Postural Alignment and Somatic Integration in Austin

This class provides a meditative look inside, to activate deep support for your daily
movement needs. We often think of posture as a fixed, usually ignored habit, however,
by slowing down basic functional movements we take for granted, we get a backstage
pass to this inner theatre of sensation and mobility that daily creates this illusion of
effortlessness and stability. Rolling on to your side, changing your facing in the room, or
coming to standing becomes a series of improvisational choices, rich with sensation and
awareness. This process isn’t purely kinesthetic; it is supported by visualization and
tactile stimulus, to coax out curiosity and play.
We slow down in order to notice how fast our brilliant nervous system supports us. We
explore movement choice at the boundary of what can be sensed consciously and your
body’s ingenious store of unconscious reflexes, habits, and motivations. We work within
a comfortable range of motion to notice the nuance between the blinding lights of
stretch and strain. Effort becomes more specific and varied: How can I move without
feeling my muscles forcing the movement? how can I use the weight of a limb here to
my advantage? How can I vary the pathway of my foot through 3D space to make
stepping easier?
Or, possibly, how can I make it harder – more interesting? What can I do to keep my
mind in my moving body?
The movement in this class is based on the work of a lineage of somatic movement
teachers that span a century. Rudolf Laban, Irmgard Bartenieff, and Bonnie Bainbridge-
Cohen, respectively each add their own discoveries in their research about movement
and consciousness. One throughline of these teachers’ focus is the interest in the
evolution of human movement. This means their work brings our attention to the unique
physics and sensory applications of having arrived in standing: as a species from the
animal kingdom as well as an individual from the uncoordinated human infant.