Anthroposophy took up the word eurythmy and with it created a technique that transcends the performing arts and can be useful as therapy and in schools.
Mysterious, fascinating or beautiful are just some of the qualifiers that arise when contemplating a representation of eurythmy. The dancers wear tunics and handkerchiefs, move almost always facing the public, erect, with elegant bearing and often with their arms raised.
The uninitiated spectator may believe that he is facing some kind of contemporary choreography, but in reality, it is a discipline with a century of history, its own rules and an often therapeutic approach, since it is often used as a complementary treatment in chronic diseases.
ANTHROPOSOPHY AND HARMONIOUS MOVEMENT
Eurythmy, which can be translated as “harmonious movement” or “correct”, was born in 1912 as a result of the inspiration of the philosopher and visionary Rudolf Steiner, also promoter of Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine and anthroposophy or “spiritual science”, which bases all these proposals.
Marije Grommers has been practicing it for 25 years and for fifteen years she has applied it therapeutically, currently at the AB Clínica in Barcelona. “I especially like to work with the healing possibilities of eurythmy – which for me is a path of self-knowledge – discovering something new every time, living in the moment and developing creativity,” he says.
Eurythmy restores health through the continuous practice of proper movements. It is defined as a creative and free art that through certain body gestures tries to make visible the formative or archetypal movements that occur in the inner world and that, according to Rudolf Steiner, are also behind speech (prose and poetry) and music. It is therefore not a question of offering above all something beautiful, but of revealing one’s inner experiences according to a very precise language of gestures.
RHYTHM, MUSIC AND WORDS
One difference between eurythmy and other bodily disciplines such as Eastern martial arts is that the center of soul movement is the heart region. The experience of movement is therefore very different from the one that has as its axis that center located about three fingers below the navel (the area called haraen in the Japanese tradition or tan tien in the Chinese).
Letters have great significance in eurythmy. “The formative forces of consonants,” explains Marije, “are equivalent to the formative forces of nature, of the created world. These forces are reflected in the functioning of the organs. As for vowels, they express what is happening inside us.”
Vowels and consonants can be used together or separately to stimulate the organism, promote good psychic and emotional adaptation, and strengthen the “I”.
Music, which can accompany the movements, also produces a specific therapeutic effect.
The therapist can choose gestures and sounds that act both on emotions and on physiological processes (such as circulation or digestion) in order to activate or regulate them.
In addition, walking and moving in certain rhythms can have an overall stimulating or calming effect. The sessions with the therapist are individual, last 30 to 40 minutes and can be done once or several times a week. They always take place indoors, even if the photos in this article were taken outdoors. A typical treatment can last two months and includes daily home performance of the exercises learned.
These exercises can help you practice it at home:
1. EXPANSION
In the “gesture of the letter a” the arms open in a movement of expansion towards the world, with joy, admiration or contemplation, receiving something new. Trace it from top to bottom, while the legs remain in position of A, is indicated, for example, in the case of allergies (together with a sequence of sounds).
2. VERTICALITY
In the “letter e gesture” the arms touch, forming a cross. With it the person affirms, feels himself and protects himself, creating a limit. Focusing on the “gesture of E” also builds and strengthens verticality. The gesture stimulates the vital forces in the body. A variant of the “E-gesture” is the “E-dexterity”, in which the “E-gesture” with the arms is accompanied by an “E-gesture” (crossing) with the legs.
3. AFFIRMATION
The “gesture of i” expresses the human being as an individual in balance between the forces of light and darkness (between heaven and earth, inside and outside). Forming the “I gesture” he moves from the center outwards, feeling his arms stretched. The two arms form a line, which expresses an affirmation of self.
4. INNER CIRCLE
In the “o gesture”, the arms form a circle, that is, an interior space. The gesture has the round quality, which it envelops with sympathy, without losing itself. An indication of the gesture is the strengthening of the diaphragm. To do this, the “o gesture” is formed and you walk in a circle.
5. BETWEEN OUTSIDE AND INSIDE
In the “g-gesture”, the arms move from the center outwards, creating an interior space for new possibilities. It implies liberation. It confirms inwardly and at the same time creates a limit.
6. LIFE IS RENEWED
The “gesture of l” expresses the movement of life in continuous renewal. The hands and arms move upwards, opening freely like a flower to the world. Then they are released downwards, to rise again from the depths.
The gesture signifies life unfolding freely in a continuous movement. In therapeutic application it is a harmonious movement, a balance between inside and outside, between the forces of gravity and those of lightness. The l sound is related to the water element, so the gesture can stimulate the liquid nature of the human being.
A GROWTH METHOD FOR ANYONE
To play music it is necessary that the instrument is well tuned. Similarly, the body, mind and soul must be in harmony and not suffer limitations to develop eurythmic body movement.
But if the person is not well, eurythmy also becomes a therapy. It can be, in fact, a method of growth for anyone who walks in search of balance and further development of their possibilities. Eurythmy expresses with gestures the movements of the inner world, of the soul and of the spirit.
Steiner wrote that “in curative eurythmy is reflected inwardly what in artistic eurythmy is enthusiastically experienced outwardly.”
WHO PRACTICES IT
Therapeutic eurythmy is practiced by people who have received rigorous training of 6 years (4 artistic and 2 therapeutic) and are able to decide which movements can help a person regain physical, emotional and spiritual balance.
Eurythmy is recommended for diseases with a long development, such as asthma and respiratory diseases, hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders, stress and tiredness, hormonal problems, sleep, nervous and psychiatric disorders.
Other indications that have been shown to benefit from eurythmy sessions are child development problems or learning difficulties.