Teaching Dancing with Ideokinetic Principles

Chapter 2. Relaxation

Chapter 2 Relaxation Throughout A Kinesthetic Legacy, Barbara Clark refers to the so-called relaxation features of ideokinesis as “table work” and “table teaching” (Matt 1993: 43–47, 49). I found her comments especially interesting because my introduction to ideokinesis was entirely through the constructive rest position (hereafter called CRP). Many sessions I had with Sweigard consisted solely of “table work” in the CRP. Image 10. Throughout A Kinesthetic Legacy, Barbara Clark refers to the so-called relaxation features of ideokinesis as “table work” and “table teaching” (Matt 1993: 43–47, 49). I found her comments especially interesting because my introduction to ideokinesis was entirely through the constructive rest position (CRP). Many sessions I had with Sweigard consisted solely of “table work” in the CRP.© Human Kinetics i-xiv_1-130_Will.indd 21 7/8/11 12:27 PM I was told that the CRP was a necessary beginning because I would not be able to change any of the bodily postures or habits I had until I could successfully reduce the tensions already existing in my body through using imagery given in the CRP. After these tensions were reduced, Dr. Sweigard could then set about establishing new patterns of neuromuscular response in my body (also using CRP) based upon the lines of movement (also called “lines of action” or “lines of force”). After I had improved to Sweigard’s satisfaction with these lessons, she gradually introduced me to a side-lying position, then a sitting position, then standing, and finally, ordinary walking. In our private sessions, we always started with the CRP. Clark’s description of the CRP coincides with what I was taught; that is, “In constructive rest, the students reclined on their backs with their knees bent and oriented to [the] ceiling and their arms resting comfortably across the chest” (Matt 1993: 43); however, Sweigard told me that especially ballet dancers often must tie their knees together with a scarf (see Image 10) because their legs tend to fall open owing to habitual patterns of tension in the buttocks and outer leg muscles. Ideally, I was meant to understand that the knees should “prop each other up” in the CRP, which meant that no muscular tension whatsoever was required to hold them up. Another adjustment that could be made in the CRP had to do with the upper arms. Because of habitual tensions in the shoulder girdle and upper back (a hyperextended chest), some students’ arms would not rest easily across the chest. In these cases, the upper arms could be supported by pillows so that they were aligned with the coronal plane (divides body front to back) of the body. This meant that the hands rested on either side of the lower rib cage. Both of these adjustments (tying the knees together and support of arms, if necessary) maintained the notion that constructive rest was a position in which a skeleton could be balanced with no external aids whatsoever. In other words, the CRP itself requires no muscular tension to maintain. Imagery in the CRP began with the suit of clothes (see Sweigard 1974: 232–36, “The Empty Suit”) corresponding to the most superficial layer of muscles of the body. These images were emphasized by Sweigard’s hands guiding the locations and directions of the images on my body. From there, as the sessions progressed, the imagery for tension reduction got deeper and deeper, until the final images I learned for tension reduction consisted of slowly removing knitted woolen covers from the bones themselves—all done, of course, with correct lines of direction and action in the body. For example, when peeling knitted woolen covers off the scapulae (shoulder blades), one always started at the medial edge of the scapula (the edge nearest the spine) and worked toward the outer edge and the gleno-humeral 22 chapter 2 i-xiv_1-130_Will.indd 22 7/8/11 12:27 PM joint. None of the images she gave me were ever to be changed with regard to the direction of the image. That is, the back of the suit of clothes was always to be smoothed from the shoulder seams downward toward the hem of the coat—never in the opposite direction. The suit coat was to be smoothed from the center back seam toward the front zipper that closed the coat—never from front to back and so on. Ordinary Relaxation versus Tension Reduction Dr. Sweigard...