What Happens in an Awareness Through Movement Lesson?
Awareness Through Movement consists of verbally directed movement sequences presented primarily to groups. A lesson generally lasts from 30 to 60 minutes. The lessons consist of comfortable, easy movements that gradually evolve into movements of greater range and complexity. These precisely structured movement explorations involve thinking, sensing, moving and imagining. Many are based on developmental movements and ordinary functional activities (reaching, standing, lying to sitting, looking behind yourself, etc.), some are based on more abstract explorations of joint, muscle, and postural relationships. There are hundreds of ATM lessons, varying in difficulty and complexity, for all levels of movement ability. The emphasis is on learning which movements work better and noticing the quality of these changes in your body. Through increased awareness, you will learn to abandon habitual patterns of movement and develop new alternatives, resulting in improved flexibility and coordination.
