What is Movement Therapy
What is Movement Therapy
This blog post explores the question "What is Movement Therapy?". It is not just about moving your body. It’s about discovery, understanding, healing, acceptance and release through movement.
Movement Therapy
Movement therapy is an umbrella term for practices that use physical motion, movement and mobility to support bio-mechanical health, physiological health, as well as emotional, mental, psychological, spiritual, and social wellbeing. Movement therapy is a holistic blend of mindful movement, somatic movement, self expression, nervous system regulation, physical conditioning, tension release, soft tissue re-education, and physical rehabilitation techniques. Rather than working with a symptom and treatment for that one symptom. Holistic health is a whole person approach for long term health, happiness and longevity.
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Mind Body Connection: Movement that explores and expresses your inner state; supporting emotional balance, trauma release, down regulation and self-regulation.
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Nervous System Regulation: Slow and considered movements that release physical tension, naturally lengthen and release the soft tissues, all through felt sense body awareness. As a method to activate the parasympathetic nervous system response, to help you consciously shift into a more relaxed, calm and at ease state.
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Physical Conditioning & Rehabilitation: Movements that improve strength, coordination, flexibility, pliability, balance, stability, motor function and posture.
What is NOT Movement Therapy
- Physical Therapy, Physiotherapy, Chiropractic Treatment, Myofascial Therapy: These focus on muscular, skeletal and biomechanical health e.g. strength and conditioning, posture and alignment, range of motion, recovery from injury or illness.
- Exercise / Fitness Classes: These focus on physical mobility, fitness, strength and conditioning e.g. Zumba, circuit training,
- Recreational Dance / Sports: These focus on physical mobility, fitness, strength and conditioning e.g. martial arts, athletics, football, break dancing, ballroom dancing.
- Weight Lifting: These focus on physical mobility, fitness, strength and conditioning.
- Movement Performance / Choreography: These focus on external precision e.g. Tai Chi performance, dance performance.
- Mind Body Practices without a Therapeutic Framework: When the focus is purely on fitness, choreography or general relaxation e.g. Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, Pilates.
- Meditation / Breathwork: They are therapeutic, yet without movement.
Tai Chi & Qigong
Both Tai Chi and Qigong can be 'just' physical exercise, focusing on external movements, choreography and performance. Or they can be classed as movement therapy, when you explore your physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing through Tai Chi and Qigong movements. Where the focus is on your internal state of being, releasing tension, shifting states, and essentially getting out of your own way, to rediscover your authentic self. It's essential to have a teacher, known as a movement therapist to guide you through the movements, sensations, interactions and somatic experience, before embarking on your own movement journey. As a Tai Chi and Qigong instructor, I work with students privately to support their movement needs. Whether they wish to learn the Tai Chi form choreography, or if they wish to explore somatic movements through Qigong. They are the perfect practice to dip your toe in the felt sense world, or jump in fully for a deep dive of self exploration.
