This method, based on stretching and gentle movements, aims above all to become aware of our support. “We all tend to use our muscles to stand up, while our bones are there for that too,” explains Geneviève Larrieu, president of the French association of eutonists Gerda Alexander. By neglecting our supports, we create parasitic voltages and tensing muscles that are not necessary for movement and posture. The result: wrinkled foreheads, stuck jaws, tight throats, tucked shoulders, hunched backs or blocked joints. To resolve these tensions, the eutonist gives rhythm to the sessions with verbal proposals: he does not make a gesture by asking the participants to imitate him, but invites them, by his voice, to feel their body, to focus their attention on a particular region and to dwell on their sensations. The practitioner also uses contact with objects such as bamboo, balls or bags of chestnuts to “awaken the participants to the presence of their bones, their soft tissues, their skin”. As a result, a range of sensations, a reinforcement of the presence of oneself, a better body awareness.
