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 The Healing Journal Magazine

The Healing Journal

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What is Authentic Movement and Therapy?

 

Tannis Hugill RCC, RDT, ADTR 604-267-9951 tannisis@shaw.ca

 

What would it be like to be seen and accepted as we truly are, in the magnificent shapes and sizes that express our unique individuality so perfectly?

 

Authentic Movement offers a place to experience the gift of being seen and valued in our bodies. What we call Authentic Movement originated with Mary Whitehouse in the 1950’s. She was a dancer who became one of the founding mothers of Dance Therapy. Authentic Movement’s roots are in dance, psychology and spiritual practices. Teacher and dance therapist Janet Adler has fostered the development of the form, which has grown beyond therapy to include personal and spiritual growth as well as creative resourcing. Janet describes Authentic Movement as being primarily about relationship: ourselves to ourselves, to others, and to the Divine.

 

Authentic Movement is sometimes called a movement meditation. Its deceptively simple structure is a dyad between one who moves, and one who witnesses. With eyes closed, the mover listens to their inner world, and manifests this through movement, sound, and gesture. The mover allows her movement to ‘happen’ rather than performing learned, habitual action, or actions controlled by the mind. The witness follows their own experience while seeing the mover. When the movement is over, the two come together. The mover tells the story of their journey. The witness responds by sharing layers of experience touched by the mover, being careful to speak without judgment or interpretation. Their connection creates profound compassion and empathy drawn from the body’s riches.

 

By developing our ability to listen to ourselves with acceptance Authentic Movement teaches us to speak of and from our bodies’ experience with confidence and without sacrificing our integrity. Paradoxically we learn that sustaining the truth of our presence enhances our relationship to others. We learn to trust that our longing to be fully seen can be met and answered with love, in every area of our lives.