Movement Re-education
One aspect of movement therapy with Vital Connections is largely a matter of movement re-education, which is an approach that emphasizes using muscles, bones and the whole body more effectively. Most people develop bad, inefficient or ineffective habits of moving although they are often unaware of these habits. These habits may or may not cause pain, imbalance or other problems. If the problems are severe enough, people will commonly seek help, and movement re-education can help greatly. For this type of movement therapy, often simple activities such as sitting, standing and walking are employed for movement re-education, but actually the student can choose whatever activity is most important.
For traumatic physical injuries the Vital Connections approach can provide a valuable addition to whatever medical treatment and physical therapy a person is receiving. The Vital Connections approach is always to honor the prescribed medical judgment and treatment and then provide standard movement re-education principles, which may also help recovery. Moreover, some professionally trained physical and occupational therapists and chiropractors have sought this Vital Connections movement re-education approach as an adjunct to their standard training.
Performers—musicians, actors, dancers, etc.—need to gain optimal performance in their chosen fields and are more likely to seek help at the slightest indication of body or movement difficulty. The Vital Connections approach of movement re-education is subtle enough and effective enough that performers appreciate the principles and techniques for optimal performance even if they sense no difficulties to begin with.
The Vital Connections movement re-education approach typically draws from these movement disciplines:
Creative Arts
There is another side of Vital Connections movement therapy which emphasizes creativity and expanded consciousness. This is the inner work and play with the body and mind’s own internal energies, feelings and states of consciousness.
A participant may want to identify a goal or area of focus after a lengthy interview. Then the process unfolds organically with movement, dance, music, energy or other creative expressions through a series of sessions, which may include mandala drawing, body portraits or other special applications. As therapy, it is well to remember that healing is often a process of reclaiming wholeness which is essentially defined by the participating individual. For some individuals it may be useful to be helped also by a qualified counselor or psychotherapist while engaging in creative arts development with the Vital Connections modalities.
This Vital Connections approach typically draws from these disciplines:
- Omega Arts
- Music Imaging
- Authentic Movement
- Dragon Maneuvers
- Orgone Movements