It has been a month and a half since I took part in the Rolf Movement training hosted by the ERA (European Rolfing Association), held in Munich, Germany, over the four days of October 10 (Thursday) to October 14 (Sunday), 2019 (“Taking Part in the Workshop Held in Munich, October 10–13, 2019 (First Half)“).
Over the five days of November 27 (Wednesday) to December 1 (Sunday), 2019, the final Rolf Movement training is held. This time, I plan to use ANA’s direct flight from Haneda Airport to Munich Airport.
The aim of Part III is “Introduction to Leading Rolfing Movement Groups” (how to use Rolf Movement in group lessons) (for details, see “With What Kind of Curriculum Does It Proceed?“).
On the second day of Part III, after an introduction to the basic content of Embodiment, in groups of three (six groups in total), with one as leader and two as assistants, each presented a 10-minute Embodiment in turn. Until the final day, we put the content together while discussing it among the three (see “Presenting the Embodiment Presentation: Knowing Each Person’s Intention and Points for Improvement“).
The learning centered on with what intention to build a class, and it was four days that passed in a flash (see “How Is the Class Proceeding? — The Flow of a Day” and “The First Half (4 Days) Has Finished. What Awarenesses Arose?“).
This time, the presentation of a 50-minute Embodiment is required. Because preparation is necessary, I received an email from the Rolf Movement Instructor Rita Geirola (hereafter Rita) a month in advance.
The main aim of this Part III is to hold a Rolf Movement class. The first four days were conducted mainly on how to hold a class from the teacher’s perspective.
How to build an Embodiment? How does what each student has built up develop into a general idea, into a frame, or into a particular application? What has been embodied so far? And what arouses curiosity, and in what form will it be pursued going forward? — and so on.
The latter five days focus on the teaching itself.
As things to note, Rita takes up the following nine points:
- How to build the lessons? Are they grasped as a single process? Or as one large experience? (How do I create lessons that can be part of a process, or just “one experience” embodiment.)
- When building a lesson, how to link it with Rolfing’s basic ideas (the relationship with gravity)? (When I create a frame, or a progressions of lessons for clients, how do I take care of having in the background the general prospective of the Rolfing understanding on how bodies organize in gravity.)
- The teacher’s way of being (Presence)
- Word choice (Wording)
- How to adapt to the class (Adaptability)
- Responding to changes in the group (Ability to deal with group dynamics)
- How to read the flow running through the class (including body reading)? From a single student to the overall energy (Capacity to “body read” the flow of the class, from the structural topics of the single students, to the general energetic level)
- Guiding the individual and group lessons from start, through the middle, to the end (Modulate the beginning- progress- end of each single lesson or a group of lessons)
- Introduction and closure (Introduction and closure)
Taking these into account, within a one-hour time allowance, the presentation of a 50-minute class is required. After that, 10 minutes of feedback is planned. When building the 50-minute lesson, it is necessary to consider:
Is the goal of the lesson something I want to explore? Or something to be varied in line with the needs of a group of clients? (Is the goal of the lesson related to something you want to explore, or is it more the response for the needs of group of clients you are working with?)
For what kind of client this lesson is appropriate (For what kind of client this special lesson is appropriate?)
In what context to hold the class (In which context you can imagine to propose it?)
Is it grasped as one experience? (for example, as a single presentation) Or is it grasped as something experienced as a single process over the passage of time? (Is it meant to be a “one shot” experience, like a presentation of the work, or you imagine it as being a moment in a general process of a class that has continuity in time?)
For beginners? Or for people who already have some knowledge of perception and bodily movement? (Is it a proposal appropriate for beginners, or for people who already have experience in sensing and organize the body in movement?)
So, mainly on two points — the title of the lesson and by what procedure to hold the class — I sent a proposal to Rita by email today (November 16, 2019).
Ten days until departure. How to build the class in about two weeks, and what learning results from it? I’m thinking it would be good if it offers hints for holding yoga classes going forward, so I’m looking forward to it.