Bilateral Body Movements does not need paper and crayons.

At the last weekend workshop we made “gymnast's sticks” from driftwood and branches we found in nature. Cut them to size to make handles, then decorated them with pieces of dyed cheese cloth, other fabric, and ribbons. We painted the materials, some embroidered it and carved “magic” into their sticks. Dancing with music, alone, in pairs and as a group with our sticks was not only fun, it also activated our mirror neutrons, created group synchronicity and connections.

The idea was to find a way to encourage client groups into bilateral movements. Many clients, in particular children, but also adults would not feel comfortable to sit in front of a large sheet of paper and begin drawing rhythmic shapes as in Guided Drawing. They certainly would not feel safe to close their eyes and in that case should not be encouraged to do so.

Our experience was that, if you held the sticks too close together, the ribbons got entangled. In order to move fluidly with the floating ribbons and fabric flags, the arms had to spread out and the chest had to open up.

The supervision group, all of them practising therapists, could take their sticks home to apply with reluctant clients in their workplace. Some clients may be encouraged in this way to draw later on, others may simply enjoy the movement, even as a dance supported with music. Drawing is not important, movement is, especially for those frozen in trauma, it is important to find a way back to movement and human engagement.

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