5Rhythms®
ecstatic dance with
Peter Brown

   
 
 
About Peter Brown
 
What is 5 Rhythms?
 
Classes & Workshops
 

5 Rhythms & Mental Health

 
Links & Contacts

 

Movement for Mental Health

I'm very interested in finding ways to take the 5Rhythms out to people who would never dream of coming to a 5Rhythms class. I'm currently focussing on people experiencing mental health problems or distress.

There are many approaches to understanding mental health, distress and healing, including social, psychological and medical models. Social factors (such as poverty, employment, housing, family issues, discrimination such as racism, sexism, homophobia...) can all affect an individual's mental health. This is not to mention the discrimination people experiencing mental health problems face because of those problems. In additon, people with formal diagnoses often face additional obstacles and discrimination.

5Rhythms can address these issues from a creative perspective. Rather than beginning from a theoretical approach to mental health, 5Rhythms begins with the physical body, as it is, in any moment, and seeks to find creative ways to allow that body to expand its range of movement.

It's partly about learning how to live well in a body - many of us, and perhaps especially people experiencing mental health problems, have not had much experience of living well in our bodies. In the course of this, many life-issues, including the discrimination those bodies face on a daily basis, are brought to the fore, experienced physically and emotionally in the moment, as well as mentally. It comes to provide a forum for exploration, expression and release of feelings and stories, all within a creative form.

Whilst working in mental health, I have noticed that many people tend to be very physically static. In my experience, this in itself can lead to emotional stagnation and mental overload. I know I need to move my body to keep myself sane! I want to find ways to offer a practice that I know to be very powerful and useful, to people who find themselves in challenging places and situations

The pilot project has now been completed. For a copy of the report in a pdf format, click here.

For more information, to suggest where you think I should run some sessions, or to make a comment on 5Rhythms & mental health, please get in touch.

For more information about mental health issues, try Information for Mental Health

For a radical campaigning perspective on mental health, visit Evolving Minds

 

Gratefully funded by:

 

 

Visit
gabrielleroth.com
for 5Rhythms
internationally

'5Rhythms' & 'The Moving Center' are trademarks registered with the US Patent & Trademark Office