Kay Ortmans, Founder (1907-1998) |
Why do we usually wait until we have a crisis of some kind before we make sufficient effort to find the balance within ourselves? Many reasons and excuses are made, we haven't the money or opportunity, but underneath there is usually a feeling of not knowing exactly where to begin. The simple way is sometimes overlooked because it is not properly understood. Often,sharing in an integrated creative program is all that is needed. Let me explain a little further.
As the result of physical discomfort in the form of constant headaches, backaches, rheumatism,neuritis and severe nervous tension in the solar plexus and chest, I sought help, only to find that the usual therapy gave me just temporary relief and, after a short period, the same symptoms appeared again and again. So I had to go deeper to find the cause. I was aware psychologically that our reactions to events and circumstances are the determining factors in our lives, and not the events and circumstances themselves, so there seemed no alternative but to go on seeking within myself for the answers. I knew that the awareness of the body's tensions was important, but what I discovered while in the process of freeing them, with and without the help of music,was a revelation. Not only did my health improve amazingly but I uncovered many unsuspected gifts. Each day too some facet of awareness came to the surface for my understanding and acceptance.
From these experiences came the Well-Springs program. At our center in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California, people come to share in an experience based on a principle we call Relax and Rebound, by which we mean relaxing to the point of the light rebound which occurs when tension is let go and energy is released. We begin the program with a series of movements to free the circulation and build an inner awareness of tension and the feeling of
"letting go". We follow this with a deeper relaxation in which we rest and turn our attention to each part of the body in turn, gently persuading it to "let go" until we feel an inner emptiness and light expectancy. This is the point at which we usually experience the "rebound" which then carries us into creative expression.
Verbal communication has ceased now and we put on recorded music, being careful to use only the finest of both music and equipment, for this is extremely important when we are relaxed and open. When the time comes that we feel ready to "move out", we free the body still more by walking or swaying or dancing, then taking colored chalks or clay, let them create out of them-
selves. We do not try to make anything consciously and we are not concerned that it is beautiful or good. We want only to see what is waiting in us to be expressed. Many of our "doodles," as we call them for want of a better name, are beautiful, but what is important is to recognize what they are saying to us.
It is a simple process and we do it with a light touch, but from it come many discoveries and we find that many conflicts are resolved as we recognize the opposites coming together.
We find also that it is a lifetime process and that, as we continue to practice it, it demands more and more of us. It is from my own adventures with it and from questions I have put to myself in the silence that these notes have been written. I am sharing them in the hope they may be helpful to others with similar interests and concerns.
Well-Springs, Ben Lomond, CA
July 29, 1967
As the result of physical discomfort in the form of constant headaches, backaches, rheumatism,neuritis and severe nervous tension in the solar plexus and chest, I sought help, only to find that the usual therapy gave me just temporary relief and, after a short period, the same symptoms appeared again and again. So I had to go deeper to find the cause. I was aware psychologically that our reactions to events and circumstances are the determining factors in our lives, and not the events and circumstances themselves, so there seemed no alternative but to go on seeking within myself for the answers. I knew that the awareness of the body's tensions was important, but what I discovered while in the process of freeing them, with and without the help of music,was a revelation. Not only did my health improve amazingly but I uncovered many unsuspected gifts. Each day too some facet of awareness came to the surface for my understanding and acceptance.
From these experiences came the Well-Springs program. At our center in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Northern California, people come to share in an experience based on a principle we call Relax and Rebound, by which we mean relaxing to the point of the light rebound which occurs when tension is let go and energy is released. We begin the program with a series of movements to free the circulation and build an inner awareness of tension and the feeling of
"letting go". We follow this with a deeper relaxation in which we rest and turn our attention to each part of the body in turn, gently persuading it to "let go" until we feel an inner emptiness and light expectancy. This is the point at which we usually experience the "rebound" which then carries us into creative expression.
Verbal communication has ceased now and we put on recorded music, being careful to use only the finest of both music and equipment, for this is extremely important when we are relaxed and open. When the time comes that we feel ready to "move out", we free the body still more by walking or swaying or dancing, then taking colored chalks or clay, let them create out of them-
selves. We do not try to make anything consciously and we are not concerned that it is beautiful or good. We want only to see what is waiting in us to be expressed. Many of our "doodles," as we call them for want of a better name, are beautiful, but what is important is to recognize what they are saying to us.
It is a simple process and we do it with a light touch, but from it come many discoveries and we find that many conflicts are resolved as we recognize the opposites coming together.
We find also that it is a lifetime process and that, as we continue to practice it, it demands more and more of us. It is from my own adventures with it and from questions I have put to myself in the silence that these notes have been written. I am sharing them in the hope they may be helpful to others with similar interests and concerns.
Well-Springs, Ben Lomond, CA
July 29, 1967
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Kay Ortmans-Pawley, founder-director of Well-Springs Foundation, an internationally-known
innovator in the field of spiritual development through relaxation, movement to music
and creative activities.
She received her training at the Royal Academy of Music and the Dalcroze School of
Eurhythmics in London, and the Rudolf Steiner School of Gymnastics in Loheland, Germany.
She taught at the National Teacher Training Colleges in England, the University of British
Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University.
Her two radio programs for children, "Let's Play" and "It's in the Air," for which she composed
and played the music and wrote and narrated the scripts, was broadcast for three years over
CBC. She received a Canadian National Radio award from the Association for Holistic Health in
recognition of her work.
Well-Springs has cassette tapes, CD's and currently a series of videotapes presenting the
Well-Springs Program and the Alignment Process. Children's cassettes are also available
for creative and dance movement to her piano improvisations.
Kay Ortmans-Pawley, founder-director of Well-Springs Foundation, an internationally-known
innovator in the field of spiritual development through relaxation, movement to music
and creative activities.
She received her training at the Royal Academy of Music and the Dalcroze School of
Eurhythmics in London, and the Rudolf Steiner School of Gymnastics in Loheland, Germany.
She taught at the National Teacher Training Colleges in England, the University of British
Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University.
Her two radio programs for children, "Let's Play" and "It's in the Air," for which she composed
and played the music and wrote and narrated the scripts, was broadcast for three years over
CBC. She received a Canadian National Radio award from the Association for Holistic Health in
recognition of her work.
Well-Springs has cassette tapes, CD's and currently a series of videotapes presenting the
Well-Springs Program and the Alignment Process. Children's cassettes are also available
for creative and dance movement to her piano improvisations.