Photo : Cécile Lopes
Body-Mind Centering® is an integrated and embodied approach to movement, the body and consciousness. Developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, it is an experiential study based on the embodiment and application of anatomical, physiological, psychophysical and developmental principles, utilizing movement, touch, voice and mind. Its uniqueness lies in the specificity with which each of the body systems can be personally embodied and integrated, the fundamental groundwork of developmental repatterning, and the utilization of a body-based language to describe movement and body-mind relationships.
The study of Body-Mind Centering® is a creative process in which embodiment of the material is explored in the context of self-discovery and openness. Each person is both the student and the subject matter and the underlying goal is to discover the ease that underlies transformation.
The Body-Mind Centering® approach has an almost unlimited number of areas of application. It is currently being used by people in movement, dance, yoga, bodywork, somatic studies, physical and occupational therapy, psychotherapy, child development, education, voice, music, art, meditation, athletics and other body-mind disciplines.
Programs and Courses
Body-Mind Centering® programs present detailed and specific approaches to the personal embodiment of our cells, our body systems and our developmental patterns and the ways in which all of these interact with our awareness, perception and consciousness. The principles and techniques learned in courses can be used for personal development and for professional enhancement.
The School for Body-Mind Centering®
Since 1973, the School has been dedicated to sharing this dynamic approach to embodiment studies with the world. There are graduates in 32 countries and on five continents. Programs are now offered by licensed organizations in the United States, Europe and South America. Graduates of these programs receive a certificate from the School for Body-Mind Centering®.
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen is the developer of Body-Mind Centering® and the founder and Educational Director of the School. For over fifty years, she has been a movement artist, researcher, educator and therapist. An innovator and leader, her work has influenced the fields of bodywork, movement, dance, yoga, body psychotherapy, childhood education and many other body-mind disciplines. She is the author of the book, Sensing, Feeling and Action.
Bonnie is a Registered Occupational Therapist, a Registered Movement Therapist and a Registered Yoga Teacher (ERYT). She is also certified in Neurodevelopmental Therapy, Laban Movement Analysis, and Kestenberg Movement Profiling. She has practiced occupational therapy and taught in university hospitals, helped to establish a school for occupational and physical therapy for the Tokyo government, practiced bodywork and movement in psychiatric settings, taught in the masters program in Dance Therapy at Antioch New England College, taught dance at Hunter College and at the Erick Hawkins School of Dance in New York, and presented workshops throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.