443 for more information on the book.