Low-impact movement class beats winter blahs!
Huebner uses Rosen Method
By Judy Woodward
Is winter getting you down? Feeling that vague—but unmistakable—sense of too much time spent indoors, coupled with too little physical movement?
Call it cabin fever or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or self-imposed solitary confinement, but there’s something inside you telling you that it’s time to get off that couch and bestir yourself!
On the other hand, after a winter (or maybe a lifetime) as a couch potato, perhaps you’re not quite ready to strap on your running shoes or take the plunge into high-energy aerobics.
Marjorie Huebner might have an answer for you. Huebner, an experienced teacher of the Rosen Method of low-impact, high-comfort body movement, is offering a weekly class in St. Anthony Park. And everyone is welcome.
“Your body shape, fitness level, experience doesn’t matter,” she said. “We’re not all wearing Lycra, and we welcome all shapes and sizes.”
Founded by a Nazi-era German refugee who had studied with a colleague of Carl Jung, the Rosen Method is based on movements and breathing exercises drawn from physical therapy combined with psychological insights into spiritual needs.
“It’s physical therapy in reverse,” Huebner said, meaning the method is intended to forestall physical decline, rather than repair the ravages of injury. It allows the individual to “age gracefully, keep joints mobile and open, so that the body is prepared for bigger and fuller movement.”
She added, “Posture, attitude and beliefs are ways that our bodies reflect how we have literally shaped ourselves due to our life circumstances, she added. The Rosen Method asks, can we do things differently now?”
Huebner stressed her classes “are not psychotherapy,” but they do offer a chance to achieve “being aware in your body. The body changes when we bring awareness to it.”
Touch is an important part of the Rosen Movement, and “music makes it fun,” said Huebner, who carefully selects the musical background music for her classes from sources that range from 1970s legends like Buffy Ste. Marie and Phoebe Snow to modern ethnic and country music. “We do partner work (in ways that create) gentle and joyful connections.”
Huebner’s thinks her classes are ideal for seniors, she said. “Morning classes (like mine) are a good way to start the day… Sometimes yoga is too intense for older bodies.”
Beyond the physical, Huebner said her classes address the lack of human touch and loneliness that some people face. “So many people say they are lonely,” says Huebner. “This is an antidote.”
It’s the sense of community that makes her classes unique, Huebner said, noting that some of her students in original classes in Minneapolis have been coming for decades.
“Students sing “Happy Birthday” to each other, and they go out together after classes for coffee. … Somehow, moving together has given us more and more of a connection with each other.”
At least one of her students agrees that Huebner’s class is unique. “Unlike a lot of exercise classes, this one is fun and pleasant,” said St. Anthony Park resident Kyoko Katayama, 72. “I go to the class to work on my joints, and every single joint gets gently moved in her class… [W]e work in a circle, which radically breaks with the [face-the-front-of-the room and/or instructor] format of regular exercise classes. And Marjorie has an amazing selection of music!”
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Huebner’s Movement Class for Health and Wellness meets from 9 to 10:15 a.m. Friday mornings at St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ, 2129 Commonwealth Ave. Classes cost $15 per session; drop-ins are welcome. For more information, email Huebner at marjorie@marjoriehuebner.com or visit her website www.marjoriehuebner.com.
