Research Projects Underway

Presented at the 20th Annual Conference of the Body-Mind Centering Association in Asilomar, California, May 5th-8th, 2005

Learning About One’s Somatic Functioning and Caring for One’s Health:
A Research Project from a Third World Perspective

Ninoska Gomez, Ph.D.

Estudio LOS ALMENDROS, Costa Rica

Abstract

A major priority of my practice is to help others learn about their own somatic functioning in order to develop and strengthen their health and autonomy. I have come to investigate the effectiveness of a set of body information chosen on the basis of, first, its effectiveness in stimulating ‘self-regulatory mechanisms’, whose consequences, both in well-being and in increased sense of competence, can be perceived on a short-term basis; second, its accessibility and ease in using it in daily life; and third, its potential to develop curiosity about one’s somatic functioning, manifested mainly through a sustained practice and exploration over time.

 One central concept of the information is about the ‘the pumping’ action of all living tissues and movements present at the micro or cellular level up to the macro level, which assures internal and external breathing as well as the ‘peristaltic’ movements of all body structures. Many health issues have to do with dysfunctions in these pumping mechanisms, manifested through problems involving the circulation of body fluids, as well as inefficiencies and blockages in the sequencing of movement forces between the body’s center and periphery or extremities.

I have focused then on investigating how easily people can learn to sense and explore the pumping mechanisms of:

 1. The Lungs, their three-dimensional action (external breathing) and its manifestation in all body parts (cellular breathing).

2. The ‘condensing and expanding’ of the skin, or ‘tactile breathing’ manifested in its ‘prehensile’ qualities.

3. The Hands and Feet, in relation to the mobility of the ventral side of the body especially of the armpits, groins and belly.

4. The Head and ‘Tail’or coccyx and the mobility of the pelvic floor.

The information has been taught in a minimum of three to five, one and a half hour (group or individual), sessions, without any technical support (props). I would like to share an introductory session of this ongoing research and have feedback and discussion from the participants.

Workshop Description

A movement session where participants will be led to sense and explore the pumping mechanisms of the lungs, the three-dimensional action of external breathing and its consequences on all body parts; of the skin, its ‘breathing’ and ‘prehensile’ qualities; of the hands and feet connecting them through the ventral side of the body; and of the head and coccyx. Length, two hours.

 Technical needs: Room adequate for floor work, with some free walls and mattresses.

Miscellaneous: A board and a marker

Biography

Ninoska Gomez, Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, specializing in Psychomotor Development, is a dancer, performer, researcher and teacher. A registered Movement Therapist and a longtime student of the Body-Mind Centering, she is a founding member of the Body-Mind Centering Association. She founded and directs the Estudio LOS ALMENDROS in Costa Rica dedicated to the research and teaching of the movement arts and sciences.

Proposal for a Performance-Animation

‘TROPICAL POSTCARDS’— A series of 2 to 4 minutes sound and movement vignettes for a maximum of a 12 minute-performance. Technical needs: a CD player.

Dear BMCA colleagues, April 14th, 2005

I shall be attending the conference at Asilomar and my presentation is the first one scheduled. One major purpose for going so far North is to have the opportunity to share with peers who have experienced similar teachings about the body’s functioning, and get comments and perspectives on some of the issues inherent to identifying and formulating research questions of significance to all of us. The following information hopes to stimulate and prepare the ground towards fruitful exchanges. In the title I included the phrase ‘from a third world perspective’ in order to underlie that the research focuses strictly on the effects of the information about the body’s functioning, given and experienced by the participants, who oftentimes have little knowledge of anatomy or physiology, without the use of any prop (not even one physioball!) or technological aid.

The basic assumption to the research is that the BMC experiential teachings are ‘transformational information’, such that under minimum appropriate conditions. it grows within, evolves and expands in our unconscious and conscious awareness because it stimulates essential self-regulatory somatic mechanisms whose effects keep manifesting over time. The BMC practitioners and students have been exposed to a body of knowledge which they have applied to themselves in dealing with their own lives and health problems. We are thus a privileged target population most likely to answer some of the questions below:

---In which ways does the body-mind centering material teaches the BMC student and practitioner?

---Are there common identifiable ways in which the BMC seeds of knowledge ‘sprout and mature’? Or, are there common ways that the BMC teachers and students use to trigger, stimulate, and build their own and other’s ‘body wisdom’ (assuming that it is largely unconscious)?

---Is it possible to identify a common frame of reference that would allow us to validate among ourselves what and how the BMC information transforms us?

---What kind of research questions are the BMC practitioners and students focusing on?

---Does the information learned by the practitioner (a professional) become modified or transformed in order to pass it to client or student?

---How do the levels of micro- and macro-level of somatic functioning converge?

---What is particular about the ways that we have learned to focus on and attend to inner sensations, especially on the sensations that manifest and put in evidence ‘elusive realities’ about the body’s functioning?

I feel these questions are of importance because they can clarify and bring to the fore one essential educational aspect of BMC which is, to allow each individual the experience of participating in his/her functioning, emphasizing the important role that movements to explore our somatic functioning have on the quality of our health.

I have the opportunity to participate in a pilot project sponsored by the Ministries of Education, of Health and of Culture with the purpose of evaluating how teachings about the body (the priority), organic culture, and artistic activities among others, can contribute to the health and well-being of selected populations. In my contribution I want to emphasize the value of self-education, in particular the importance of stimulating the ability to investigate one’s somatic functioning and help us make sense of how we function in the environment we are in. This investigation hopes to put in evidence how we are active participants in our psycho-biological organization.

Common health problems (pains of various sorts) are often related with insufficient integration between the spine and the extremities, for instance, back pain and problems the lower back, knee and feet, shoulder-elbow-wrist-hands, which are accentuated by the demands of their jobs. Aside from all the nutritional factors likely to be part of these conditions, I am focusing on helping people evaluate the effects that movements aimed to stimulate self-regulatory mechanisms have on all of these conditions. Among the functional aspects that I specifically direct awareness to are:

---The movement responses to the rhythms of our waking cycle, what we do upon waking up and when going to sleep, when awareness inhabit us and when it wanes.

---The stimulation of the body’s functional unity and its relations to the immediate environment (the bed, the floor, the chair, our clothes, etc.), through exploration and practical study of the relationship between the body’s forms and functions.

---The dorsal and ventral functioning of the body, through various self-managed activities that help identify sensations of going with and against Gravity and that stimulate and help discriminate qualities of vibration, pulsating, sponging, expanding-condensing, yielding, resistance, compression, the prehensile properties of the skin and the relation of all these to their functional tensegrity.

Friends and colleagues, I am indeed looking forward to meeting you all. Your thoughts and comments before and during the conference will be most appreciated.

Till very soon

Ninoska Gomez