Marion Rosen passed away on Wednesday at the age of 97. She was still seeing clients a few months beforehand. Marion’s work is revolutionary. She calls on us to listen to our own inner authority rather than relying on what society tells us, or our partners, or our teachers, or our religions. She demonstrates a simple sitting with the self and being with what is as being enough.
I began studying her work in 1999 and received my Rosen Method Practitioner license in 2003. It has provided a foundation for all the other modalities that have come into my toolbox since. Rosen Method is not another tool, or modality, it is a way of being.I distinctly remember the first session I had with Marion. I became aware of my breath in a way I had never even known possible. (this is after numerous silent retreats, a strong meditation practice, and a year and a half pilgrimage to India). I couldn’t believe the power of someones hands to invoke such a state, and I couldn’t believe it could actually be possible to learn such a thing.
Last year, during a session with Marion she contacted my rhomboids and remarked on how held they are. ”What does it mean?”, I asked her, the way a child would ask for the same story over and over, ”they are the reaching out muscles.” I had heard her say this so many times and said this to my own clients frequently. ”Reaching out for what?” I asked her. ”for what you want” she answered. Then it all let go – with the permission to let myself reach for what I really want. Even though I already knew in my head what the rhomboids represented; it was the combination of her hands, her voice, her compassion and her embodied way of being that touched me so deeply.
I don’t think I could describe with words what her work has meant for me. It has helped me to let go of that which I no longer feel is right for me and reach for what I really want. It has allowed me to stand up for what I know to be true, even when others tells me differently. It has lead to a life where I have lived my passions, my dreams, and learnt once again to trust my own intuition.
Marion Rosen has shown me how to let myself breathe and let the soft animal that is myself be present with whatever is there and to be authentic with myself.
No matter which modality I am practicing in my clinic I feel at a core level I am practicing Rosen Method. The way she taught me to contact another human being, wether with words or hands, is present constantly. It is tantric. It’s about embracing what is there in the moment fully and that being the answer in and of itself.
This is an excerpt of what I wrote about Rosen Method in 2003:
Rosen method body work training impressed upon me the value of being fluid rather than rigid when we are in the place of not knowing. This enables us to listen inwardly to the silence, which helps us become aware of who we really are. The mystical nature of the practitioner witnessing clients in a Rosen method body work context expands and deepens our experience of listening as we contact the inner being. Rosen touch helps us become present to deep feelings and makes us able to reveal our true selves in our daily expression. As we eventually experience the ups and downs of life so fully that we become aware of a deeper presence, a “beingness” that is not touched by the drama of everyday life, a rich perspective emerges.
Rosen Method body work does not directly teach a philosophy. It is a way of the heart rather than the head, and is unique to each individual. For me, this is one of its most profound and magical aspects. As the influence of Rosen grows, I believe it will profoundly affect our communities and the world at large. As each of us accepts and acknowledges our own truth, we open up that possibility to others. This ability to live in our own truth and make intimate contact with another being is an experience of love that is fundamental to the great spiritual revolution currently sweeping our planet.
“Through listening to the truth of the body, it is possible to discover what we can do, who we can be, what we can experience, how we can love.” –Marion Rosen
