Student Comments

ROSEN COMES TO FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS

Lou Lindsey, JD, MLS, SLIS, Associate Director, Mabee Legal Information Center, Tulsa Oklahoma

“I would like to recommend a Rosen workshop from the viewpoint of someone simply wanting to learn about Rosen and what it offers for self-awareness. I attended the Rosen workshop in Fayetteville on April 25, 26 & 27 as perhaps the only person who was not a professional in the bodywork, nursing, social work or psychological counseling fields. I’m a law librarian for heaven’s sake! Nevertheless, it was a great weekend. Let me tell you why.”

“Our session started out with an open meeting of interested people Friday evening when about 30 people came to a lovely retreat center atop a mountain, an oasis in the city of Fayetteville. The evening session included a varied group, including families of those who had signed up for the entire weekend workshop, and others who just wanted to learn more about this very gentle mind-body work. We had a brief hands-on- shoulders Rosen experience, a talk about Rosen Method, and then a man from the audience volunteered to receive a Rosen session.”

“At the close of his 45-minute demo session, a remarkable physical response of two large breaths, his abdomen rising high, was what still sticks with me about that evening. It intrigued me to learn more, and that’s exactly what the next two days were about. About a third of the group that came Friday evening participated in the next two full days of Rosen instruction and practicum. We started each day with a delightful, refreshing Rosen Movement, which helped break the ice among strangers (most of us didn’t know each other), and relax everyone. The movement is more dance than aerobic, with fun ways of experiencing movement with one other, or with the group included in the routine. Some of the movement was on mats, but most was while standing or moving. As one person said, it was “playful” and helped her connect with her inner child.”

“The two day workshop was an ideal mix of instruction from our charming Santa Fe teacher who had such a beautiful way about her - charismatic, open, sunny and kind. She taught by example and by stimulating and encouraging discovery on one’s own.

March Intensive at Rosen Method Center Southwest in Santa Fe

By Betty Ross, Bodywork Practitioner, Katonah, NY

This intensive was very special for me. I had the opportunity to sink down to a place inside of me that I may have never touched before! My belief system tells me this happened because I was able to hear myself, listen to myself, and trust myself in a new way. The excellent teachers who helped to create an intimate atmosphere of love and acceptance were instrumental in enabling me to find my truth. Thank you to Sandra Wooten, Cameron Hough and Sarah Dandridge. The following words linger with me:

Listening hearts and hands-
Present and alert,
Secure and gentle,
Nurturing and giving,
Willing to stay.
Feelings and emotions-
Expressed freely,
Validated,
The body speaking,
Uproar and calm.
Words and stories-
Past histories,
Truths told,
Tensions held,
The body hears.
Eating, laughing and crying-
Feeding the soul,
Nourishing the body,
Sharing together,
Intimate times.

Talking About InBody Somatic Education

By Summer Stevenson, Rosen Method Southwest School

Sandra Wooten has been my supervisor, teacher and mentor for many years. Through InBody she teaches what she has learned from being in the field of body- work for 25 years. Last summer Sandra talked to me about forming an adjunct training she wanted to offer Rosen Method practitioners. Invitations to this training went out and three of us, all practitioners, joined Sandra at the Southwest September Intensive to attend this special training. At the time, she didn’t have a name for the training, but it has since evolved into “InBody.”

So what is the InBody training? It is somatic education. Informed by the work of Marion Rosen, P.T. and in the tradition of Ericksonian hypnotherapy, InBody teaches body observation and inner awareness skills as continuing education for those in the helping/healing professions as well as advanced training for Rosen Method bodywork practitioners.

What have I learned from this training so far?

• How to tap into my deep understanding and experience of giving and receiving Rosen work.

• How to find my own words to tell people from all walks of life about Rosen Method and my work.

• How to discover and be my “authentic” self in all areas of my life.

• To remember to always return to the breath, the body.

In our training we talk about how “words” affect us, and how we use them in our sessions. We discuss metaphors, and see how they show up in the body and in our lives. We’ve watched the wonder of a baby breathing with no constrictions, and an anatomy video showing the diaphragm and how it affects every muscle in the body. And then there’s the sharing about our work and discussing how to hold the container of a session, the type of environment we create, and how to be with the emotions that come out of a session for ourselves and our clients.

All of us in the group agree that Rosen Method has influenced and will continue to influence our lives in many ways. I know for myself it has crept into my being, the way I am with my family, my friends, and the people I meet on the street. For me, InBody is another avenue of wonderful teaching and training that has allowed me to discover a different dimension of Rosen Method than I have known before. I am going deeper into the knowledge of who I am, and what I have to offer. It gives me an opportunity to become even more self-assured, more honest and accepting, and yes even more vulnerable and alive in all areas of my life.

Movement Testimonials from the Southwest

By Marjorie Huebner, Bodywork Practitioner, Minnesota

This past November at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, a group of us got together for a Rosen Movement Intensive sponsored by the Rosen Method Center Southwest. Julia Martin, instructor and Karen Peters, assistant, were a graceful and gentle teaching team. Karen offered her expertise in Alexander Technique and Julia her experience and love of Rosen Movement.

The area surrounding Ghost Ranch is amazingly beautiful. It is situated in a canyon on three sides which evokes a sense of protection, of being held on a grand scale. The natural setting provides this outer layer of support for doing Rosen Bodywork or Movement! Beauty is important for inspiration and this fall, with golden yellow cottonwood trees under sunny skies and the hopes to see the eclipse of the moon—we did catch glimpses between the fast moving clouds— it was inspiring! Meaning breathing well too!

I have been teaching Rosen Movement classes for years now and appreciate that when I go to an intensive I always learn something new! I learn new movements, I have new insights about my own body, I have the deliciousness of being led rather than leading (I am the only Rosen Movement teacher in Minnesota right now), and I leave a lot looser that when I came! I again left with an appreciation of how Rosen Movement is an amazingly well crafted form—gentle and powerful.

By Kileen Smyth, Bodywork Student, Rochester, Minnesota

Within the holding space of gorgeous New Mexico mesas, Julia and Karen were creatively adept and allowing as guides. The generous sharing of movement possibilities in our round robin circles that led into our dance challenge for the next day was great fun. As beginners, we discovered that the laughter at our own mistakes was relaxing. The openness of the more advanced students was a treasure.

I was struck by Julia’s soulful presence. Her nuggets of feedback were like artful gifts. You can tell she has a reverence for the work. The witnessing was both awakening and deepening as we honored the possibilities within each person and the group as a whole. Karen’s Alexander Technique invited many of us to consider allowing little adjustments to our movement possibilities throughout the week. The experiential learning was a wonderful way to feel seen, celebrated and energized to incorporate thoughtful suggestions. I loved being able to learn from the feed- back provided to everyone.

Ending on Halloween at Ghost Ranch did invite a bit of flair. When the spontaneous belly dancing demonstration was cancelled, many of us gathered to move playfully anyway. Others chose to draw and paint the essence of dancing within the space. With scarf in hand, a funky feline (Cameron the cat) emerged to lead us in movement on the final day: a wonderful conclusion to a life-giving week.