Mitzvah Technique

Most of us live with a certain amount of pain in our bodies and assume that it’s normal. Do you?

My bodily experience was certainly one of discomfort, and the reason behind my search for body therapy/alignment of posture/loosening—I had heard all of these terms in my research. But whatever the name, I needed help. I needed some fundamental knowledge to explain the so-called ‘normal’ pain I experienced on a daily basis. I also wanted to cure the general puzzlement surrounding my posture. Throughout my life various dance teachers and music teachers had tried in vain to correct my posture:”Stand up straight. Back straight. Pelvis tucked. Hands to the side. Feet together. Neck back. Back! Tuck the pelvis. Tuck it! Now relax and sing. Now dance.” Sing? Dance? I could barely breathe!

Then I was introduced to the Mitzvah Technique.

What Is The Mitzvah Technique?

‘Mitzvah’ is a Hebrew word meaning a good deed or blessing. And that’s exactly what the technique allows you to do—care for your body and in doing so, offer it a blessing. In turn you make yourself available to bless others, creating a beautiful positive cycle of wellness.

The Mitzvah Philosophy is not easily summarized, but you can think about it this way: throughout our lives most of us experience a positioning and holding of the body in a restrictive way, all the while believing we are holding to the principles of “good posture.” But good posture is not static. In fact, the body was made for movement. And the dynamic relationship of all its parts in movement through time and space requires freedom of the body to realign itself at any given moment. Holding faulty patterns of use eventually define our physical limitations and interfere with the natural functioning of the body.

What Are The Benefits of Mitzvah?

• The Mitzvah Technique enhances quality of performance, health and well being through analysis of the body in motion.
• It examines how postural misuse interferes with the Mitzvah Principle, which ultimately seeks an easy interplay between the pelvis and spine, which then frees the neck and enables the body to release tension naturally.
• It defends the body by correcting destructive patterns of body use and realigning the neuromuscular and skeletal system with the force of gravity. An upward ripple of movement is triggered from the pelvis causing the spine to lengthen, the back to widen, the chest to expand, and the head to rebalance itself on top of its spinal support.

A Case Study

My first session, which basically resembled a full-body massage, was at the age of 13. I can’t say I left that day feeling cured or instantly freed, but I felt inspired. The promise of a painless body drove me to continue, particularly after discovering that my aches and pains weren’t so mysterious. I learned that I had hereditary conditions called Scoliosis and Kyphosis. Thank you, genetics!

I started following a set of exercises and going to sessions once a month. Like any healing process, the pain became more acute before softening. And it took time. So much time! But as I have come to realize, enduring changes in the body do take time.

The change was worth it.

The release in my body brought many transformations—the most obvious change being the gradual elimination of my aches and pains. Scoliosis and Kyphosis no longer had to be terms I associated with my body. Not to mention, I began singing in tune! Yes, postural alignment affects the singing voice.

But the biggest change was and still is the comfort I now feel in my body. I still do the exercises and have sessions once in a while, but for the most part, I can heal myself by myself. I know my body. I know how to listen to my body and respond to my body with the exercises it needs to stay free. This kind of knowledge is empowering.

Marie-Claire Marcotte gained her Mitzvah knowledge from experienced Mitzvah practitioner, Amelia Itcush, a pioneer of modern dance in Canada, and one of the founding members and principle dancers with Toronto Dance Theatre.