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This article needs references that appear in reliable third-party publications. Primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please add more appropriate citations from reliable sources. (August 2008)

Gerda Alexander (February 15, 1908 – February 21, 1994) was a Danish teacher who devised a method of self-development called Eutony. She was born in Wuppertal, Germany, but moved to Denmark in 1929.

Like Moshe Feldenkrais, she emphasized intelligence, sensitivity, and awareness rather than simple physical exercise.

Contents 1 Eutony 2 Literature 3 References 4 External links 5 See also

[edit] Eutony

Alexander's "Eutony" claims to develop the ability to be aware and able to regulate muscular tone. The term was coined to express the idea of a harmoniously balanced "tonicity in constant adaptation to the state or activity of the moment".

Alexander's parents were believers in eurythmy, passing on to her a similar interest in movement. Alexander as a young woman contracted rheumatic fever and endocarditis, suffering several crises. This forced her precociously to create movement forms that did not exacerbate her perception of symptoms. Long periods of rest stimulated her to look within herself looking for a "more economic" and more spontaneous form of movement, starting with learning regulation of tone to achieve further well-being. By means of observation and reflection on her students, their own ailments and difficulties in mobility, and the investigation of the neuro-psychological bases of human movement, she molded her own method. She postulated that "it is important, in treatment, not to give and do more than is necessary, so that the other can rely on himself. It is not that I am the great master who gives you help. Rather, I can introduce you to my work for your own self discovery."^[1]

A Eutony session begins with a phase of "inventory" in which the student, through a series of "control positions," becomes aware of his/her initial state of muscular tone. Then by a means of physical activities guided by the eutonist, which may include the use of objects (balls, sticks, pillows) or the contact between the eutonist and the student, the latter gains awareness of the different "principles." At the end of the class or session the student may be asked to repeat the control positions initially used to check the differences in both his/her states and awareness of them.

Eutony has a number of "principles" or methodological tools to be used in the classes or sessions that facilitate the student's recovery from the deviation from ideal tone.

Such principles are:

• awareness of the skin
• awareness of the internal body space
• awareness of the bones
• conscious contact
• experience of transport (conscious straightening reflex)
• "repousser" (to reject-to push)
• active and passive movements
• micro-movements (movements of decompression of the articulations)
• control positions (sequences of movements that allow to evaluate the state of muscular flexibility)
• eutonic movement
• vibrations (voice and bones)

[edit] Literature

• Alexander, Gerda (1981). Eutony; The holistic discovery of the total person. New York: Felix Morrow. 

• Vishnivetz, Berta (1994). Eutonía; La Educación del Cuerpo hacia el Ser. Buenos Aires / Madrid: Paidós. 

• Odessky, Alejandro (2002). Eutonía y stress. Buenos Aires: Lugar Editorial. ISBN 950-892-164-1. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Eutony School of Argentina
• Brazilian Association of Eutony

[edit] See also

• Feldenkrais method
• Alexander Technique
• Rolfing

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