There are many ways of working with the body. Many people come to me seeking a solution to a problem: there is something happening that is causing pain, discomfort, a feeling of imbalance – and it manifests in a variety of ways. From the acute sensation of pain, to the anxiety, frustration, and stress that accompany such an experience.
What I seek to do is to look outside of “the problem” – clearly there is something that could be working differently, some new way of standing, moving, relating to the body and all its accompanying systems and parts. As well as how we relate to the outer world – all we ask of our bodies and all the world demands.
My work seeks to create something new, and in doing so we must step outside of the “problem” and explore, find, and/or create something new. Many forms of therapy involve a deep exploration of the problem – and that can be essential, but only insofar as it leads to something new. Getting stuck in the mindset of backpain or neckpain or whatever – is a seductive process and my work seeks to free you from the problem. Through direct experience, education, movement observation and exercises, we will work together to establish the “something new”.
When the only point of reference we have for our bodies is from a place of discomfort, we end up organizing our bodies (and many parts of our lives) around such pain. My work differs from typical body therapies in the way that we work to create new points of reference in the body, new ways of finding balance, and new ways of creating and relating to sensation – as a new posture becomes possible we can begin to comfortably, and appropriately explore the specific areas of pain (and/or numbness) finding ways to begin to feel sensation both at and through that area of the body. If our back hurts, we slowly work towards finding a new way of aligning the body so that when the weight of the upper body falls through the lower back and pelvis – it does so without tension and pain, or the fear of pain.
In many ways my work is an exploration of sensation. As we begin to open the places that don’t move and create the capacity for movement sensation arrives. As your awareness penetrates into your body’s sensory systems – you literally sharpen your ability to perceive and potentially respond to reality. You shift from avoiding pain – to moving towards something creative.