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Authentic Movement

What is Authentic Movement?

Authentic Movement emerged from the work of pioneering dancer and teacher, Mary Starks Whitehouse (1911-1979). It is a relational practice between mover and witness. The practice relies on and encourages respect for the inner life and intelligence of the body. It invites individuals to listen deeply and pay close attention to bodily experience, impulses, sensations, and feelings and allow these to flow through into spontaneous movement. Experience in dance is not required to participate in this practice.

What does Authentic Movement involve?

Authentic Movement involves a person moving and a person bearing witness to that movement. The mover positions themselves in the space, closes their eyes, and begins a process of deep inner listening, sensing and feeling, easing from a state of outer awareness towards the somatic unconscious and inner self, a process Janet Adler (1999) describes as movers ‘descending towards themselves’. When emotion, memory, and sensory impulses are revealed or discovered, the mover spontaneously responds, without conscious direction, in movement, thus opening themselves to experiencing deeper levels of interior reality. Periods of perceptive stillness may also be experienced.

Witnessing is integral to Authentic Movement and offers a place of containment. In a therapeutic context, the practitioner, acting as the witness, has responsibility for receptively holding the space, bringing a quality of presence that supports the client’s inner listening and freedom of movement expression. As the client moves, the practitioner simultaneously brings deep attention to the client’s embodied expression as well as to their own bodily experience.

When the movement draws to a close, the client is invited to articulate their recollection of the movement. The practitioner, without judgement, then describes what she observed as well as describing her own embodied experience during the witnessing. This is an important element of the practice and can lead to further exploration of emergent thoughts and feelings.

What are the benefits?

This powerful experiential practice encourages refined listening-responding to the body and unconscious material. The work is healing and transformative, helping clients explore and work through past experiences and current issues by engaging their whole self. Following the guiding principles, clients will refine inner and outer attention.  This will support deeper bodily connection and presence whilst strengthening relationship with others. The act of being witnessed during movement explorations is nourishing, affirming, and deeply supportive.

Other benefits include:

  • Gains in personal insight

  • Greater self-compassion

  • Deepened presence and connection

  • Access to embodied experience

  • Enhanced creativity

  • Improvement in vitality and wellbeing

‘[…] it is only when one does feel seen by another that one can see oneself.’ – Janet Adler
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