Continuum Movement, founded in 1967 by Emilie Conrad, is an innovative approach to movement education. After spending many years in Haiti as a choreographer and lead dancer in a folklore dance company, Emilie returned to New York City with the awareness of how deeply culture influences movement. Continuum Movement recognizes that our bodies are an important avenue to our wholeness. Our cultural emphasis on thinking has dwarfed our awareness of bodily intelligence. We have not fully realized what our bodies, as biological systems, can offer the exploration of human potential.

Continuum Movement recognizes a profound relationship between the human body and the underlying matrix of the universe. We know that our bodies are affected by the rhythms of the earth and seasons, by light and darkness and temperature changes. We are in a constant dialogue with our environment, continually making physiologic adjustments. We often remain unaware of these biological processes as they are happening. Our attention may recognize this through a yawn, stomach rumbling, goose bumps, or a shiver, but there are thousands of organic changes taking place. We are constantly generating and inventing ourselves.

In Continuum Movement, we make a distinction between functional movement and organic movement. Functional movement assists us in our daily tasks to ensure our survival. Underneath our personal and cultural identities, there is a life full of creativity and aliveness. Continuum Movement focuses on this organic health and vitality. Our heart is pumping, we’re digesting, breathing, moving lymph, and eliminating toxins – it is all movement. In this sense, we can see movement is not only something that we do, but what we are. We are a process of movement, not a finished product

A fundamental aspect of Continuum Movement is the belief that we can contact and participate with the inherent intelligence of the creative source through our own biology. We come into rapport with this wisdom through the creative use of sound, breath and subtle movements. When we interrupt habitual ways of breathing and moving, we can begin to dissolve structural tendencies and old ways of thinking. Once we’re in a less conditioned state, our movements often take on intuitive, improvisational tones as we learn to follow the cues inspired from our internal impulses.

Our consciousness serves as a partner to the intelligence that flows in our bodies. There is a marriage between our capacity to use our mind and the more primitive, instinctual responses of our body. Unlike many other movement forms, Continuum Movement offers an approach where the form unfolds itself moment to moment, shaping each person’s individual expression. These experiences can be transcendent and transformational.

Most of us have a rich inner life composed primarily of dialogue, characters and sub-personalities. We can develop an internal environment that is awash in textures and tones of sensation. Continuum Movement cultivates a meditative awareness of our personal landscape. As the rough waters of our internal chatter subside, our participation with ourselves deepens. We can begin to hear the messages that are delivered through our bodies more distinctly.

A Continuum Movement class might use sound to enhance the natural undulation of an organ, or initiate a spiral movement by following the gentle curve of a rib. Joining with the subtle rhythms of cranial bones and noticing the sensations brought about by making specific sounds can lead participants into uncharted territory. When our habitual stances have relaxed, our bodies often reorganize to a healthier state.

Participants have noticed increased mobility and fluidity, decreased pain, new movement in the body, clarity of thinking, insights, less stress, more emotional ease, and feeling profound levels of connection both within and to our planet.

After years of exploring the subtle world of intrinsic movement, Emilie discovered that a healthy body responds quickly to changing circumstances. A body that is adaptable and mutable has a better chance for survival. Derived from this insight, Emilie Conrad’s Jungle Gym Workout was born.

Using the principle sounds and breaths of Continuum Movement, Emilie incorporated the world of fitness. Jungle Gym is a dynamic, revolutionary workout that engages the entire body, emphasizing non-linear, non-repetitive movement. It is a lively, sensuous workout.

Emilie believes that the mechanical repetition of most exercises makes the body rigid and over-patterned, leading to increased likelihood of injury and decreased possibilities for movement. Unlike workouts where participants do the same thing over and over, Jungle Gym breaks the boundaries of habitual patterns. Conventional workouts often develop isolated, one-dimensional strength; Jungle Gym cultivates resilience, flexibility, and multi-dimensional core strength.