ORIGIN OF ROSEN METHOD

Marion Rosen, (formerly Rosenfeld) is founder of the Rosen Method: Rosen Method Bodywork & Rosen Method Movement.

Marion RosenBorn in 1914 of Jewish origin in Germany, Marion was trained by Lucy Heyer, a student of Elsa Gindler. Gindler was known as the “grandmother” of many of today’s somatic practices and was a well-known pioneer of massage, breath work and relaxation in Europe at the time.  Lucy Heyer, was the wife of a psychoanalyst who studied under Carl Jung. The Heyers were part of a group of professionals practicing massage, breathwork and relaxation, in conjunction with psychoanalysis, as practiced by C.G. Jung and others. Marion Rosen and Lucy Heyer worked on their clients receiving psychoanalysis. Marion soon learned the benefits of breathwork and greatly reduced patients’ treatment time with a combination of bodywork and psychotherapy.

Having escaped from Germany, Marion, arrived in San Francisco in 1938. She graduated from the Mayo Clinic in Physiotherapy in 1944. In 1999, she was acknowledged as an Elder Pioneer in the Somatics Movement by the International Somatics Congress, California.

Rosen Method Bodywork and Movement grew out of Marion’s personal observation of working with clients as a physiotherapist.  Both treatments “concentrate on a process of relaxation whereby people allow themselves to release held muscles in their bodies. Relaxation is used as a gateway to awareness”.  Marion discovered that through her gentle touch, together with the use of attuned words, and dialogue, clients relaxed, and felt safe to share memories and feelings which they had forgotten, or previously had to suppress. Getting in contact with these aspects of themselves often led to a more rapid, complete recovery. Healthy people also came to her to get to know themselves better, who wanted more out of their lives, and to open to greater possibilities for themselves.

In 1956, Marion started her movement classes and in 1970, she began teaching her work to others giving workshops and intensives, both in the USA and Europe. She was continually fascinated by the mystery of the mind-body relationship. Marion remained actively involved in teaching and guiding students up until shortly before she passed away in 2012, at the age of 98. Today, Rosen Method training centres can be found as far apart as the United States, Scandinavia, Russia and Australia.