It's a Friendly Machine 

That’s what Mary Susan reassuringly says when anyone seems intimidated by the GYROTONIC® machine in the studio.

And Mary Susan should know. If you read my earlier blog post introducing Mary Susan, you’re aware of how much GYROTONIC® has meant to her recovery. As she worked on opening her body, her throat, her back and her heart, she was able to relax and let go — not only physically but also mentally! She was amazed at how healing GYROTONIC® was for her emotionally.

Mary Susan believes that the pent-up emotions and stress we carry locked up inside us can manifest as pain in our physical bodies. Opening up her physical body also opened up feelings that she had held deep inside, freeing her to reach her full potential. As she began to feel better, Mary Susan decided she wanted to be a GYROTONIC® trainer and bring this healing to others! Because of her injury, however, her training had to proceed much, much slower. Instead of the usual six days of intense training to become a trainer, Mary Susan’s teacher took much more time — three months, in fact!

That slower pace has shaped how Mary Susan teaches now. As she told me, her style is more therapeutic, concentrating on gently moving your body in the right direction. She says, “Our bodies are like little babies; they don’t know how to speak to us in anything other than screams and cries. You know, like 'I’m hungry. I’m in pain. I’m tired.' But our brains are not that way." Brains try to rationalize every detail. So, she treads the fine line of connecting our bodies to our brains and allowing them to communicate as one.

Through GYROTONIC®, Mary Susan has learned — and strives to teach — that even though our body may be in pain, we can learn to place it in the correct position and move without fear. We can learn to listen to our bodies because our bodies want to move! “Our bodies are mobile, but we live in a static society,” she told me. GYROTONIC® reminds the body to do what it was made to do — move.

Mary Susan will often use the example of the blind. They seem to sway and move much more constantly than the sighted, who become societally pressured to remain still. We can learn from that. We would certainly be in much less pain if we regularly moved. But, unfortunately, in our daily environments, we are most definitely discouraged from sitting on the floor or stretching.

A GYROTONIC® session with Mary Susan gives us a dedicated time to move. It gives us permission to implement her mantra: “The skeleton informs muscular movement,” (rather than the other way around). If you allow the muscles to guide the skeleton (working from the outside-in), the movement is superficial. But, if you work from the inside-out, allowing the skeleton to guide the muscles, the movement becomes expansive. And this is the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® , after all!

Body Aligned is so happy to have Mary Susan with us. Allow her to use her experience and philosophy to help you gain the physical and emotional freedom to become your best self.

To make it easy for you, we are offering your first session at a reduced price of $45. Click here for more information and to book your session. No matter your level of fitness, the GYROTONIC® method can be customized to your needs.

If you’d like to see more of the movements used in the GYROTONIC® method, watch this video provided by the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® .

GYROTONIC®, GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® AND GYROKINESIS® are registered trademarks of Gyrotonic Sales Corp and are used with their permission.