A different pathway to wellness
Progress from healing to moving better and remembering to play, so that you can live a better life.
Science tells us the world is connected, yet to understand the whole we must study the parts. Somatic movement therapy integrates education, touch, talk, and movement. These synergistically work to inform our choices on how we create and experience our world; our wholeness as the total sum of all our parts.
How do the sensations of our bodies affect our emotions? How do our thoughts and beliefs affect our bodies? How does moving better create more ease in life? Is flexibility a state of body, mind, or both? Through practicing inquiries like these we begin to tap the wisdom of the body, connect wholly to who we are, in order to embody optimal health and well-being.
There are so many factors to consider when designing a pathway to wellness that it can be overwhelming…
The Smart Body Way was created in response to the need of a system of holistic movement classes that emphasize body/mind (or somatic) education.
Designed with four distinct entry points (heal, move, play, live), ALL entry points are meant to be visited because on different days we need different movement.
Melinda Teutschel
Outdoor Group Class
Melinda Teutschel created The Smart Body to integrate somatic technologies into the preexisting movement modalities of dance, Pilates, yoga, and fitness.
The goal of The Smart Body is to teach you how to connect with your body’s wisdom, so that you become the expert on the how what, when, and why of your movement and exercise life.
Meet the founder,
Melinda Teutschel
In 1992, while attending the Conservatory of Music at the University of Oregon, Melinda discovered modern dance, Bodymind Centering, Laban/Bartenief Movement Analysis, and Contact Improvisation. While embracing a change from music to dance, she was also recovering from a back injury. This was when the power of hands-on bodywork and the Pilates method was added into an already potent combination of healing modalities, which enabled her to fully move on from pain.
These experiences became the blueprint for her future; thus began her passion for the world of Somatics.
In 2004 Melinda created The Smart Body™, as she felt the need for holistic movement classes that emphasize body/mind (or somatic) education. Melinda’s distinctive and diverse training is centered on learning how to apply holistic body-mind principles to support the transformational process of embodying optimal health and well-being. Through The Smart Body™, located in Lafayette, east of San Francisco, Melinda joyfully works with a wide range of people recovering from illness, trauma and abuse, injury, childbirth, and orthopedic challenges. Through integrating many somatic and body-mind modalities, she empowers her students with the body skills to make their own smart choices in well-being, movement, and life.
Certifications
Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist (ISMETA)
Dynamic Embodiment Practitioner
Certified Pilates Instructor (PMA-CPT)
Certified Massage Therapist and Somatic Educator
Yoga, Yoga Tune-Up™, Moving For Life, BodyMind Dancing, Franklin Method®, and Holistic Life Coaching
Connect wholly. Discover the Smart Body Way
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