Picture thisa woman in a red bodysuit, back arched on a narrow perch. A bar holds the base of her neck, a seat holds the small of her back as her body, well-toned, flexible with full musculature, secures itself onto the perch. Her left leg, straight and taut, is held high off the ground by powerful back and thigh muscles. Her hair, thick and dark, swoops towards the floor, revealing a strong, firm neck. Nothing in the pose, skin or face belies her age. She is 69.

Meet Emilie Conrad, the woman with the Ageless Body. Founder of the Continuum Movement, Emilie has been tapping into the bodys wisdom since her early years. Even as a child, she had a strong intuition that life was imbued with a unifying spirit. A fortuitous visit to Haiti confirmed her intuition; enchanted by the undulating movements of the Haitian prayer rituals, she sensed its power to connect the human body to a primal fluid rhythm. She saw the earth speaking through the feet of the prayer ritual dancers.

Haiti was an epiphany for Emilie Conrad; it showed her the vast discrepancy between western culture and the thick, aqueous, molasses culture that has its roots in Africa. Western culture abhors the body, says Conrad. Body wisdom is ignored in favor of more repetitive, mechanical and dissociated movement that is characteristic not only of our western concept of fitness, but also of the boxed-in, 9-5 routines of our society. The body in the western world is controlled, bound to an agenda.

This goes against the innate wisdom of the body. The body is fluid, organic, insists Conrad. What she calls a body is movement, a dance of cells, molecules and interpenetrating wave motions. Our body is a fluid system--we are basically fluid beings who have arrived on landmoving water existing on earthwith all its transformative properties carried within. Our land life, however, places constraints on our development; the fluid embryo sprouts bone; our vertebrae harden and we forget our primal, oceanic identity.

At Continuum, body movement is fluid, simulating the primal memories that are stored deep in our cells. There is no overriding pattern to be sustained, just the momentum that comes from breath, sound, movement and sensation. Movements are designed specifically to enhance the undulating spirals and circularity of a fluid body, a fluid system, a fluid field. Movements are designed to help us understand our bodies as moving intelligence.

What happens to the body when it participates in fluid movement?

It becomes relaxed and realigned; its core strength and flexible power are increased; its innovation and sense of deep play is enhanced. It begins to trust its body wisdom and it becomes ageless, says Conrad.

Whether they are 35 or 85, people who practice Continuum movements appear younger. The fluid movement in Continuum classes addresses the loss of resonance in the connective tissues of the body. Stiffness in joints and loss of bone density are due to a decrease in fluid resonance. Repetitive movement and years of living in gravity have turned our bodies into closed systems; as we age, we become less fluid, more boxed in. But with the un-patterned, spontaneous, primal movement of Continuum, our bodies can reclaim the primal energy and life force that is our birthright.

Recently, Emilie Conrad has also extended the use of Continuum movement in the treatment of connective tissue disease and spinal cord injuries.

If there is any one who is an example of the ageless bodyit is Emilie Conrad. The picture on the upper left is Emilie Conrad at age 69. She is now 72, and still agile, vital and fluid as ever.

Copyright 2006 Mary Desaulniers