Mabel Elsworth Todd pioneered ideokinesis in the 1920s. Her book, The Thinking Body, described new ways to use all the senses as well as inner feeling and imagination to retrain the body to move with ease and balance. The system became an invaluable tool for generations of dancers, actors, and performance artists, thanks largely to one of its most important teachers, André Bernard (1924-2003). This book presents an introduction to the practice as well as a lengthy interview with Bernard and two meticulously detailed workshop protocols illustrated with 52 photographs and line drawings.
In examining ideokinesis and its application to the teaching and practice of dancing, Drid Williams introduces readers to the work of Dr. Lulu Sweigard (1895–1974), a pioneer of ideokinetic principles. Drawing on her experiences during private instructional sessions with Sweigard over a two-year span, Williams discusses methods using imagery for improving body posture and alignment for ease of movement. Central to Williams's own teaching methods is the application of Sweigard's principles and general anatomical instruction, including how she used visual imagery to help prevent bodily injuries and increasing body awareness relative to movement. Williams also emphasizes the differences between kinesthetic (internal) and mirror (external) imagery and shares reactions from professional dancers who were taught using ideokinesis. Williams's account of teaching and practicing ideokinesis is supplemented with essays by Sweigard, William James, and Jean-Georges Noverre on dancing, posture, and habits. Teaching Dancing with Ideokinetic Principles offers an important historical perspective and valuable insights from years of teaching experience into how ideokinesis can shape a larger philosophy of the dance.
Nerves. Muscles. Bones. These are the three basic components necessary for human movement. Driving this function is the nervous system: the initiator and controller. In Human Movement Potential: Its Ideokinetic Facilitation, Dr. Lulu Sweigard explores the capacity of our nervous system to uncover the most efficient and healthy neuromuscular interactions for movement. Based on her research and insight, we can improve the relationship between our skeletal, muscular, and neural function, achieving our optimal movement potential. At the heart of Sweigard's work is ideokinesis, which uses imaging and thought in order to produce better mechanical balance and neuromuscular coordination. Human Movement Potential masterfully explores ideokinesis not only as a theory but as a practical, applicable tool, making it an essential resource for performers, dancers, bodyworkers, and anyone interested in optimizing physical performance, reducing unnecessary strain, and banishing fatigue. Diligently researched and based on well-documented scientific trials, this groundbreaking work on the human body skillfully shows that with simple changes in movement and thought, we can make deep and significant improvements in how we function and the way we feel. Dr. Lulu E. Sweigard was a leading authority on posture and movement. Throughout her career she explored many complex topics related to the human body. Sweigard served on the faculties of the University of Northern Iowa, Teachers College of Columbia University, New York University, and The Juilliard School.
An introduction to embodied movement through the work of a dance education pioneer In this introduction to the work of somatic dance education pioneer Nancy Topf (1942–1998), readers are ushered on a journey to explore the movement of the body through a close awareness of anatomical form and function. Making available the full text of Topf’s The Anatomy of Center for the first time in print, this guide helps professionals, teachers, and students of all levels integrate embodied, somatic practices within contexts of dance, physical education and therapy, health, and mental well-being. Hetty King, a movement educator certified in the Topf Technique®, explains how the ideas in this work grew out of Topf’s involvement in developing Anatomical Release Technique—an important concept in contemporary dance—and the influence of earlier innovators Barbara Clark and Mabel Elsworth Todd, founder of the approach to movement known as “ideokinesis.” Featuring lessons written as a dialogue between teacher, student, and elements of the body, Topf’s material is accompanied by twenty-one activities that allow readers to use the book as a self-guided manual. A Guide to a Somatic Movement Practice is a widely applicable entry point into the tradition of experiential anatomy and its mindful centering of the living, breathing body.
Mabel Todd's The Thinking Body (1937) still stands today as a classic study of human anatomy and kinesiology that introduces many of the founding principles of somatic movement education. TBI Media offers a Special Edition of the book which replicates the style of the original cover, typography and drawings and provides an updated index.
The Hidden You was originally published in 1953, toward the end of the author's career. This book explores many of the themes introduced by Mabel Todd in The Thinking Body (1937), but presents a more personal and philosophical exposition of her ideas. This edition includes a new index to provide a supplementary method for accessing the book topics.
Introduces various programs and activities designed to awaken the links between mind, body, and spirit, including sensory therapies, subtle energy practices, massage, movement therapy methods, martial arts, yoga, meditation, and creative arts therapies.
In Mindful Movement, exercise physiologist, somatic therapist, and advocate Martha Eddy uses original interviews, case studies, and practice-led research to define the origins of a new holistic field--somatic movement education and therapy--and its impact on fitness, ecology, politics, and performance. The book reveals the role dance has played in informing and inspiring the historical and cultural narrative of somatic arts. Providing an overview of the antecedents and recent advances in somatic study and with contributions by diverse experts, Eddy highlights the role of Asian movement, the European physical culture movement and its relationship to the performing arts, and female perspectives in developing somatic movement, somatic dance, social somatics, somatic fitness, somatic dance and spirituality, and ecosomatics.
Widely respected yoga teacher and author Richard Rosen draws on ancient yoga encyclopedias to explain how yoga was practiced before it became popular in the West. He compares the three main existing sources known to yoga scholars to describe how complex and rich the practice of yoga once was. It included systematic teachings on personal hygiene, good health, and good relationships, and other practices of yoga that went far beyond just the physical postures. Each section of the book offers a guided practice session of ancient poses and breathing techniques to enable readers to connect to the roots of their yoga and to offer a framework from which to understand the sequences they use in their regular sessions.
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