Movement class is good medicine for the mind and body

When teaching movement as medicine, Mari Mahinay tells class members there is no time like the present. Literally.

“That is the basis of movement as medicine,” she said. “It encourages people to be present in the moment and be aware of their body.”

Mahinay is a nurse practitioner at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center. She trained in movement therapy at the Institute of Body Psychotherapy in Switzerland. She teaches a movement as medicine group from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on Mondays at the Center. The group offers a body-centered way of dealing with anxiety and stress. The process helps participants become more aware of their body and emotions.

“A lot of the work done here at the Center is talk therapy, which is good,” Mahinay said. “But movement as medicine is body based and integrates talk therapy work by allowing your body and your senses to inform you about what is going on internally, in the moment, where healing and change can occur.”

The group was introduced in January. The class is available for clients in Community Support Services and the Adult Outpatient Program (AOP) at Bert Nash. Case managers and therapists can make referrals to the group.

“Mari is volunteering her time to do this,” said Amy Warren, AOP team leader. “It’s a great way for us to move into integrated care and provide our clients an opportunity to start moving.”

Clients, who may have been skeptical or insecure about the class when they started, are sold on it.

“I was really nervous about coming to this group,” a client said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but now I look forward to it. I keep discovering something new about my body. I am learning to accept where I am at.”

“I enjoy the movement group so much. I worry a lot about my weight and it is difficult for me to find a place I feel comfortable, but here I am able to work through that,” another client said. “Mari just moves so beautifully.” 

The movement class facilitates body awareness and emotional centeredness, which is different for each person.

“People have full permission to move in whatever way they want to move, or not move, or move what they can,” Mahinay said.

Regardless of a person’s strength or conditioning, the idea is for people to do what they can.

“Class members follow Mari’s lead, but there is no right or wrong way,” said Catherine Butel, a clinical case manager who assists Mahinay with the movement class. “Wherever a person is at physically, anyone can do this. Even if you have to sit down in a chair, you can do that and still move.”

For Butel, who like clients is a first-timer to the practice of movement as medicine, the class has been a learning experience.

“It’s such an exploring process,” Butel said. “I’ve had a great time with it.” Which is the whole idea. The class is intended to be both fun and therapeutic.

“Enjoyment itself is medicine,” Mahinay said. “Just being in the joy of the moment is pure medicine.”