I came to Gyrotonic through dance. I have always loved to move and I have always been fascinated by how our body is designed for movement. In college, I became interested in dance medicine, kinesiology and anatomy, and injury prevention. After working in a medically integrated fitness center under Sarasota Memorial Hospital it became evident to me how imperative it is that we keep moving to have our best quality of life. And that this education of knowing and moving your body better can and should start as soon as possible to begin a journey .
I have been a dance teacher, a performer, and choreographer, but I felt like my specific set of talents and skills were not quite being utilized. I wanted to teach people of all ages to move better. I had taken Pilates, yoga, weight training, and many more forms of movement and none of them really and truly fired me up. Then one day at a dance class, a fellow student was offering Gyrotonic privates for free because she was working on her apprenticeship teaching hours. I had never heard of it, but I thought, sure, why not? When I walked into the studio I saw a quiet, calm place, with weird machines and people breathing and undulating their spines. Truly, I thought, well this is weird. But, half way through my first session I thought, “Oh my goodness! This is the thing!” This is the modality that I can teach and use to help people!” I was impressed by the unique and supportive feeling of the equipment, the hands on cuing from the instructor, and the spiralling movements of the spine and the limbs. Within months I was off into teacher training.
Things that have happened for me:
The techniques I learned about breathing changed my dance technique and brought more ease to my dancing
I developed a deep strong core
I learned our body has many more capabilities and complexities in movement that I ever understood
I learned to support my students with my hands, body and words
I had fun
I learned to support my hyper mobile limbs in a safer way
I have learned to be more gentle with my body and to “allow” it to do things instead of forcing it to do things.
I have become more coordinated
My posture has improved
My balance has improved
I have a deeper sense of well-being and purpose
And one of the most wonderful gifts is that I have been able to watch the wonder and joy on my student’s faces as they, too, discover how amazing our bodies truly are and that exercise can be fun and playful.
