Blog
Women's Bodies and Pelvic Mobility
When I'm relaxed, I can cherish the lushness within my pelvis. But numbed by the sensory contradictions of contemporary life, I must make an effort to seek that deep energetic center.
Liberated Body Interview: Posture, Perception and Presence
It is my great good fortune for this to be my second interview with Mary Bond (the first can be found here) Mary has an MA in Dance from UCLA, and studied with, and was certified by, Dr. Ida Rolf, the originator of Rolfing Structural Integration. Mary is currently Chair of the Movement Faculty of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration in Boulder, CO. She also teaches workshops online and in person tailored to the movement needs and interests of various groups such as runners, dancers, Pilates and yoga instructors, and massage therapists. Mary is also a prolific writer whose articles have appeared in numerous magazines and she has written several books. You may know her best for her book The New Rules of Posture, and in today’s conversation we’re talking about her forthcoming book: Your Body Mandala: Posture, Perception, and Presence. And her mission, which, much to my delight, is to contribute to humanity’s deeper embodiment. —Brooke Thomas, Liberated Body
Pandiculate for Fascia Health
Unlike cats and dogs, humans tend to stifle this natural urge. In polite company such movement expression is considered rude.
Embodiment During a Heatwave?
Going outside felt like walking into an oven or like being punctured by thousands of hot little needles, one in every skin pore.
The Feet of the Pelvis
I began to be curious about how that deep front line of the leg might affect or be affected by the deep line within my torso. What was my psoas muscle up to?
Posture and Procrastination
I don't think the earth feels equally solid to everyone, or even equally solid to anyone from one moment to the next. In this moment, I only seem to be relaxing. In fact I'm in a state of procrastination and my to-do list looms in the air about three feet away.
Mastectomy, Spatial Perception and Movement
After explaining these phenomena to my client, I suggested she notice any sense of diminished movement on the affected side. To become more aware of the space around her body she could imagine a sphere—something like a snow globe—and standing within it, notice differences her sense of the qualities of the space on each side.
Tail Space and Posture
Trash day offers me 61 opportunities to lengthen my anococcygeal ligament, one for every step.
Presence and Patriotism
For those of us who are rising, pink-hatted and furious, to the occasion(s), I caution against leaving our bones behind.
Morning Posture; Morning Attitude
I also know that moving stiffly--ambulating with the bare minimum of joints engaged--becomes a habit that can’t entirely be blamed on my bodily tissues. Habits take place in the brain. The more often I move stiffly, the more familiar and less optional that way of moving becomes. I can choose how I move.
Spatial Perception in Daily Life
When we resist doing a task, part of the body is holding back. Instead of all your muscle units working together to finish the chore, a high percentage of them rebel and pull the opposite way. It’s like driving the car with the brakes on. The chore feels heavy, pressured and hurried.
Sisters of the pelvis
We dipped into pelvic dance, the ancient feminine communion originally meant to prepare women for pregnancy and childbirth. We explored the possibility of dancing from our ovaries, from our cervices. If we could dance that way, could we not also walk that way? But where and when, in current culture, would that feel safe?
Sentient and Useful Toes
Toes love having something to do--they love feeling and pushing off from the ground. Happy, useful toes impart lift to your body as they impel your heart forward into the world.
Posture & Perception: Naked Skin Moments
Contemporary living undervalues body awareness and overrides it most of the time. But could it be that listening to our interior body signals has an evolutionary advantage? If so, we undervalue this capacity to our detriment. We need to practice activating it.