Snapshots from the creative edge: Moving Body Resources

I am sitting on a rudimentary metal chair, slowly leaning as my torso explores the pull of gravity and the sensation of inhabiting spatial planes other than the familiar vertical. The setting is a group class led by instructor Mary Abrams in her New York City studio, Moving Body Resources. The movement approach is called Continuum, and although I have long been a student of the form and know to expect the unlikely, little do I suspect I am about to overcome my wrenching, lifelong struggle with motion sickness. All along I had assumed that aspect of myself was untouchable.

“Continuum is an inquiry into what’s possible in the human form, and what we begin to discover when we awaken to ourselves as fluid systems,” notes Abrams of the powerful breakthroughs that have been known to accompany the practice of Continuum. “When we increase our own fluid awareness and fluid dynamics, we increase our rapport with what is creatively unfolding in the universe all the time. We spend time in Continuum bringing that to conscious awareness.”

Continuum began around 1963 and is the creative vision of Emilie Conrad, an innovator in the field of somatics and movement education. An experiential form based on elements such as breath, sound, movement and sensation, Continuum is an invitation to reconsider the entrenched, long-held patterns — be they physical, emotional or social — that most of us associate with our essential selves. “There really needs to be an interest within the individual in shedding identity,” remarks Abrams of the work, “and that’s easier to do in some cultural contexts than others.”

Abrams is among a handful of teachers authorized to teach Continuum in the New York area. Through a mix of weekly classes, intensive workshops and private sessions, she tends to students of all ages and physical conditions. Fascinated by the creative edge of teaching, Abrams is renowned for orchestrating a lush environment where students are allowed to make their own discoveries and derive the most meaning. “The real teaching going on is inside each one of us,” she points out. “This teaching from the inside is built into the format of teaching Continuum, and is how I knew from my first experience that Continuum is absolutely right for me.”

Unlike other movement approaches, Continuum does not revolve around mastering a specific form, making it a viable resource for people recovering from cardiovascular trauma, chronic illness and other critical health concerns. As Abrams observes, “the primary interest is ‘what’s moving?’ and how can we explore what’s moving and invite awareness of fluid dynamics.” The one-on-one sessions are “a constant dialogue between what I’m suggesting they try and what it is that they discover along the way,” she adds.

Developing an awareness of deeply ingrained, unconscious patterns was a decisive turn in Abrams’ trajectory. A native Iowan with many decades of experience as a dancer and choreographer, she was first introduced to Continuum while undergoing a profound personal crisis. “There was an acceptance process starting to wake up in me,” she reflects, “that there were things going on that were beyond my willpower to manage.” Attending her first workshop with Continuum founder Emilie Conrad, she vividly recalls how “the instant transformation in her entire being in one breath was a homecoming for me.”

Abrams has continued to study with Emilie Conrad; among other major influences she cites somatic movement educator Susan Harper and Dr. Gary David’s research in Epistemics and Affect Psychology. She has served on the board of directors of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association since 2002, and became its Board President in 2005.

Abrams celebrated 10 years of teaching Continuum in the Fall of 2006. Formerly operating as Mary Abrams Movement Resources, the anniversary was marked by a new name, a brand new website and the studio’s relocation to more spacious quarters. The newly named Moving Body Resources is an oasis amid the frantic pace of Manhattan’s Garment District. “One of my biggest joys,” confides Abrams, “is people who walk in here for the first time, or to deliver something, and they say ‘this place feels great.’”

In addition to its core curriculum of Continuum classes, Moving Body Resources hosts a panoply of bodyworkers and other practitioners involved in creative developmental work. Through a decentralized business structure based on shared resources and duties, Moving Body Resources fosters a closely-knit, thriving community of healing arts professionals. The larger rooms are also available for rental to accommodate rehearsals and independent classes. A complete schedule of activities taking place at the studio can be found at www.movingbodyresources.com.

Moving Body Resources is located at 112 West 27th Street, 4th Floor, between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan. The studio can be reached by phone at 212.206.7542 or by email at mary@movingbodyresources.com