Body Mapping News
- Meet the Skeletal Model family - A team of skeletal models is an indispensable resource for teaching Body Mapping. The adventures of this trusty crew of models are documented on our Facebook page.
Making music requires body movement. Music making movements are repeated hundreds and thousands of times every week, month, and year of a musicians' life.
In your brain, there is a map of your body. It includes how big you are, where your joints are, and what movements can be made with each part. When the map is accurate, the movements are free and easy. When the map is a little bit off, the movement will be a little bit off. When the body map is very different from the body, movement will be poorly coordinated and tense. Such movements limit what we are capable of achieving musically and over time, may lead to injury.
In your brain, there is a map of your body. It includes how big you are, where your joints are, and what movements can be made with each part. When the map is accurate, the movements are free and easy. When the map is a little bit off, the movement will be a little bit off. When the body map is very different from the body, movement will be poorly coordinated and tense. Such movements limit what we are capable of achieving musically and over time, may lead to injury.
Body Mapping is the conscious refinement of one's own body map: a process which results in the refinement of the movement. This involves accessing the body map via self-inquiry, consulting the anatomical reality, internalizing the anatomical reality, and then incorporating the new map into whole body awareness. Cultivating an active sensory perception and inclusive awareness is essential to this process.
While Body Mapping Educators are, for the most part, musicians, Body Mapping is of great value to any person who would like to prevent injury and promote facility in movement. In my time as Body Mapping Educator, I have had the pleasure of working with musicians of all kinds (keyboard, strings, wind, percussion) as well as with a variety of other professional fields including dance, office administration, and sign language interpretation.
More information on Body Mapping:
While Body Mapping Educators are, for the most part, musicians, Body Mapping is of great value to any person who would like to prevent injury and promote facility in movement. In my time as Body Mapping Educator, I have had the pleasure of working with musicians of all kinds (keyboard, strings, wind, percussion) as well as with a variety of other professional fields including dance, office administration, and sign language interpretation.
More information on Body Mapping:
- Scientific Basis of Body Mapping by Dr. Richard T. Nichols, Ph.D
- Origins and Theory of Body Mapping by William Conable, AT
- Musicians as Movers: Body Mapping and the Alexander Technique for Musicians and Music Educators by Amy Likar, DMA, AE, Sponsoring Teacher, AmSAT Certified Alexander Technique Teacher, president of Andover Educators
- Pianist's Injuries: Movement Retraining is the Key to Recovery by Thomas Mark, Ph.D, AE