I discovered Body-Mind CenteringTM® (BMC) in August 2004 when I attended a Yoga Teachers’ Training in Bryon Bay, Australia with Donna Farhi, one of the most sought-after Yoga Teachers who fundamentally changed my yoga practice and my relationship with my body. Here, I want also to take this opportunity to show my gratitude to Donna who had created my direct experience of integrated embodiment.
Body-Mind CenteringTM (BMC) is an integrated approach to transformative experience through movement re-education and hands-on re-patterning. Developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, it is an experiential study based on the embodiment and application of anatomical, physiological, psychophysical and developmental principles, utilizing movement, touch, voice and mind. This study leads to an understanding of how the mind is expressed through the body and the body through the mind.
I am fascinated by the powerful creative process of Body-Mind CenteringTM in which we learn to meet and recognize ourselves and others through the exploration of embodiment. Each person is both the student and the subject matter. Principles and techniques are taught in the context of self-discovery and openness. In the process, I learn to engage myself and others non-judgementally starting at the place where we are and the place where others are. In this way, we seek to find the ease that underlies transformation.
Two signature traits of BMC are its emphasis on developmental movement patterns that evolve as part of human maturation and on intensive experiential investigation of all the systems of the human body.
The use of human developmental movement patterns provides me with a road map for re-connecting with the internal world that makes asana practice an organic, living experience rather than just an imitative, static pose. To me, I feel that this is such a nurturing approach to self discovery and transformation.
One has to experience it to really appreciate the deeper layers of our consciousness through embodiment. BMC is one of the Western somatic practices that I found to be very helpful in developing a greater awareness of specific parts of our body, find relief from pain, and understand more fully how our body works.
An Overview of Human Developmental Patterns