What is Continuum Movement?     

 By Bonnie Gintis, D.O., author of Engaging The Movement of Life: Exploring Health and Embodiment Through Osteopathy and Continuum


The basic principles and practices of Continuum include:

• Movement – creating new ways of moving our bodies, and participating more fully with the intrinsic movements that are always expressing themselves through the body.
  
  
• Exploring the qualities of fluidity in all aspects of life and embodiment.
  
  
• Increasing the variability & capacity of our breath. Giving ourselves the opportunity to change the way we breathe offers our system options we might not otherwise find.
  
  
• Exploring sound as a vibratory quality of breath, and experiencing its effects on us.
  
  
• Refining attentiveness, mindfulness, and consciousness of our relationship to our body, our health, our environment, and the world in which we live.
  
  
• Becoming aware of habit patterns, and exploring alternatives to them.
  
  
• Considering what we call the “body” as a creative process, rather than as an object.
  
  
• Finding pleasure and enjoyment in our experience of moving, breathing, and being embodied.
  
  
• Cultivating curiosity and a sense of open-ended inquiry.
  
  

So many of the problems I treat in my Osteopathic practice could be easily remedied by my patients themselves if they could re-learn to interweave their bodies’ natural tendency to breathe, move, and rest into their busy lives. Development of our kinesthetic sense—the sensation and awareness we have of our own movement—is the key to this process. Continuum explores movement and somatic education based on intrinsic felt movements, rather than on imposed exercises or prescribed routines. Participants cultivate a refined degree of attention, and learn to trust that there is deep wisdom that guides the body to self-correct, if given the opportunity to move freely. Stepping outside of our preconceived notions and the popular cultural models of what we think of as “the body” we can discover the deep inner world that is an unending resource for healing, adaptability, and change.

In a Continuum class, the arena is set for exploration by presenting an idea, an image, or a theme. Sequences of motions are combined with breath and sound that encourage exploration of the theme. The pace of a Continuum class may be slow and meditative, with nearly invisible micro-movements; or fast and lively with large wave-like motions and aerobic activity using weights or a variety of other exercise props and equipment. A class may be composed of a group of any size, ranging from two to a few hundred. Ideally it becomes part of a person’s daily reality, practiced for some period of time each day, and integrated into the way all movement is approached. Any exercise or activity can be influenced and enhanced by the sensibility of Continuum.

Continuum contributes to the field of health and movement education by providing a rich spectrum of modalities for all people. The application of Continuum philosophy and practice continues to expand in countless arenas of personal and professional life: health care, science, bodywork, meditation, psychotherapy, spiritual practice, business organization, group dynamics, education, dance, artistic creativity, performance, sports and fitness, and all fields that value participation with embodied life in a passionate and intimate way.  – Bonnie Gintis