Meet our Great Group Class Instructors! Part 2

Meet our instructor Katya,

Catherine Correa is an educator, performing artist, and dance dramaturg.  She has had an extensive career as a performer for over 30 years. Catherine has participated in international programs focused on performance development, dance, film, and theater production. She has applied her expertise to advance global theaters, performers, and workshops across South America, Europe, and the U.S.A.

Catherine discovered the GYROTONIC® method as a dancer, using it to align, strengthen, and better understand her body, ultimately improving her performance. She believes everyone has the potential to develop knowledge of their body mechanics and expand beyond what they think is possible. As this understanding grows, range of motion, alignment, stagnation, and physical habits can transform into something beneficial in daily life, improving both physical and mental health. Catherine brings her experience and knowledge of movement with the hope of sharing the mental and physical benefits of well being with her clients

She started her GYROTONIC® training with Master Trainer Maria Holm in 2020, and continues furthering her education with her and at Movement Beyond.

Meet our instructor Olga Maidan,

She is a very experienced instructor and practitioner, and teaches 6pm Tower class Tuesdays.

Here are her thoughts on our method and how she came a cross it:

1) *First came the recommendation.

*By trying it, I was amazed how my body felt during and after my first lesson.

*Visually I fell in love later! 

2) Coordination between the movement and the breath, as well as strength and freedom of the movement. It is very holistic! Not easy, though.

Find harmony through GYROTONIC® exercise.

3)  *I feel thrilled - moved!

She started her training in NYC and has worked with many instructors and studios both in NYC and Europe. She continues to further her training and knowledge with SMT Maria Holm and Movement Beyond. You can also schedule a private session with Olga and benefit from her extensive knowledge and hands on guidance.

Meet our Instructor, Pre-Trainer and Co-Owner Joana Correa Assuncao,

She teaches 12noon Open GYROKINESIS®️ Hybrid Class Tuesdays, 6pm Tower Class on Wednesdays and 1pm Tower Class on Saturdays, as well as GYROTONIC®️ Pre-Trainings Level 1October (18-20 & 25-27) and November (8-10 & 15-17)

Joana is a GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Instructor since 2005 and a Pre-Trainer since 2023.

Through rhythm, breath and body awareness, the group classes guide and support curious movers of all levels.

We stimulate and renew the body through all 7 families of the GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS®️ Methods, leaving the group classes in a deeper connection with the body, mind and soul.

Joana started her practice in NYC, is certified since 2005. She continues her education with Specialized Master Trainer Maria Holm, and is part of her Pre-Trainer Network since 2023.

Meet our Great Group Class Instructors! Part 1

Meet our Instructor Jennifer Miller, join her 1pm Tower class on Mondays or schedule a private session with her!

Originally from Washington DC, Jennifer attended The Washington Ballet School for ten years under the guidance of Mary Day before attending NYU for photography. After graduating with a BFA, she worked at Magnum Photos and then was photo director of magazines such as Jane, NY Magazine, Martha Stewart and Conde Nast Traveler. She has taught photography classes at Parsons for several years as well as mentored teens for various art organizations, tutored non-English speaking adults at the Brooklyn Public Library and taught dance to 4th graders at PS 153 in Brooklyn..

During her career as a photo editor, Jennifer has continued to take ballet class with various teachers such as David Howard, Giada Ferrone and David Levinthal. In 2015, she began practicing the GYROTONIC® method with Master Trainer Maria Holm, who also was her trainer when she became a certified teacher in fall of 2023.

Meet our instructor Julia Amarante, join her 1pm Tower class on Tuesdays or schedule your private session with her!

Julia is a passionate and experienced wellness professional with a diverse background in martial arts, dance, and bodywork.

As a certified GYROTONIC®️ instructor, Julia specializes in helping clients achieve optimal health and mobility.

With a foundation in capoeira, judo, Brazilian dance, yoga, volleyball and swimming, Julia brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her practice.

Her previous work as a capoeira instructor and massage therapist has further honed the understanding of the human body and its needs. As a mom of two children, Julia is particularly interested in working with pregnant and postpartum women.

Her personal experience, combined with her professional training, allows her to offer compassionate and effective support during this important life stage. In her work as a Gyrotonic instructor, Julia is dedicated to helping clients improve their overall well-being, increase flexibility, and enhance their quality of life.

Julia started practicing the GYROTONIC® method in NYC and have studied with Master Trainer Maria Holm, who also was her trainer when she became a certified teacher in summer of 2024.

Meet our instructor Juliana Secches, join her 6pm Tower class on Thursday evenings or schedule your private session with her!

Juliana Secches was born and raised in Brazil. She grew up in a music-filled home and has loved dancing from a very young age.

She has always enjoyed exploring movement and in her teens she quickly took and interest in Yoga and Pilates as part of her daily routine.

Her fascination with the human body and how it moves led her to deepen her studies of anatomy, exercise physiology, and physical therapy.

Although GYROTONIC® method has been in her life for many years, after a life-changing foot injury, she decided to dive deeply into the method. She was inspired and guided by Joana Correa, and has recently become certified under the mentorship of Maria Holm.

Juliana has been a movement teacher for over 35 years and makes her classes welcoming, fun, and suitable for all ages, bodies, and abilities. She is thrilled to be a part of the Movement Beyond family,

Juliana have studied with Master Trainer Maria Holm, who also was her trainer when she became a certified teacher in summer of 2024.

Welcome to the world of Laniakea apothecary

Written by - Nicole DeLorey

Welcome to the world of Laniakea - your tool kit for addressing muscle pain, injuries and stagnant energy.

Lanaikea is the Hawaiian word for immense heaven. When we were flushing out names for our product line, this word kept circulating in our minds because that is exactly what the products are to us. Heavenly. Self Care (self love) should be just that.

Our products came to be because both of us had developed formulas to use in our Acupuncture/Massage practices to help our patients. We were both concerned about ingredients that are often found in your average sport balm and nothing goes in our products that doesn’t serve a purpose. We source only the finest ingredients, organic when possible as well as cruelty and preservative free. And most importantly, our products WORK.  Our clients began to ask for “take home” samples. They had questions. We quickly realized that there was a real need for these types of remedies and voila! Laniakea was born.

Liquid Gold, our first product, came to be because at the time, a large portion of my acupuncture practice were professional ballet dancers. Since I do a lot of trigger point/muscle release work, I made this formula to help ease the discomfort from post treatment soreness. When you reset a muscle, metabolic waste is released and the muscles can be quite sore afterwords (much like a work out). The wintergreen oil acts as an aspirin for the muscles while the other oils enhance circulation to flush out all of that waste. Recovery is markedly faster which was a huge benefit for my professional dancers. This formula is 100% organic and is also very nourishing for the skin.

Magic Muscle Melt was formulated because we wanted to incorporate CBD into our practices due to the tremendous anti-inflammatory benefits it provides. Unfortunately, all the CBD salves on the market were either packed with questionable ingredients, or overly cooling instead of the gentle warming sensation we wanted to promote. We have clients with terrible arthritis and other chronic pain conditions who can apply it as a way to get their joints moving in the morning. 

Clearing Spray was born out of the need to be able to clear spaces (and ourselves) of less-than-desirable energy when burning sage or palo santo isn't a possibility (i.e. the conference room at the office, at the airport, angry friend drops by to vent etc.)

Liquid Ice and Liquid Fire are must have’s in your medicine cabinet. 

Liquid Ice will reduce swelling and bruising after injuries by flushing out the dead blood with out interrupting the bodies own healing process. My daughter knows that if she bangs her shin, a little Liquid Ice will reduce the swelling IMMEDIATELY. It’s truly remarkable. 

Liquid Fire is another magical formula that uses warming herbs to bring blood to a chronically injured area. Athletes love this formula because you don’t always have access to a heating pad and there is no strong smell or tingling sensation. 

We brush our teeth every day to avoid cavities, what do you do at home to prevent soft tissue injuries or treat the ones we already have? There is so much you can do for your body with a bit of self care. Are you ready to try a bit of heaven for yourself?

We hope so-

With Love and Gratitude,

Nicole and Rebekkah

Laniakea apothecary

A poem by Rumi

A poem by Rumi - Contributed by Joana Correa

Mathnawi VI: 2955-2962

The spirit is like an ant, and the body like a grain of wheat


which the ant carries to and fro continually.


The ant knows that the grains of which it has taken charge


will change and become assimilated.


One ant picks up a grain of barley on the road; 
another ant picks up a grain of wheat and runs away.


The barley doesn’t hurry to the wheat,
 but the ant comes to the ant, yes it does.


The going of the barley to the wheat is merely consequential:
 

it’s the ant that returns to its own kind.


Don’t say, “Why did the wheat go to the barley? 

”
Fix your eye on the holder, not on that which is held.


As when a black ant moves along on a black felt cloth:
 the ant is hidden from view; only the grain is visible on its way.


But Reason says:  “Look well to your eye:
when does a grain ever move along without a carrier?”

“Rumi: Jewels of Remembrance”
Camille and Kabir Helminski
Threshold Books, 1996

New Space, New Home

Written by - MT Maria Holm

We are moving and are excited to see you in our new space soon!

From Monday October 2nd 2023, we will be in a new space and home, just as beautiful and great as our old but with new energy and feel. We will still be the same studio, Movement Beyond, as we have always been and we will go in to our next era. Nothing will change, more than our location, which it has a few times before, and in our city with its ever-changing landscape and need for change in buildings and neighborhoods is a common occurrence.

We started as Movement & Beyond on Spring Street, in Soho, NYC in 2002, with our then Master Trainer Young-Ah Kim. A first generation Master Trainer who worked very closely with the creator of our movement system, Juliu Horvath, and Maria Holm, who is our current Master Trainer.

Maria also started her path at Juliu Horvath’s studio White Cloud here in NYC in 1994. The two of them made our Soho studio one of the first fully equipped GYROTONIC(R) studios and training facilities of the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM(R), here in Soho NYC in 2002.

There was actually a very early version of our studio with SMT Young-Ah, and MT Maria at the Physical Arts Center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in late -90ies and early 2000, but there we were ahead of our time and Williamsburg wasn’t the neighborhood it is today. We briefly were also housed in Body Evolution’s 2nd Avenue location, before moving to our Spring Street, Soho home in 2002.

We moved to our current address, 580 Broadway in 2009, where we have been happy for so many years and might have been where you first came across us. A hidden studio on the 12th floor, spread by word of mouth, we have grown into the studio we are today.

We survived the pandemic, started to have social media presence and reach more of the movement world and hosted more training courses with international instructors.

We celebrated our 20th anniversary as a studio last year in December 2022. We thank all of you who supported us through all the years, and still do. You are our dedicated clients, friends and family, and the bedrock of our studio! We are so thankful for you all!

As with everything in our fast paced city, also our neighborhood Soho has been changing a lot, especially in and after the pandemic, and so also the building where we are housed. We did not get our lease renewed now in September, since the building has other plans for the future. We searched and have found a new home with new fresh energy, wiping the slate clean from pandemic restrictions and building renovations of our old building and are moving in soon.

We are excited for this next chapter of evolution of our studio and what it will hold for us all, and hope you are too! And excited to yet again Move Beyond.

Please join us on this next step on our journey! And if you can, please help to support our move, and set up in our new space. We have created a GoFundMe page where all Friends of Movement Beyond can support us and help us move in to our new home and era. See Link below. We thank you for your support!

looking forward to seeing you at 401 Broadway, on the corner of Canal street, October 2, 20023! Suite 709

For our GoFundMe Page Link, and to make a donation, please click on the photo.

Thank you for your Support!

WHAT MOVES US?

Written by - Katya Correa

I have been a dancer for 35 years.  Dance is a very demanding and rigorous discipline where the body is pushed to the limits to achieve beauty and display the possibilities of expression in the human body. The space where you can think about how to move in a more holistic and grounded way is limited.

The incredible capacities of what is a moving body are vast. It can trigger, enhance, repress, express, heal, destroy, and create. It can dictate pretty much how we perceive existence. All these taking into account the endless contingencies that we encounter in a city such as New York. 

I think that is essential to reflect on how we move our bodies and what motivates us to do so. The reasons might always change and that is part of the transitory aspects of life.

In my case, the needs always change but the essence is the same. How do I connect movement with the inner intelligence of my body, therefore nature?

The paths to doing so are vast and unique for each one of us and that’s why blogs like this are so important as we can enrich our perceptions and keep researching within ourselves.

I always appreciate movement systems that trigger energy pathways. When I experience a session my body feels organized and psychologically and emotionally grounded, and a certainty that one is attuning to nature’s intelligence. Circular and spiral motions are the mere movement of creation from the cosmos to the natural world on earth. 

 My experience with the GYROTONIC®️ system, it not only benefits my body alignment and strength ,  but it has transformed my perception of my reality positively. The beauty of this expansion system is that it is layered with infinite possibilities and personal discoveries which keep happening and transforming following the current needs. It is a great companion to have in our lives as we evolve, fall and keep learning. 

Katya Correa

Khala Brannigan Blogpost

Ever since I was a young child, movement brought me the greatest sense of joy and healing. When my mom was cooking dinner on her rare day off work, she would blast music on the stereo and I would push the coffee table aside in the living room so I could dance. At the age of seven, I begged my mom to start ballet classes and I showed up to my very first class in a pink tutu, pink tights, pink leotard, and a pink scrunchie in my hair. From that moment on, dance became a place I could always return to, and in many ways, it truly saved my life. 

I believe the body is more intelligent than we could ever comprehend, and as it stores our memories, emotions, pains, and pleasures, it's also a straight channel to divinity. I'm in awe of the book "The Body Keeps the Score" written by Bessel Van Der Kolk because I am so fascinated by the connection between the brain and body. Our bodies have a deep, intuitive, animalistic nature that can't be described in words. 

Around the age of 12, I became even more rigorous with my dance training, and my modern dance teacher, Eka Gustafson who danced with Martha Graham and met Juliu Horvath in New York City when the GYROTONIC® method was first founded, taught me GYROKINESIS® movement. I felt lightheaded and dizzy doing the movement and the breath, but slowly over time, it started to completely change my dance training. I was then completely hooked when I did a GYROTONIC® session with Eka, and by the age of 18, I did the Level 1 Foundation Course with her in my hometown, Santa Fe, NM. It was the summer before I would leave to attend Alonzo King's Lines Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, CA. My body absolutely transformed by going deeper into the studies of the GYROTONIC® system, and even at the young age of 18, it unleashed stored energy that I unconsciously held in my body. 

Throughout my journey pursuing a dance career and discovering my true nature of being a choreographer, the GYROTONIC® method has absolutely informed how I approach movement. My first dance teacher, Ronn Stewart always used the word expand. I'll never forget my greatest teachers. Their words will always live in my body. I teach yoga, I dance, I choreograph, I teach dance to students with autism, and I am fully confident in saying that there's nothing more special than the practices of the GYROKINESIS® and GYROTONIC® methods. It is symbiotic, and it connects me to a power greater than my own self. It expands beyond movement. Whether you yearn for physical, emotional, or mental freedom, the magic of this movement language creates the most subtle and profound shifts. I am honored to be able to share it with others as I continue down this path where my body leads, as my heart follows.

Khala Brannigan

“The GYROTONIC® Method and I...”

Written by - Pedro Pires

I got to know the GYROTONIC® Method 21 years ago in Germany.

I was on vacation at the house of a friend who is a GYROTONIC® instructor... so that I could work with something that could take advantage of my dancer's background and that would give me pleasure in working on my body, which already had problems that years of ballet left in it, convinced me that it was what I needed.  The GYROTONIC® method’s three-dimensional work moved my body in all its possibilities of movement.

For a former dancer it was/is the ideal exercise, in addition to helping a lot in the recovery of old injuries.  So it was and so it is!  It's been 21 years and here I am still exercising and working with the GYROTONIC® method, and I still remember Juliu's words talking about how to divide your weight and your commands with the machine, and let it work for you, difficult for those who like it of being in charge like me , but extremely pleasurable when you succeed, it's the good feeling that your body is being well taken care of.

• Pedro Pires

Pandiculation

Written by - Maria Holm

“Pandiculation is the involuntary stretching of the soft tissues, which occurs in most animal species and is associated with transitions between cyclic biological behaviors, especially the sleep-wake rhythm.” (Walusinski, 2006)

What is pandiculation exercise?

Pandiculation is the act of yawning-and-stretching. Pandiculation exercises are what we do within our system and methods, on the machines, chair and mat. We even have the yawning as a breath and as names for many exercises.

If you spend any time around cats or dogs you'll see pandiculation in action multiple times a day whenever they arch their back after sleep. This is something we as human beings have moved away from, “forgotten” in our daily life, but is something we truly could reclaim and bring back, just studying and mimic pets and small children around us.

The action and natural instinct of our bodies is something we use in our practise, doing the GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® methods and exercises, and something our whole method has in its base. It’s not just stretching and strengthening, it’s always with a quality of yawning in the body, breathing the body, movements and breath, like a cat. Contracing muscle and tissue, while stretching, in a shivering-like deeper feeling. A deep massage for our whole system.

Most traditional stretching is passive, not actively using the muscle, merely pulling on it, trying to affect change from the outside in. During pandiculation you are actively using the muscle and your brain is involved in the process. You are trying to affect change from the inside out.

Pandiculation is our nervous system's natural way of waking up our sensorimotor system and preparing us for movement, and moving more fully, in a deeper more connected way. Humans, along with all vertebrate animals, tend to automatically pandiculate when we wake up or when we've been sedentary for a while.

So next time you feel a yawn coming, yawn it out fully and with your whole body. Bring that sensation with you to your session and through out your day. Next time you are on the machines and mats, see how far your body can yawn, and feel the benefits of pandiculation fully!

Blog of March - Invisible Things

Written by - Joana Correa Assuncao

Invisible Things

As life spiral goes on, 

moving through many different stages, 

we revisit old dreams, 

they come to check on us from time to time 

and see how the journey is going, 

if we need to reset or recalculate, 

so we can be able to :

Be available for life, 

be ready to act when it’s the right time. 

To be in the right place, at the right moment with the right people.

Since very early, 

I remember taking extreme interest 

in mechanisms of healing and restoring the body 

Later on holistic techniques came very handy, that way I could protect the gift of moving 

Moving with no pain, wishing to continue to enjoy movement, holistic approaches had to followed my journey

I came across the chakras when as a teenager and started to work  with crystals.

Crystals were carefully placed on each energetic center, related to the glandular system and we visualize our internal system and all the layers of the body and beyond the body

Helping the functioning of the organs and the energy flow through the whole body, 

With that energetic approach, a lot was falling into place, internally and externally, and the next step was always very clear, comfortable or not 

Understanding that the energetic body could  

lead the physical body, 

like ballroom dance

The physical body would need to be an excellent host, 

To be a recipient able to receive and transmit energy and generate a continuous wave of self healing.

What the invisible was telling me 

To be available for life, 

to not freeze, 

to move, to embrace rhythm and breath.

To get out of the box ;) 

To be open for impacts of positive nature

To follow the dreams…

Now, I would like to share some words from Dhyani Ywahoo, from her book 

Voices of our Ancestors: Cherokee Teachings from the Wisdom Fire.

“ Each one of us has a song in our hearts. Through our thoughts and actions, each one creates a vibration in the atmosphere. When we think of dancing atoms that create and sustain life form, we can se, forever in dance. It’s all vibration. Our actions reverberate in many dimensions and that way our thoughts and actions come back to us. We can call that karma or destiny; we live  the results of our thoughts and it’s many implications interacting with other thoughts. The same way that a little stone of intention that falls in the middle of a quiet lake creates waves in many directions, the appearance and the phenomenon in our lives and in our world are waves in the serene surface of our universal mind.

As the world spins, we learned with the Adawee-wise protectors of the five directions, guardians of the portals of the mind- giving form to what doesn’t have a form. It’s wisdom is expressed by five wisdoms: the sphere of existence, recognizing the fundamental unity of things, even with all the differences in the external aspect; what makes the work achieve success, the one the distinguish the particularities; the equalizer, turn known the common factors; the mirror, the one that reflect things as they are.

We recognize the five wisdoms in the wisdom river that run on us permanently. They can be perceived in the terms of the wheel of medicine and the sacred directions, in relation to the five organs system and the five elements. When we have the clear perception of how our minds express wisdom and how we can apply, we have more chances to honor the movement of life inside ourselves.

...”transform, transmute, bring what is beneficial in the spiral dance of life.” 

In the center, in the axis of every experience, is born the wisdom that equalizes.

We should always  go around the circle to find harmony on ourselves. Harmony never really gets lost. We should only accept harmony and let ourselves resonate with the whole Universe. This resonance is Unity. Our consciousness is molding what’s around us. If we consider that each other, we are all together as a big human family; our task as human beings is to see beauty, to sing, to be joyful, to work in the land and to share abundance. Did you learn a great wisdom? Pass it on. Do you have the talent for sound, for the herbs? Share it. It’s the weaving of the harmonics of the consciousness, of our minds, that restores the sacred tapestry of life. Then, each one of us, and all of us should reconstruct the fabric, the weaving initiates in the heart, perceiving the internal unity. It’s something simple that requires a lot of discipline, because the body is the instrument and the thoughts are the musicians.

The Tsalagi People say that, together, we are creating a world, our thoughts and our interactions are molding, in a very intense way, the elemental forces of life. With the right thoughts and actions, specially in the understanding of our mission, of our talent at this moment, we can bring abundance and great peace, through the peaceful  comprehension inside of ourselves, reignite the Wisdom Fire.”

Wishing you 

a Sky full of beautiful Stars

Till next time,

Photos of the Yanomamis, an indigenous tribe from Amazonia, Brazil, an example of sustainable community leaving. They say ”our Future is Ancestral “

Photo: Sebastião Salgado.

- Joana

A GYROTONIC® BLOGPOST

Written by - Ted Chapin

I come from one of the least athletic families ever.  We’re New Yorkers, so we are relatively fit – I believe you can’t scurry around New York without maintaining a reasonable abilty to move, and fast!  But to look at me, my three brothers, my wife and my two daughters, you would be hard pressed to find an athletic team on which anyone sat.  Sure my summers were filled with swimming, sailing, and an occasional tennis match, (I am old enough, and lucky enough, to have spent them in what used to be called “a summer place”) but going to the gym? Never.

So the fact that I find myself a devoted disciple of Maria and the GYROTONIC® method is a source of much amusement.  When I explain why I have gone for many years, and why I will continue to go whenever I can, has gained everyone’s respect.  “What is it you do down there?” is what I am often asked.  I only wish I had a smart and thorough answer. “Come on down and see for yourself” is about the best I can do!   I just know I love it, my body feels so much better when I am done, and I feel much more clear-headed when I leave.  Of course I won’t leave without making certain the next time is scheduled.

If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is that I know what I know, and do not pretend to know what I don’t know.  I don’t really know what the science of the GYROTONIC® method is, but I yield to Maria – whatever she tells me to do, I do.  Even if it is difficult and I feel I may well fall over.  She’s always cheerful, patient, and remarkably enthusiastic at whatever progress she senses – like a good coach.

It was my Alexander Technique teacher who said one day, “You need to visit my friend Maria.”  OK, I thought, as I happily called the number on the card and made an appointment.  I don’t even remember how many years ago that was, but I guess the rest is history.  I will certainly say that I am devoted to the process, I always look forward to going down to lower Broadway, and I always leave feeling a lot better than I did when I arrived.

Ted Chapin

In My Own Skin

Written by - Christine V. Bratton, PT MS RCST

The GYROTONIC® Method has been such an important part of my evolution as a body, as a mover, as a thinking body, as an animal body,  as a physical therapist, and as an observer of movement.

I was so happy when Maria asked me to write this blogpost because it gives me a chance to integrate my practice and my thinking in a contemplative way.

I started a conscious movement practice in dance classes as a freshman in college in 1970. I had been a very active kid: running, swimming, cycling, playing neighborhood games, outdoors all day in summer and winter. But I hated gym class and didn’t like the few dance lessons I went to as a little kid (I however LOVED the costumes). In 1970, as soon as I was supplied with a loaner set of tights and leotard, made out of the weird cast-iron nylon they were made out of in those days, I was completely hooked. Wasn’t too good at it, but my teacher, an astonishing 6 foot tall (as I am) Black woman named Mary Easter, encouraged me to stand tall and go for it—no slumping allowed in her class.  I was simply hooked and organized my life around getting to whatever classes I could find for the next ten years.

Inevitably, playing catch up, trying to make things look a certain way, trying to figure it out in my body, over training, I ended up with a back injury (which may have been influenced by going over the handlebars on my bike around the same time). The back pain brought me low and forced me to go inside in a way I had not done before. I struggled through my late 20s searching and searching for a way out of the pain, but it was elusive. As soon as my low back felt a little better, my neck would start to hurt. I found a hatha yoga class in 1979 (I could only find two yoga classes in Manhattan in those days!), which really helped me on my off days (I discovered my back needed a day off between ballet classes). Then in 1980 I found Jean-Paul Mustone’s “Special Exercise for Dancers” class at Finis Jhung’s Ballet studio on the Upper West Side. All of a sudden things clicked for me: breathing, maintaining the normal curves in my spine, noticing the hyperactivity of my hip flexors. It felt like magic to have some control over the way I felt.

I carried on with exercise and movement, dance classes and also being a ballet fan: I had moved to NYC in the late 1970s so that I could go see NYCB while Balanchine was still alive and working; and continued with my obsession with ballet from the outside, toying with the idea of becoming a dance writer. After a few years of journaling about all of the performances that I saw, I realized that writing about it didn’t really do it for me, and I began casting about for another way to earn a living, spending as much time as possible in my life moving, being with movers, watching movement, watching dance and analyzing how things worked and felt (and not having to wear uncomfortable office clothes). When I read an article about Marika Molnar, the PT Balanchine had chosen to be the first at NYCB, a light bulb went off in my head and I decided at that moment to become a PT and go and work for Marika. I knew nothing about the field, but I was not going to be deterred and slowly worked my way through all of the prerequisites, physics problems, chemistry labs, hospital volunteering and psychology courses, entering PT school in the fall of 1991. I did my training, did my clinical placements in a small community hospital, a big teaching hospital and with Marika at Westside Dance PT.

I tried to practice as a PT in line with PT school dogma, but after a few years, I found that what was most powerful was what I had learned from Jean-Paul in those “special exercise” classes: going inside one’s own body and learning how to move differently, from a different place and with a different, more embodied awareness,. That was the key to feeling better, feeling less anxious, being able to move forward. As I progressed, I learned that the label trainer, Pilates instructor, PT,  Alexander teacher, Feldenkrais practitioner, chiropractor, osteopath, acupuncturist didn’t matter as much as what the person was both teaching and embodying in their own practice. I started to practice with people who were on the same kind of path of embodiment that I was. I incorporated what I learned from them into my own practice as a PT and eventually as a biodynamic craniosacral therapist (BCST). I started to notice that the feeling of being settled in my own body and moving from that place reflected a kind of integration, letting the left brain calm down a bit and be less bossy, allowing the animal body to express the pathway it desired, and being able to observe and be within it at the same time. I continued to work with different teachers and practitioners, carefully selected: as I got closer to the deepest places inside there was often some fear involved or a sense of blankness that was also scary. I chose practitioners based on their ability to see when I was coping or struggling with that deep internal place and to give me time and space to move through  that territory. I started to realize that healing involves being able to revisit these scary, empty or painful places with a compassionate teacher and start to take away some of the protective layers and patterns as a  deeper awareness and ability start to grow.

As part of my BCST training, I studied anatomy with Jaap van der Waals, an amazing Dutch MD/PhD, who taught anatomy in medical schools for 40 years and eventually broke through to an understanding of anatomy as process rather than structure: an easy sentence to say and an enormously crazy concept for a PT trained in the western medical tradition to start to understand. I was well on my way as a student of the GYROTONIC® Method at that point, having studied with wonderful teachers who really feel like colleagues at the same time, when the next lightbulb went off—everything that I had learned about anatomy was such a gross oversimplification that it was almost untrue! The cardinal planes were simply a convenient way to describe anatomy and movement, but they could not define it. Jaap van der Waals teaches that all anatomy is developmental, happens in spirals and is in constant motion. If we stop it to analyze it, if we get hung up on position, then we lose this sense of dynamism. I realized then that what Gyrotonic was giving me was a way to experience movement as it truly evolves, in spirals, around midlines, grounded through contact with gravity and clarified by the addition of resistance. Jaap’s anatomy instruction also gave me a deeper sense of the integration of textures and tissues in our human anatomy. Over and over he would say, “Bones are not levers! The heart is not a pump!” In practicing Gyrotonic, with the right instructor, who can witness where you are in your own relationship with your body, you start to be able to feel the bones suspended in the fascia, the muscles wrapping about the limbs and onto the torso, the nervous and vascular systems present at macro and micro levels. Your inner awareness (interoception) of your body and your observation of your body meld into an integrated whole. This sense of integration evolves through new challenges (physical and emotional), injuries, aging, new awareness, new strengths and incorporation of new skills, and it always has its ups and downs.

But that has been the message for me: being in your body is a continuing process that does not stop. The GYROTONIC® Method taught well and specifically, helps the student feel and own that sense of process and the continual integration of healing of which our bodies are capable in everyday life as well as at peak physical demands.

Christine V. Bratton, PT MS RCST

How stress impacts the body- An Acupuncturists perspective.

Written by - Nicole DeLory, L.Ac, C.SMA

Have you ever wondered why things hurt more when you are stressed?  I’ll offer you two reasons- Viscerco-Somatic and Somato-Viscerco dysfunction.

To lay some ground work, Somatic pain is in the muscles, bones, or soft tissues. Visceral pain comes from your internal organs and blood vessels. Somatic pain is intense and may be easier to pinpoint than visceral pain.

As an acupuncturist, one way of correcting this disharmony is from the inside out (Viscerco-Somatic). It’s a bit complicated, but in a nut shell, patients who have been depleting their bodies and running on empty over time, (bartenders, parents, teachers, people in finance, lawyers, athletes.. or basically anyone living in NYC), start to develop a host of symptoms that hit them where they are most constitutionally weak. These symptoms can range from back pain, digestive disturbances such as ulcers or inflammatory bowel disease, pelvic and urinary issues such as bladder infections or incontinence, breathing issues, anxiety, depression and panic attacks.

If a patient comes in for back pain, one of the first questions I will ask is “How stressed are you?”. The relationship between the viscera (organs) and the soma (muscles, bones or soft tissues) is a tightly knit one. Literally. Using the above example of back pain, If a person is under moderate to extreme stress, the adrenal glands will slightly expand. When stress is chronic, this can irritate the soft tissues and deep muscles which will then likely go into spasm. Sometimes, it is a simple sneeze that sets the whole cycle off, locking up your back until the pain is so intense your quality of life is affected.

But it was just a sneeze!!!

Was it? Or was it all those small signs of overwhelm you ignored? Life is intense, especially for us New Yorkers. So much is expected of us every single day. Accomplish! Achieve! Adhere….If you don’t pay attention to what your nervous system is telling you, those whispers will start screaming.

On the other side, your tight muscles (Soma) CAN affect your organs.  Another way is approaching from the outside in (Somato-Viscero), such as in muscle tightness/athletic injuries that over time may create issues with the underlying organs. I often see this combination in my office-

shortness of breathe/difficulty taking a deep breath. Yes, I will ask about asthma, environmental toxins, assess posture/mechanics, etc.. but you can be assured that I will also inquire about life stress. I’ll even ask about your tight neck (which you will have) and I’ll tell you why. A common pattern is how we breathe. Under stress we often take shallow breaths, recruiting all of those accessory breathing muscles (Scalene, SCM’s, Trapezius), making them primary movers. Ideally, we should take deep expansive breaths into our lower abdomen, expanding our rib cage laterally, lifting at the top at the very end. Under stress, our diaphragm will tighten creating a belt like tension around the midline making it difficult to take a deep breath. When chronic, our intercostal muscles become overly taxed trying to push against this mighty wall of restriction. Because we adapt and NEED to breath, our neck muscles pick up the slack and the task gets done. Not without a price, though. Our lungs can’t expand in a natural way and breathing becomes difficult.

Another common example of a somatic/visceral dysfunction is ballerinas suffering from amenorrhea, which is a lack of menstruation. This can often be attributed to tightness and restriction in the pelvic muscles, inhibiting function in the uterus.

This goes much deeper than simply releasing trigger points in muscles. If you fall into this category, you may appear to some practitioners to be good candidate for muscle release because you’ll likely have soft tissue constrictions and pain. But by only releasing and dispersing muscles without regulating your nervous system, you can become even more depleted and exhausted. Regulating the nervous system (taking you out of the “fight or flight response”) and life stress awareness (homework) is also required to bring balance to the body and give you the relief you deserve. This is one major difference between acupuncture and dry needling. Acupuncture addresses the whole picture, while dry needling focuses solely on the muscular/somatic component.

In both these instances, stress needs to be reduced and tension in the muscles must be corrected but the root cause is what we are looking for. More often than not, it’s stress. No two people are exactly the same, therefore each treatment plan varies from person to person. Most folks have no idea how much physical and emotional discomfort they live in until they are taken out of the cycle of pain.

Nicole DeLorey L.Ac, C.SMA

Nicole DeLorey Acupuncture 

303 Fifth Avenue, Suite 209, NY NY 10016

917 312 3602 , www.nicoledelorey.com

FB: Nicole Delorey LAc, Insta: @nicoledeloreyacupuncture

The GYROTONIC® Method and Ankylosing Spondylitis. An introduction.

Written by - Malin Yhr

The GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Methods are wonderful mediums we all benefit from, enjoy and appreciate. But is it an aid to retain basic daily physical function? To some of us the answer is yes.

Some autoimmune diseases deteriorate the physical (and emotional) body over time. Along with many other methods that temporarily lower pain, the GYROTONIC® System practiced on a regular basis can help the body stay agile and high functioning while living with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Selected exercises for specific areas tailored to individual needs can make a noticeable and satisfying improvement to affected areas and also provide pain relief, increased range of motion, physically tone and improve blood flow to compromised and unanimated tissue, as well as improve balance - if practiced on a regular basis.

As the disease moves on it’s own the practitioner with Ankylosing Spondylitis has to move as well. Permanently. All the time. To constantly rephrase, interchange and negotiate with the diseases claim on their body. There is space here to develop a language and tools where you can equip yourself to physically communicate and educate your body and mind against your disease. We live it and actively do it every day. To be continued.

Malin Yhr

click on name above for Malin’s Bio

Click on photo for more information about Ankylosing Spondylitis and link.

a Poem by Khalil Gibran

Shared by Joana Correa Assunsao
                    💐💐💐💐

"Do not love half lovers

Do not entertain half friends

Do not live half a life

and do not die a half death

If you choose silence, then be silent

When you speak, do so until you are finished

Do not silence yourself to say something

And do not speak to be silent

If you accept, then express it bluntly

Do not mask it

If you refuse then be clear about it

for an ambiguous refusal is but a weak acceptance

Do not accept half a solution

Do not believe half truths

Do not dream half a dream

Do not fantasize about half hopes

Half the way will get you no where

Half an idea will bear you no results

Half a life is a life you didn't live,

A word you have not said

A smile you postponed

A love you have not had

A friendship you did not know

The half is a mere moment of inability

but you are able for you are not half a being

You are a whole that exists to live a life

not half a life."

KHALIL GIBRAN

Drawing by Joana Correa Assunsao

20 Year Anniversary

- Written by Maria Holm

20 Year Anniversary

Did you know? -

Our studio celebrates its 20 year anniversary here in September of 2022. We are so very happy and proud to still be here and open after all these years, and all of them in Soho! Through the pandemic, good years and expansion, we have been flexible and fluid enough to develop into what we are today!

We opened as Movement & Beyond, which then became GYROTONIC® Soho at Movement & Beyond, and transformed into

GYROTONIC® Soho - Movement Beyond, which we are today (loved child has many names :-))

The studio was opened by one of the Original GYROTONIC® Master Trainers, Korean born Young-Ah Kim, who Juliu Horvath, the creator of our movement methods named Master Trainer when he closed his own studio here in NYC in the -90ies.

Young-ah and Maria Holm, who got to know each other in Juliu’s NYC studio, White Cloud, opened the doors of Movement & Beyond in 2002. This was Young-ah’s creation and vision of a studio, that would be a learning, sharing and teaching studio - and available to everyone who had a true interest in the GYROTONIC® method and practise. The studio was first located on Spring street, then moved just a few years later to the location where we still are today, 580 Broadway, on the 12th floor.

When Young-Ah moved back to Korea 11 years ago, Maria took over with Emi and Joana as partners.

We have over all the years of expansion, change and transformation tried to be true to that first vision, and hope you feel it when you are in our studio working out, taking courses, classes and sessions!

We feel our studio is the heart of Soho and we try to keep is as accessable to everyone as we can.

See you soon in the studio and the machines! - And look in our Newsletters for our Celebration Open House later on in the Fall, where we will have mingle, mini trial sessions and more! We invite you to come celebrate with us!

Here’s to the next 20!!

Maria

Wisdom Poems

Written by - Joana Corrêa Assunção

Greetings.

Hope everyone is doing well and keeping up with what it’s important.

Here are some essential wisdom poems from the collected work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ( from the book: “ A Guide for Grown-ups”).

“ The virtue of a candle lies not in the wax that leaves its trace, but in its light.”

The Wisdom of the Sands

“ One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

The Little Prince.

“ The seed haunted by the sun never fails to find its way between the stones in the ground.”

Flight to Arras

“ You will be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself, ‘ what they could do, I can do’”

Wind, Sands and Sun

“ A man’s age is something impressive, it’s sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man’s age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories”

Wartime Writings 1939-1944

Our plants are saying hello

Our Prince Street, so Beautiful

Wishing Great Health for All

- Joana Corrêa Assunção 

Instructor reflections on our method

Written by - Maria Holm

Here are a some personal reflections about the GYROTONIC® Method, from Elizabeth and Khala, two of our instructors at Movement Beyond, with questions by Maria. 

1-How did you first find the GYROTONIC®  Method, and what made you stay? 

2- How different from other methods do you feel it is, and why did you choose to become an instructor of this method? 

3-How do you feel when teaching the GYROTONIC® Method, and how do you see people benefiting from it? 

Elizabeth Auclair and Khala Brannigan

Elizabeth Auclair

1 - I first came to the GYROTONIC® method after knee surgery, in 1994. As a full time dancer, comprehensive rehabilitation was extremely important. A fellow dancer recommended gyro and I soon experienced clear benefits. I was hooked right away!

2 - The circular, full range of motion, and expansive nature of the work addresses the body in a truly integrative, connected and rejuvenating way. The body wakes up, feels, expands, connects, grows stronger and more fluid, while also developing increased coordination and vitality.

3 - It is a true joy to guide people in finding these regenerative connections, gaining range of motion, strength, and greater balance in the entire body as a whole, and to see chronic problems eased and resolved. It is deeply rewarding to see how the co-ordination of the breath with the movement provides a powerful sense of well being, revitalization and integration.

Khala Brannigan

1 - I found the GYROTONIC® method at a young age, probably around 13 years old. It provided the strength and flexibility that was required for dance training, but I also felt a sense of serenity after each GYROKINESIS® class or GYROTONIC®session. My teacher, Eka Gustafson, inspired me to stick with this method for longevity in my dance career, and I’ve been hooked ever since. 

2 - The GYROTONIC® method, is a very special method with profound benefits that are beyond physical health. It differs from other methods of movement because of the core elements which are subtle, nuanced movements that have profound, long lasting effects. I believe it promotes joint health while also building strength in all the right places of the body. I chose to become an instructor of this method because I wanted to help guide others in their journey to body awareness, which I believe is the most important thing I can contribute to the lives of others. 

3 - I feel a sense of purpose when I teach this method, because of the amazing results I see in the people that I teach. I believe that some of the most healing body work comes from the client having an active role in the process, because it leads to personal empowerment and self discovery. I see these benefits come to fruition in the people that I teach, and I can’t begin to express how grateful I am to share this method with others. 

Instructor reflections on our method

Written by - Joana Correa Assunsao

Here are a some personal reflections about the GYROTONIC® Method, from Olga, Pedro two of our instructors at Movement Beyond, with questions by Joana. 

1-How did you first find the GYROTONIC®  Method, and what made you stay ? 

2- How different from other methods do you feel it is, and why did you choose to become an instructor of this method? 

3-How do you feel when teaching the GYROTONIC® Method, and how do you see people benefiting from it? 

Olga Maidan and Pedro Pires

Olga Maidan

1) *First came the recommendation.

*By trying it, I was amazed how my body felt during and after my first lesson.

*Visually I fell in love later! 

2) Coordination between the movement and the breath, as well as strength and freedom of the movement. It is very holistic! Not easy, though.

Find harmony through GYROTONIC® exercise.

3)  *I feel thrilled - moved!

Pedro Pires

1 - My passion for the GYROTONIC® Method started 21 years ago on a trip to Berlin where a friend introduced me to the method. I was sure that it was what I wanted for my body and to teach. I was already a dance teacher and I realized quickly that the method could enhance the quality of my movements in addition to bringing more physical health and well being….

2 - The fact that we work three-dimensionally (unlike other methods) and that we can work the joints of our body in all the possibilities they give us, makes GYROTONIC® exercise unique and special.  I feel like I dance when I'm practicing...

3 - I find it very gratifying to see the result in the students bodies, all without exception commenting on the difference between before and after, and how their bodies react well to the method, bringing more expansion in their movements, less pain and better quality of life...

Welcome Spring!

Written by - Uma Shannon

WELCOME SPRING! 

Spring is here! Time to reorient ourselves to the warmer weather, bounty of seasonal produce! Find yourself moving with the season by taking a regenerative session at GYROTONIC® Soho - Movement Beyond!

Visit The Farmers Markets!

April offers us cool spring mornings and midafternoon warmth. I know I’ll soon be finding myself at the farmers market looking for the small coiled delights of the young ostrich fern known as fiddleheads. With a brief season, fiddleheads are enjoyed only in April. Small and vegetal, fiddleheads offer a beautiful shape and an excellent substitute for asparagus in quiche, omelets, and pasta dishes. Or, very simply steam them up and dress with olive oil, lemon, and salt to enjoy as a side dish to a meal. 

Upcoming Exhibit!

EPISTROPHY

Melvin Edwards

Sam Gilliam

William T. Williams

Exhibition Details:

Apr 1 – 30, 2022

Gallery:

540 West 25th Street

New York

https://www.pacegallery.com/exhibitions/epistrophy/

“The exhibition will consist of two sections, with the first comprising large-scale works by each artist: a site-specific barbed-wire installation by Edwards that responds to the architecture of the gallery, a monumental drape painting by Gilliam, and a suite of Williams’s early paintings from his seminal Diamond in a Box series. As a counterpoint to these larger-scale works, the second section of the exhibition will consist of drawings and works on paper.

Bringing the artists’ individual bodies of work into conversation with one another, the show addresses questions of monumentality and gravity, materiality and objecthood, the self and the collective, and the personal and the political. At the heart of the exhibition is an examination of abstraction as a force that might signify life without directly representing it.”

Upcoming Performance!

NVA & GUESTS

Stay With Me

APRIL 21-23, 2022

8pm

$20 in advance / $25 at the door

(Please note this piece contains adult content and a hazer.)

https://www.triskelionarts.org/nva-guests-2022

“Stay With Me, directed by Nicole von Arx, is an evening-length performance combining dance, theater, text, and audience participation.

Undeniably influenced by the world we live in today, Stay With Me reveals a series of personal vignettes where the performers attempt to physically connect to each other and with the audience. Amid our global unity, our human connections seem to be falling apart. A shared sense of yearning for our past lives, and our fear for what’s next, prevent us from moving forward.

In Stay With Me – looking both backward and forward in time – Nicole von Arx and her truly exceptional collaborators will invite you to reconnect with the present.”

Sam Gilliam, Green April, 1969, acrylic on canvas, 98 x 271 x 3 7/8 inches (248.9 x 688.3 x 9.8 cm), Collection of Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland, Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, photography by Lee Thompson. https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/sam-gilliam/

- Uma Shannon