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Rosen Method Movement
Opening the body, opening to the moment.
What is Rosen Method Movement?
Rosen Method Movement is a body-friendly movement class where we do simple, easy movements designed to remind us of how our bodies are actually meant to move (as opposed to instruction in a stylized movement form). The weekly 75-minute group classes combine simple exercises and fun music to invite awareness, ease, and pleasure in movement.
The movement work was developed in 1956, prior to the creation of the bodywork, by Marion Rosen for patients in her physical therapy practice. At that time, she had clients who were asking her for exercises they could do at home to keep from getting reinjured, and so she began to create a system of simple, gentle range-of-motion movements.
As this work evolved with Marion’s physical therapy clients, it developed into group classes set to music that were designed to warm up the body and move every joint, to lengthen the muscles, open the chest cavity and free up the diaphragm. Because the movements come from physical therapy, they are based on your body’s basic structure.
As with the bodywork sessions, in the group movement classes we are interested in freeing up the unconscious habits we all walk around with, so that we can explore who we are underneath it all. In a class we are cultivating awareness and ease, and being playful at the same time. The music, pacing and intentionality, and community connection fostered in the group class are all designed to bring about the body-mind-emotion connection. People usually feel relaxed and more in themselves at the end of a class.
Rosen Method Movement has been taught in the Bay Area for over 60 years, and I've been teaching it since 1998.
*If you want to read the in-depth version of everything you can expect from a Rosen Movement class, you can read my article: Building Trust ... One Movement at a Time.
Who is it for?
Anyone can benefit from moving their body as it is designed to move! Because Rosen Movement is not a stylized movement or about athletic performance, the people who seek it out come from varied backgrounds and have diverse reasons for seeking it out: From those who work in offices, athletes, people who are decidedly not athletes, those who are interested in graceful aging, those who have not even thought about aging yet, those who want a moving meditation practice… you get the idea. Anyone!
What is a class like?
A class is comprised of five sections:
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Warm-Up: mid-range movements of the joints in their anatomical directions; activating core muscles and diaphragm
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Stretch: end-range movements of upper body to encourage inner-awareness and freedom in diaphragm
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Circle: bigger, more complex leg movements holding hands for support and to play with balance
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Across the Floor: put it all together to play with dance and have fun
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On the Floor: movements for the spine, rest, relaxation, awareness, and integration
All of the class sections are done to music that supports and inspires the movements.
We have a great time moving, exploring, and connecting. The movements are simple and practical, and the impact is profound.
It would honestly be difficult to not experience benefits from a Rosen Movement class. Try it - you'll like it!
Why do it?
A short list of some of the benefits that people describe as a result of Rosen Movement are:
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Agility, mobility, flexibility, and balance
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Ease with the natural breath
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Direct experience of limits and possibilities
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Relaxation, peacefulness, aliveness
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Inner awareness and Inter-connection
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Appreciation of body-mind linkage
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Graceful aging
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Preparation for more strenuous activity
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Pleasure and trust in the body
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An experience of created community
Does Rosen Movement ever happen in private session?
Yes. In a private session we can work more precisely with your individual movement patterns through all the same approaches as are employed in the group classes.
What are your rates?
Group classes $25 (sliding scale $15-$25).
Private sessions $175.
Where do group classes take place?
I have an online Rosen Method Movement group class on Tuesdays so you can join from anywhere and in the comfort of your home.
I teach an in-person class on Wednesday mornings at the Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco; class begins at 9am.
What is the class schedule?
Tuesday online 11AM-12:15pm Pacific Time
Wednesday in person 9AM-10:15AM Pacific Time
at the Noe Valley Ministry, in the gorgeous sanctuary.
https://www.noevalleyministry.org/
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Run, don’t walk, to Theresa’s Rosen Movement classes. She is a teacher of delight; she invites us into delighting in the delicate sensations of our bodies moving, in each other, and she invites us into awe. You will leave her class enlivened, rejuvenated, and filled up.
Karen Peters, M.Div, Senior Rosen Movement Teacher