Basic Neurocellular Patterns

450 Pages·2018·139.592 MB·English

by  Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen

~
Body-Mind CENTERING"
Foundations of Human Movement
Basic Neurocellular Patterns
EXPLORING DEVELOPMENTAL MOVEMENT
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Illustrated by Margaret Guay, Michael Ridge, and Rodrigo Arraya

Basic Neurocellular Patterns
Exploring Developmental Movement
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Illustrated by Margaret Guay, Michael Ridge & Rodrigo Arraya
Basic Neurocellular Patterns: Exploring Developmental Movement
Copyright © 2018 Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
All rights reserved. Scanning, uploading, electronic sharing, reproducing, or modifying, in
any form or by any means, any part of this book is strictly prohibited without prior written
permission of the author.
Previously published illustrations copyright Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen: Pages 113 left,
163 top, and 164 bottom, © 1989 (published in Contact Quarterly 14:2 Spring/Summer
1989); Page 135 top, © 2004; Page 135 bottom, © 1995; Page 149 bottom right, © 2007;
Pages 153 -157, © 1992.
Published in the United States.
Illustrations
Margaret Guay
Michael Ridge
Rodrigo Arraya
Bronwen Hodgekinson
Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
Photographs
Marilynne Morshead (dedication page)
Kim Sargent -Wishart (back cover)
Cover Design: Leonard Cohen
Final Book Design: Sanghi Choi
Body-Mind Centering® and ~ Body-Mind C E N T E R lNG- are registered service marks and
BMCsm is a service mark of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.
Burchfield Rose Publishers
PO Box 20904
El Sobrante, CA 94802
USA
burchfieldrose.com
The approach in this book is offered for informational and educational purposes only.
The material is intended to be explored with ease and without pain or force. However, as
with any movement approach, please consult your physician/health care provider as to
whether the explorations are suitable for you. This is especially important for people with
specific concerns such as pregnant women, people with injuries, and those with other
health or movement considerations.
Dedicated to
SANDY JAMROG
for sharing my life in loving friendship,
passionate inquiry, and exciting collaboration.
Your presence resounds on every page.

Table of Contents
AcknowledfJflents ......................................................................................... i
Foreword .................................................................................................... v
Preface ..................................................................................................... vii
Introduction
1. Introduction to the Basic Neurocellular Patterns ................................. 1
2. How This Book Is Organized .............................................................. 3
Prevertebrate Patterns
3. Introduction to the Prevertebrate Patterns ........................................... 5
4. Vibration ............................................................................................ 7
5. Cellular Breathing ............................................................................. 19
6. Sponging ........................................................................................... 41
7. Pulsation ........................................................................................... 55
8. Navel Radiation ................................................................................ 71
9. Mouthing ......................................................................................... 97
10. Prespinal ......................................................................................... 125
11. Summary of the Prevertebrate Patterns ............................................ 145
12. Summary of Embryological Development
Relating to the Prevertebrate Patterns .............................................. 147
Vertebrate Patterns
13. Introduction to the Vertebrate Patterns ........................................... 151
14. Spatial Aspects of Movement .......................................................... 153
15. Postural Tone and Yielding .............................................................. 163
16. Spinal Patterns ................................................................................ 167
17. Spinal Yield & Push ....................................................................... 169
18. Spinal Reach & Pull. ....................................................................... 193
19. Symmetrical Patterns: Homologous ................................................ 209
20. Homologous Yield & Push ............................................................. 211
21. Homologous Reach & Pull ............................................................. 237
22. Asymmetrical Patterns: Homolateral & Contralateral ...................... 257
23. Homolateral Yield & Push .............................................................. 259
24. Contralateral Reach & Pull ............................................................. 283
25. Brachiation and Climbing ............................................................... 311
26. Summary of the Vertebrate Patterns ................................................ 321
27. Summary of the Prevertebrate and Vertebrate Patterns .................... 325
Appendices ........................................................................................... 329
1. Ten Common Compensations When Practicing
the Basic Neurocellular Patterns ........................................................ 331
2. Developmental Movement Sequences oft he Vertebrate Patterns:
Series I & Series II. ........................................................................... 335
3. Basic Neurocellular Patterns in the Practice ofY oga ............................. 347
4. Basic Neurocellular Patterns in Dance and
Other Movement Practices ................................................................. 353
5. Using the Basic Neurocellular Patterns to Teach Dance
to Chiltlren ...................................................................................... 357
6. Basic Neurocellular Patterns in Sports Training .................................. 365
7. Basic Neurocellular Patterns Applied to Music
(Vocal and Instrumental) .................................................................. 369
8. Vertebrate Patterns and the Development ofV isual Pathways;
ofI nward and Outward Attention and Intention ............................... 373
9. Basic Neurocellular Patterns Approach to Teaching ............................. 381
10. Basic Neurocellular Patterns and Common Compensatory
Stress Patterns ................................................................................... 385
11. Engaging the Basic Neurocellular Patterns in the Process ofA ging ........ 389
12. Transmission oft he Basic Neurocellular Patterns through Touch ........... 393
13. Psychophysical Processing through the Basic Neurocellular Patterns ....... 397
14. Presence oft he Basic Neurocellular Patterns in Sitting Meditation ....... 409
15. The Basic Neurocellular Patterns through Prayer ............................... .413
16. History oft he Development oft he Basic Neurocellular Patterns ............ 417
17. Supplemental Video for the Basic Neurocellular Patterns Book ............. 421
18. Body-Mind Centering® Resources ....................................................... 423
A Note from Bonnie .............................................................................. 425
Bibliography. ......................................................................................... 427
Acknowledgments
To the thousands of students and friends internationally who for over forty years have
shared with me the explorations, contemplation, applications, and research of these devel
opmental movement patterns, I am profoundly grateful. Although your names do not
appear in these acknowledgments, the unfolding of the Basic Neurocellular Patterns (BNP)
and the writing of this book could not have occurred without your contributions.
My deepest gratitude is extended to the many babies who have rolled, crawled, creeped,
laughed, cried, and been silent and still with me for the past 50 years. Their presence, clear
expression, and direct communication have enriched my life and my understanding of the
process of development. I am also grateful to the parents and families of these babies for the
love and care they have given their children and for including me in their lives.
The first collaborators named specifically must, of course, be the two artists who have
created most of the exquisite grayscale drawings-the heart and spirit of the book.
In 1988, Michael Ridge began drawing the babies shown in this book for an article of mine
in the dance journal Contact Quarterly (CQ). He continued to draw babies and animals for
this book until 1998. In 2017, he completed twelve more baby drawings.
In 1994, Margaret Guay joined Michael in drawing the illustrations for this book and she
has continued to draw them for the last 20-plus years.
Not only did Michael and Margaret create the beautiful drawings, but they also collabo
rated with me on the search for the appropriate drawing references and advised me on the
writing. Margaret also played a major role in designing the layout of the pages.
In the last months before finalizing the book, Rodrigo Arraya joined us by adding clear
drawings of adults demonstrating the vertebrate patterns. These drawings bring life to the
various explorations. His immediate response to my urgent pleas for new drawings provided
enormous support.
In 1995, Bronwen Hodgekinson drew a few babies for the book. Much thanks also goes to
Jiajun Lu, my art teacher, for helping me with the few baby illustrations I drew.
In 1984, Janice Geller drew babies and animals demonstrating the BNP for an earlier
article in CQ, but as those drawings are in a different style, they are not included in this
book. Both the 1984 and 1988 articles are included in my book Sensing, Feeling and Action,
published by Contact Editions.
My gratitude also extends to Marilynne Morshead for the photo of Sandy Jamrog and me
on the dedication page, and to Kim Sargent-Wishart for the photo of me on the back cover.
Among the small group of women I began exploring developmental movement with from
1973 to 1976, several have continued to explore and teach the BNp, sharing their insights
with me. These women are Linda Tumbarello, Gale Turner, Beth Goren, Sara Vogeler, and
Genny Kapuler.
11 BASIC NEUROCELLULAR PATTERNS
After I moved to Amherst, Massachusetts in 1976, Linda and Gale moved to the area also.
Through their teaching and coordination of programs, both women were pivotal in estab
lishing the School for Body-Mind Centering® (SBMC). Gale also took copious notes in my
classes, which helped in the organization of the words to express the patterns.
Maryska Bigos came to my home in 1979 and asked me to offer a Body-Mind Centering®
training program in Amherst. This first practitioner program ran from 1980 to 1982 and
subsequent programs followed. During this time, I began writing teaching materials, which
included a manual for the course on the BNP.
In 2002, with Sandy Jamrog and Lenore Grubinger, I began offering a new training in
Infant Developmental Movement Education (lOME). With Lisa Clark, I began offering an
Embodied Developmental Movement and Yoga program in 2003. In both programs, the
BNP provide a primary foundation.
The continued development and offering of Body-Mind Centering® trainings has expanded
internationally through the guidance of Maryska Bigos, Mary Lou Seereiter, Amy Matthews,
and Roxlyn Moret in the United States; Jens Johannsen, Freiderike Troescher, Thomas Greil
and Lisa Clark in Germany; Gloria Desideri in Italy; Thomas Greil and Vera Orlock in
France; Katy Dymock in England; Walburga Glatz and Anka SedlaCkova in Slovakia; and
Adriana Almeida Pees in Brazil.
These directors are also providing guidance for the new programs beginning to emerge in
other countries. They are instrumental in transmitting the essence of the BNP through the
trainings offered in different cultures and languages.
There are also hundreds of people across the world who have graduated from programs
offered by SBMC and its licensed organizations. Each person approaches, experiences, and
applies the BNP in unique ways as they are shared with others.
I also want to thank the people who, during the long years of writing this book, read the
manuscript in its different phases and offered me feedback. These people are Amelia Ender,
Pat Ethridge, Tal Halevi, Sandy Jamrog, Amy Matthews, Roxlyn Moret, Kate Tarlow
Morgan, Mary Lou Seereiter, Gale Turner, and Alison Zuber. A special thanks to Gill Wright
Miller, who as chair of the Dance Department at Denison University spent many hours
going over the manuscript in detail in the company of two of her students, Rachel Halteman
and Kristen Locey. Ellen Goldman Shapiro was a consultant for the section on the Spatial
Aspects of Movement. Everyone's questions and comments have been invaluable.
A year ago, as the book neared completion, I asked Nancy Stark Smith and Lisa Nelson
editors of Contact Quarterly and project directors of Contact Editions publishers-to help
edit this book. They, with their typical clear direction, challenged my wording while simul
taneously respecting the tone of my expressive voice.
Over the past twenty years, I have relied on the following people for their patience and skill
to decipher and transfer my handwritten notes to the computer: Dawn Dowd, Heather
Grimes, Issa Cohen, and John Lee. John has also offered helpful advice on the layout of
the book.