I'm often thinking about the interface between science and art and whether they can meet without one drowning out the other. Aquatic bodywork, with its inherent beauty of form and experience, might be one such meeting place.
Recently, I came across an article in the Institute of Sport and Remedial Massage (UK), Newsletter, March 2011(16). Its title was 'Underwater Massage Ballet' and its subtitle 'Exploring the muscle reprogramming potential of Watsu'.
Aside from the scientific tone of the subtitle, much of the article was an inspiring and experiential account of a session the author received from aquatic bodywork practitioner Stef Cerf.
The following paragraph leapt out at me. Ian Tennant wrote:
I was curious to find out more from Stef about the elegant movements used during the session. ‘I work with archetypal shapes such as the figure of eight, vortex, circle, and sinusoidal wave when steering clients through the water,’ explained Stef. ‘There is a force behind shapes and these somehow resonate with us.’ This left me wondering whether his treatment could help align a body with the universal forms, shapes, and patterns which are so commonly observed in nature.
As far as I know, the person who first brought these wonderful insights about shape to aquatic bodywork was Alexander Georgeakopoulos, a dancer who developed the aquatic modality called Healing Dance.
Alexander has the visual and sensory poetry you'd expect of a dancer. He wrote:
Healing Dance recognizes the power of the body mudra and expands it to include archetypal patterns not decreed by religion, but with an even deeper resonance rooted in the psyche. These postures include arching, the fetal position, self-embracing, reaching with one arm, opening both arms to sky or to the sides, and holding the hands in prayer position or over the heart. The aquatic receiver, even though not intentionally assuming these positions as in mudra practice, may discover a personal meaning once placed in them. Just as we offer movement, we offer body mudras with an understanding of their potential to see if they have relevance for the receiver. We hold a space for meanings to emerge. [Source]
Movement practitioner, Emilie Conrad writes of the ways in which: 'ALL fluids of the body - whether circulating blood, the tides of cerebrospinal fluid, the pump of the lymph system, the net of membranes or the swirl of viscera and brain - function as fundamentally ONE undulating stream of intelligence. [Source]
In the last year especially, her Continuum newsletters have referenced innovative studies of water and how these inform our understanding of our own watery bodies. The new field of Holistic Science offers more in exploring these ideas than conventional science alone:




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