Product Description

This comprehensive guide introduces Body-Mind Centering, the internationally recognized field pioneered by dancer and occupational therapist Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Devoting thirty-five years to a systematic investigation of the relations between bodily experience and the anatomical maps of science, Bainbridge Cohen independently discovered many of the principles that underlie Feldenkrais work, cranial osteopathy, Rolfing, dance therapy, and Zero Balancing. Experienced BMC practitioner Linda Hartley demonstrates the basic philosophy and key elements of Body-Mind Centering. Drawing on animal and infant movements, she takes readers through the wondrous realms of Bainbridge Cohen’s pantheon—from the 'minds' of the skeletal and muscular systems to the quite different inner lives of digestive, lymphatic, urinary, respiratory, vocal, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive organs. Her choreography ultimately brings us into the states of consciousness of skins, cells, blood, fat, cerebrospinal fluid, nervous system, and brain. Hartley’s explorations of the images, feelings, sensations, and intuitions of the diverse organs and cells lead to exercises that gently guide students in ways of discovering and integrating their bodies’ multidimensional aspects.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #297823 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10-17
• Released on: 1995-10-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .2 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Booklist
Body-Mind Centering, developed by physical therapist and dancer Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, systematically explores the complex relationships between bodily experience and science. Hartley puts forth BMC's philosophy and its key components of investigating the "minds" of our skeletal systems, digestive organs, etc., through breath and imagery. "A specific `mind,'" she says, "can be experienced and witnessed when we direct our attention to a particular body system or part of the body, or when we move with a certain focus and identifiable quality." Starting with basic cellular structure, she takes readers through in utero development, birth, patterns of growth, and the body's many systems. The book's many photographs illustrating various exercises combine with anatomical drawings and generous endnotes and bibliography to make it a thorough grounding for further study. Whitney Scott

Review
"Wisdom of the Body Moving is beautifully written, poetic and concrete, and in tune with the essential nature of the intuitive process underlying this path of embodiment. Thank you, Linda."
-Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Founder and Educational Director, The School for Body-Mind Centering