Ideokinesis

Ideokinesis is an approach to the improvement of human posture and body movement, in which visual and tactile-kinesthetic imagery guide the student toward healthier form. It is a discipline that employs the use of images as a means of improving muscle patterns.[1]

Mabel Todd conceived the ideokinesis approach; Barbara Clark and Lulu Sweigard, and others contributed to its early evolution;[2] later, André Bernard, Irene Dowd, Erick Hawkins, Pamela Matt, Eric Franklin and others lent their influence.

Sweigard borrowed the word ideokinesis, composed by two Greek words: ideo (thought) and kinesis (movement), from Bonpensière, a piano teacher, who applied imagery to his methodology. Ideokinesis can be translated roughly as "the image or thought as facilitator of movement".[3]

Visualizing motor imagery is employed to alter injurious mechanical forces by programming neuromuscular patterns for improved alignment and mechanical balance. The key idea of ideokinesis is that the mind's eye can alter potentially injurious movement forces (stress) to avoid injury (strain).[4]

Visualizing the movement only with the mind's eye (either as movement within the body or in space), without any perceivable sensation of muscular effort, primes neural pathways and reprograms unnecessary and unwanted muscular tensions. Sweigard, for example, evolved "nine lines of movement" that could be visualized in "constructive rest" to create better mechanical balance in upright standing posture.[5]

Sports psychology research have shown that visualizing a clear goal of an action readily coordinates the neuromuscular details of the movement (the muscular recruitment, sequencing, and timing and force requirements). Physical practice combined with mental practice can lead to more improvement in motor performance and strength than either physical or mental practice alone. Further brain imaging technology reveals that mentally practicing a motor image utilizes the same brain regions as actual physical execution. Visualization, then, is a powerful tool in linking mind and body in programming "right" (intended) action without excessive wear-and-tear on the body from physical practice.[6]

See also

Bibliography

New York Times, 31 August 1993.

author, 1968.

Research Associates, 1984.

W. Norton & Company, 1986.

Francisco (1961) 3.

References

  1. ↑ Bernard. A. An introduction to Ideokinesis
  2. ↑ "Pioneers". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  3. ↑ Bernard. A. An introduction to Ideokinesis
  4. ↑ Mabel Todd.The Thinking Body, 1937
  5. ↑ Sweigard L. Human Movement Potential: Its Ideokinetic Facilitation. Vermont: Allegro Editions, 2013.
  6. ↑ Somatic Studies and Dance by Glenna Batson - International Association for Dance Medicine and Science

External links

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