The Hindu Business Line : Therapeutic movement

The body is a container to store all our experiences, both physical and emotional," says dance therapist Tripura Kashyap from Bangalore. "Getting in touch with your body helps to get in touch with yourself." Brinda Jacob, a Bangalore-based creative movement specialist, adds, "A deep awareness of your body puts you in touch with your soul."

With more awareness and acceptance of the body-mind connection, the scope of dance/movement in life is rapidly increasing. Movement as therapy, movement for learning and movement for self-expression are some of the disciplines evolving in India.

Legendary Swiss psychotherapist Carl Jung was among the earliest to discover the use of the body in therapy. "Movement leads us directly to the core of our emotional complexes," he wrote. A theory reiterated by Tripura and Brinda. "We begin to move even in the womb, even before we learn to cry," says Tripura. "The way we walk, our postures, gestures and shadow movements, when observed by a trained movement therapist, can reveal so much."

Though there is a wealth of wisdom stored in our bodies, we are increasingly losing access to this storehouse. Sedentary lifestyles lead to an over-stimulated mind and an inaccessible body. Tripura, along with psychologist Santa Kumar, runs My Body, My Wisdom, a self-awareness movement workshop.

"It's unbelievable how much people are out of touch. During our workshops, we ask people to do a body scan. They name various body parts and record the sensations they experience. I've had people who couldn't even feel their necks or shoulders," recalls Tripura.

While dance works at a deeply personal level, it can also work wonders helping people cope with issues. Brinda has started Dream A Dream, an organisation that works on integrating children from various sections of society and runs a transformational programme, Caterpillar and Butterfly, for HIV-positive children. "Through creative movement, we explore what it means to be HIV positive and the loneliness that comes with it," she says.

Sometimes even simple movement games are starting points for deep discussions. "A simple game, such as Tiger and Lamb, where one child is a tiger, the other a lamb and the rest the villagers who protect the lamb from the tiger, help these children deal with those they feel threatened by, and those who act as a support group. Moving together helps bond and we develop personal support structures within the group."

Brinda was drawn to dance therapy after personally experiencing its healing powers. "As a contemporary dancer I experienced deep inside the power of movement to explore and express who we are." She later went to England to learn under Terry Braithwaite, a therapist who works with autistic children.

What Tripura and Brinda have learnt over the years is that movement therapy is for everybody and not just for those with psychological disorders. They have also realised that working with the body gives a sense of integrated selfhood and a source of emotional release or catharsis.

Says Tripura, "I was taking part in a movement workshop in Argentina led by a visually-challenged therapist. He asked us to choose a prop in the room and relate to it. I was compellingly drawn to a wheel chair. My brother Pavan, who died a few years ago, was afflicted with cerebral palsy and spent all his years in a wheel chair. As I moved with this prop, memories opened like a torrent within me — his will to live, his lively response to music, his laughter, his pain and the anguish I felt on losing him. I cried during the session and felt this deep catharsis."

"Often women repress emotions, especially anger, because it's socially unacceptable. Anger often shows up as sadness and is hidden deep within. But when you move with awareness and authenticity, these emotions surface and you get to deal with them," she says.

So how do we get in touch with our bodies? For starters, Tripura recommends a 30-minute bodywork every day. It could be a walk, a swim, or moving to music. "We need to nourish our bodies with varied movement routines to stimulate them. Another option is to go for creative movement classes."

Adds Brinda: "Many people associate dance only with technique and performance. But creative movement gives everybody an exciting way to express themselves." She conducts classes for adults and children in Bangalore.

While movement therapy is relatively new, ancient disciplines such as yoga have always emphasised the strong body-mind connection. "Yogic postures and breathing condition the mind. With constant practice, one's perception changes," says Franz Andrini, a Bangalore-based yoga teacher. "Yogic anatomy includes the five pranas, the various chakras and nadis (channels). Asanas activate different pranas and chakras, and change patterns of the mind. For instance, work on the Manipura Chakra helps one overcome fear."

While there are varied bodywork options available today, it's important to choose teachers with both expertise and experience. Dance therapists go through rigorous training that includes anatomy, physiology, psychodrama, psychology, body observation and conditioning, and psychotherapy. "When emotions and complexes surface, the therapist needs to have the knowledge to deal with them," says Tripura, who has recently written a book My Body, My Wisdom, published by Penguin.

(The author is a movement consultant, specialising in the Creative Arts in Education.)

Akshar Media

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