Table Work

  1. Table work typically occupies 20–30 minutes of a lesson and addresses constrictions and tensions in the student’s body through a psycho-physical approach that directly effects the nervous system.


  1. It teaches the release of tension through the “thinking” skills of inhibition and direction. It thus provides the student with the tools for improved ease and coordination “in activity” beginning with the challenges of  sitting and standing in the ensuing chairwork.


  1. The student experiences release of tension, lengthening and widening of his back and freeing of the joints, as I gently touch and move different parts of the student’s body.


  1. During this time, I ask the student to remain quiet, and to inhibit his desire to respond to the stimulus of my moving him by helping me.


  1. When the student has succeeded in not interfering and his habits of tensions have, accordingly, subsided,  he may now add direction to  enliven the enhanced coordination that results. 


  1. In this  restful state of improved integration, the student is less reactive to outside stimuli that could evoke habitual responses and is thus more centered, alert and free to move.  


  1. Thus begins the student’s journey of self-discovery and change to improved well-being, coordination and more informed use of the body.




**********    Pictures and Explanations of Table Work       ************

 

Text

Copyrighted by Priscilla Hunt, Amherst MA.

  1. I assist the student in letting go of tension in his neck to improve integration of head, neck and his back.

  1. My hands help his thigh muscle release tension and lengthen to take stress off the knee joint. I gently  move the leg to open his hip and ankle joints and integrate the leg with the back.