About Continuum

Emilie Conrad
Founder of Continuum Movement

Continuum was developed by a visionary named Emilie Conrad. She was a dancer who was reaching for something beyond a perfect performance. Her desire to feel open, safe, connected and alive took her into realms of discovery through movement that live outside the boundaries of cultural norms. Initially, the voodoo traditions of Haiti opened her to an understanding that was common to most indigenous people; know the primal energies of life by becoming one with them.

Emilie Conrad
Founder of Continuum Movement

For 38 years I was inspired by her passionate dedication to something both obvious and hidden in plain sight: Life is one continuum of forms arising and dissolving. From the oceanic to the embryonic to the planetary to the galactic, water is the connector, the messenger, the essential medium of a vast and primordial intelligence. Our body is an interwoven participant in this orchestration. Its wisdom for health and healing is available to us within a silent language of sensations and movement. When we bring our awareness to these cues and give full rein to the impulses that emerge, our organism will reach for new ranges of expression that free patterns of inertia. These inhibitions to the flow of life are due to past injuries, survival compensations, habitual patterns of perception and function, and over identification with the roles that we play in life.

I have called her work a philosophy in motion because an experiential perspective of existential meaning develops from this practice. It becomes obvious that it is human arrogance to believe that we are masters of our own making, clawing for dominion and control over an inanimate universe. Once we become quiet and willing to listen to the intimacy of the breathing of our heart’s desire, we notice that we inhabit a vast sea of intelligence. Willingly I become part of a mystery that informs me beyond the confines of rational thought.

The explorations of Continuum expand on the repertoire of movement and awareness beyond the functional habits of daily living. Usually it is not long before our animal body expresses its pleasure at being let ‘off leash’ as we bid the impulses for more complexity and fluidity. Ranges of motion span from micro-movements to exuberant elongations to gentle spirals and slow, cloud-like shifts of shape. As our container finds freedom from traditional restrictions, breathing immediately re-regulates and tissues become more permeable and responsive. Ultimately the intrinsic rhythms of breath, heart, and fluid exchanges are more potent than hyper-vigilant mechanisms trying to control our environment. My body is not longer made up of distant mechanical parts threatening to break down and heading for certain decrepitude.

As one becomes more proficient at honing this form of observation and participation, the benefits quickly melt man-made barriers that separate body from spiritual practice, from mental clarity, from emotional presence and self acceptance. Usually it is not long before pleasure, a delicate, seemingly cellular form of pleasure, becomes the healer. This is available to anyone; young, old, handicapped or dying. And the class atmosphere that honors each individual’s unique pacing and expression is its own social healing.

Classes teach principles and values that foster this ongoing inquiry. We use scientific information, imagination, poetic license, sounding. demonstration of movement, and awareness of breathing as the teacher. Each class includes times of unguided explorations of the modalities presented that day. These explorations are book-ended with periods of rest and comparative observation of the sensations that were present before and the changes that occurred after each round of discovery. Participants bring verbal descriptions of their experience back to the group if moved to share. In this way we are all self taught and collectively informed. Private sessions are also available.

In time, this meditative practice integrates into other moments of rest and relaxation as well as into other modes of creativity and play. No equipment is necessary. One need not even get out of bed. The self-empowerment of being able to bring oneself out of stress and tension and back to connected well-being is priceless. It is our birthright to have this sense of belonging to an ongoing universal process not bound by time, space, or condition. When humans know this together, a kindness and appreciation of inter-being intelligence creates a field of resonance while strengthening our self-referential individuality.

Gael offers classes and retreats that teach the principles, techniques, and values that foster this ongoing inquiry. Private sessions are also available.

More Info About: Local Classes on Vashon Island
More Info About: International Continuum Retreats