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Dec 2007 / Jan 2008
Eurythmy: Meditation in Movement by RUTH TSCHANNEN by Mary G. Enig, PhD & Regular Columns: Horoscopes for December and January by Laura with Judy LeBeau Croft's Healthy Living Column by Croft Woodruff Inspirations - Magic Doorways by Devrah Laval Marketing for Healing Professionals by Juliet Austin, MA, Marketing Coach Advertorials: Struggling with a Serious Illness? Generosity and Healing at One Location
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Eurythmy: Meditation in Movementby RUTH TSCHANNEN
If you are a musician and you are asked to play, you pick up your instrument and you start to perform. What about the idea that one’s own body is an instrument and that life’s circumstances provide the music? Or in words expressed by Novalis, a German poet of the Romantics: “There is only one temple in the world, and that is the human body. Nothing is more sacred than this high form”. Going back to the image of the instrument we might say that our bony structures serve as the frame for this most remarkable instrument, and the nerves provide the strings on which life’s mysteries are played. The human body on the other hand can also be experienced as a trap if we feel pain or if we realize its limitations. How can we break through this wall that hinders us to go beyond the mere physical reality of the material world? We are often tempted to use drugs to break the walls of our own limitations, but only for a short time. What happens if the trip is over and we are faced once again with our own self? In our time of the 21st century the understanding that there is something more than what the eye beholds is more and more spoken about. Meditation workshops, yoga classes and other forms of self development are offered everywhere in Western society. What role does Anthroposophy play in this expanding awareness and how does eurythmy contribute to this? I am asked almost daily to explain what eurthmy is about. I have many different answers depending on who is standing in front of me. I might say: ”Eurythmy is a meditation in movement”, or “speech and music made visible”. Many listeners let it go at that, but those who want to know more might say: “show me something.” Rather than demonstrating at first I might say: “lift your arm up above your head.” This seems fairly easy, anybody can do that. Now I say: “Try to do the same movement and experience as you move your arm up, that there is the same arm movement going down as an invisible counter stream.” So now when we lift our arm we try to pay attention to this space underneath the arm. We might notice that by doing this simple exercise our otherwise heavy arm can become almost weightless without using our physical muscles. Have you ever wondered how a conductor can lift his/ her arms for over two hours without feeling tired? Where is the buoyancy coming from? What is the secret? The secret is the life forces or etheric forces. The same forces which open the buds and blossoms in spring and are involved in all growing and becoming.Eurythmy works with these very same forces.
HOW DID EURYTHMY COME ABOUT? The next step is to draw a circle by starting at the top of the paper and draw both halves simultaneously bringing the feet together again at the bottom of the page. The important thing is to work with both feet at the same time, always mirroring the forms on the midline. A fun thing to do next is to write the alphabet in this way, keeping in mind that the right half is as we know the letters but the left is mirrored.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF WRITING WITH OUR FEET? |
METAMORPHISIS: etheric level
SOUL: astral level Within this exercise we can find the three soul forces: Thinking expressed in the words of the meditation, feeling shown through the movements of our arms/hands and willing made manifest through the stepping of our feet. The importance of this 6 step exercise can be understood when you realize that the “I” is working through each step at successive levels of awareness: physical (1st position), etheric (2nd), the astral (3rd), spirit self (4th), life spirit (5th) and spirit man (6th). If you practice these two basic exercises, you may have some interesting experiences of becoming conscious of your instrument, the temple of the human body, and to gain a different experience of your position in space.
This article was originally written for ILLUMINATING ANTHROPOSOPHY - Anthroposophical Prison Outreach Newsletter - Spring 2005. We are reprinting this article with their gracious permission - more at www.anthroposophyforprisoners.org Ruth Tschannen works with members of the Cascadia Society in North Vancouver, is involved in activities at the local Rudolf Steiner Centre and has been a student of Anthroposophy all her life. We will continue this topic in the next issue and focus on local activities.
One of Rudolf Steiner’s legacy - Anthroposophical Cancer treatments The North American Rudolf Steiner Health Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan has two week special intensive therapeutic retreats designed for ambulatory individuals with chronic illnesses every couple of months. They include Anthroposophical Cancer treatments consisting of:
Mistletoe therapy may be used, such as with Iscar®, Iscucin®, or Helixor®. Patients receive individual medical care from founding physicians Quentin McMullen, MD and Molly McMullen-Laird, MD. Both physicians were trained in Internal Medicine in the United States and in Anthroposophical Medicine in Europe. www.csamwebsite.org
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