A Comox Valley resident is teaching a movement method called Gyrokinesis that benefits the entire body by opening energy pathways, stimulating the nervous system, and increasing range of motion and strength.
“It’s like physiotherapy for the whole body,” Rebecca Halls said. “It’s not, ‘No Pain, No Gain,’ it’s more like respect your body, and move within your body’s limits, and gently open your body up.
“It’s basically an exercise method designed to help people do whatever they like to do,” she added. “I like to help people feel good in their bodies.”
With participants seated in a chair, Halls begins a session with exercises to open the chest, lungs and shoulders, followed by a series of spinal motions. She then has students switch to a mat, and finishes with exercises in a standing position.
Gyrokinesis was originally called yoga for dancers before expanding to become accessible for all ages and abilities.
It draws in elements of martial arts, with a focus on the energetic centre.
“It really is motion-based,” said Halls, noting the discipline is ideal for golfers, or hockey or tennis players. “Throughout the class, you are moving from the beginning to the end, but in a very gentle and circular way.”
Halls grew up in the Valley, moved to Europe at 18, and lived in various corners of the world. She returned to Canada to study dance at Concordia University in Montreal, where she started a dance career. She then moved to Berlin, where she danced and performed for four years, and where she discovered Gyrokinesis and Gyrotonic methods. She later worked in Los Angeles — where she became certified in Gyrokinesis — and most recently in Paris.
At present, she is a fourth-year student of osteopathy in a five-year program.
Halls offers weekly classes on Saturdays, 10 a.m. at Aligned Movement Studios in Courtenay; Mondays, 6:15 p.m. at Cumberland Movement Connection; and Wednesdays, 3 p.m. at Broken Squirrel Wellness in Courtenay. The latter is also available on Zoom.
“I also teach teachers,” said Halls, who is offering a preliminary teacher training program in February.
Visit her website at rebecca-halls.com
Contact Halls at hello@rebecca-halls.com
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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