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Eurythmy in Human Health and Becoming
by Seth Morrison
Seth is Director of the Therapeutic Eurythmy Training in North America
In 1921, working together with eurythmists and medical doctors, Rudolf Steiner developed “curative” or “therapeutic eurythmy.” It was introduced to the Waldorf school movement in the year following its inception. At the same time, a large circle of physicians began to prescribe it as an element of medical therapy. Since that time, therapeutic eurythmy has found acceptance in settings around the world including schools, homes for the handicapped, clinics, and hospitals.
The universality of eurythmy stems from its origins in a spiritual and scientific body of knowledge known as “anthroposophy,” the study of wisdom inherent in the human being. Steiner’s studies in anthroposophy led him to define the human being as a threefold organism comprising nervous, rhythmical, and metabolic-limb systems. These systems form the physiological basis of thinking, feeling, and willing. Thinking requires the organic processes active in the brain and nerves. Feelings and emotions have their basis in the functions of the heart and lungs. “Will,” or the ability to carry out activity, has its organic foundation in the metabolic functions.
Learning to speak is of monumental importance to this process. Through it the young child enters the world gaining awareness of itself and the environment. In the area of child development, Steiner studied the process of “learning to speak” and its relationship to physical, emotional and mental growth. He concluded that speech and song are not exclusive to the brain and nervous system, but involve the metabolic and rhythmical function as well. How does the small child learn to speak? For those who raise a child, it appears to be a magical happening. Completely new capabilities seem to arise out of nothingness. There is, however, a thread which weaves its way through the child’s life, beginning with its conception in the womb.
While these functions sustain biological life, they also are essential to consciousness. Steiner observed how the vitality and growth of the infant gradually produces the organic foundations for its cognitive life. Growth leads in time to consciousness—and consciousness to individuality and freedom.
A single, fertilized egg divides, guided by a tremendous intelligence, unknown to us. Differentiation ensues and an incredibly complex network of processes go on to produce a living being. Formed by unending movement, the tiny human being undergoes constant metamorphosisassuming manifold gestures. During these formative weeks and months, it gains the power to move its body. At birth, with the addition of air from its new environment, the child begins to move its larynx as well. These early sounds are accompanied by limb movements. Through the movements of its larynx and limbs, the newborn child expresses its existence.
As the infant learns to focus its eyes, to touch, to taste and smell, it makes new sounds and gestures. The voice of its mother, its nourishment and the ever expanding influx of the sensory world unfolds new experience for the child. It responds with sound and gesture. The small child gradually assembles more and more gestures. New ones appear; others disappear, only to come back much later. Through a series of reactions and internalizations, it forms a record of its exploration of the world. At this time it is reenacting the creation of an alphabet.
The child’s growing awareness of its environment expands to embrace the spoken language of the country into which it was born. Thus the child adopts a mother tongue. It needs language in order to fully unfold its person. The cultural setting supplies that stimulus. The essential steps leading up to learning a language are universal among all people.
Learning to speak is part of a greater development which unfolds during the first three years of life. The child first learned to stand upright, then speak and finally to think. These stages culminate in the moment when the child first says “I.” It has gained its independence and laid the foundation for all the growth and learning that will follow. Developing the sense for language is fundamental to the whole life of the child. These seemingly simple, almost primeval gestures of the infant comprise the prerequisite activity for forming mental images which will be retained as memory.
The sounds and gestures made by the small child are of two distinct types. Gestures which simulate the environment by imitation of its shapes, contours and textures are the consonants. A second form of speech-gestures expresses the child’s inner, or soul, response and is known as the vowels. These two basic types form the basis of every language. The vowels are formed in the larynx and their nature is tonal and independent of the other organs connected with speech. Only the opening of the mouth, be it wide or narrow, helps the vowel to sound. Conversely, the consonant is formed by the dynamic movements of the palate, tongue, lips and teeth. Consonants can suggest the element of fire, in the hissing “S” for instance, or suggest the sharp edge of a rock with the sound “K.” Vowels cannot describe the surroundings, but describe our feeling for it. We behold a beautiful work of art or a magnificent landscape with the sound “Ah” or “Oooo”... never with “B” or “T.” If we wish to tell another person about what we have seen, vowels alone are useless, and consonants are necessary. Words contain both forms, allowing each language to find ways to express its speaker’s experiences through words.
Ancient cultures have left records of their existence in the form of languages. The further back in time a culture existed, the more immediate and direct its approach to language. The ancient Phoenician and Hebrew alphabets comprise whole systems of characters, pictorial and significant. The actual shapes of the letters suggested very exact meanings to those who spoke or read them. They are moving images, held or frozen as gestures.
For us, the “B” is just a sound, somewhat abstract. In the Hebrew, it has a meaning in itself. It also has a numerical value of two. It suggests a dwelling. The letter itself portrays the concept. It could indicate a house, a temple, or the soul within the body. The letter “T” signifies finality and eternity; it is the last letter of the series and has the value 400. These ancient languages contain both vowels and consonants, but only consonants were given a visible written form. Vowels, Rudolf Steiner confirmed, originate in the “inner realm” of the human being. The experience of the vowels must have been profound in ancient times.
Unfortunately, present day conditions do not support a deeper experience of language or music. Despite the countless advantages offered by computers, word processors, simulated voices and simulated intelligence, language itself has suffered greatly. These technologies exploit grammatical forms in order to use language to process and store information quickly and efficiently. Words are abbreviated, coded and “abstracted” from their original forms and meanings. Buttons replace the geometric experience of writing. The use of computers in early education as a substitute for the fine motor experience of writing isespecially questionable since directionality in writing is intimately connected with the child’s sense of its own body. Music has also suffered from electronic simulations and manipulations. We marvel at technology, investing money in equipment instead of demanding and supporting “live” music.
These developments offer us “artificial intelligence” in one form or another. So long as we retain a living relationship to language and music, we can use these devices to our advantage. The danger is that these technologies tend to deaden our senses. They remove the living, creative elements of speech and music, all but eliminating the very spirit which gave birth to communication itself: the human being.
The evolution of speech and music is synonymous with the evolution of consciousness. Each era of history has molded and altered these expressions. Rudolf Steiner developed eurythmy as an antidote to the destructive elements of our time. Eurythmy seeks to reawaken human sensibilities. Poetry, which has experienced a severe decline, is restored and illuminated in the form of movement. Music is shown to be a revelation of human feeling and emotion. As a performing art, eurythmy gives its audiences a deeper experience of human nature as expressed in art. Gesture, movement, color, and choreography create an imaginative presentation. The objective, creative laws, which the genius of the poet or composer knew intimately, are brought to visibility. Style and content are revealed in a new light.
Rudolf Steiner developed a eurythmy curriculum for each grade in the Waldorf School. It addresses the physical, emotional and mental growth of the different stages of child activity. The foundations for a true “working together,” for building community through commitment and energy, are engendered. Pedagogic eurythmy supports all other subjects by teaching children how to form their thoughts and feelings into actions—actions sensitive to the intentions of a group.
Eurythmy means “harmonious rhythm.” Growth, organic functions, and consciousness are intimately related to one another. The rhythmical system of the human organism mediates between the nervous system and the metabolism. Therapeutic eurythmy can effect a profound change in situations where the human organism is tending in the direction of imbalance and illness. It invites the rhythmical system to restore harmony to the organism. Specific sound gestures are chosen and practiced in sequence. The gestures are intensified and repeated in order to stimulate specific organic functions. Some of the exercises exert an influence upon the nervous system; others can regulate functions of the digestive tract. Vowel exercises work directly upon the rhythmical processes as well, but by way of the metabolic systems. Emotional health can be encouraged through therapeutic eurythmy exercises.
Steiner invited a medical doctor to join the faculty of the first Waldorf school. This has become a tradition among Waldorf schools. The physician acts as a consultant and offers advice in situations where remedial help becomes necessary. The therapeutic eurythmist works together with parents, teachers and the school doctor in order to best serve the needs of the child with special difficulties. Therapeutic eurythmy enables the child suffering from illness to take an active role in improving its condition. Movement exercises can be used to stimulate the faculties needed in order to learn. Rudolf Steiner designed exercises that help the slow learner as well as others that help the child who tends to become overly stimulated.
Therapeutic eurythmy can help overcome learning disabilities, a growing problem in our time. It is taught on a one to one basis, over a prescribed length of time. Like pedagogic and performing eurythmy, it is an art. It is challenging and fun to do. The results often exceed the expectations. This is due to its far-reaching significance for the entirety of human development. Eurythmy reawakens a forgotten sense for all that lives in music and speech. It raises it to a higher level. Eurythmy supports the truly spiritual in art—the work of the human spirit.
The Thereapeutic Eurythmy Training in North America is part-time over three years. International teachers, physicians, therapists and artists assist. For information contact Seth Morrison, PO Box 389, Copake NY 12516.
