Performance Neurology workshops come to Plumas County
Meg Upton
Sitting down with Kathryn Zimmerman in Dame Shirley Plaza, one gets the feeling that she is a woman on a mission—to share with Plumas County the knowledge she’s obtained from a lifetime of work and inquiry.
She’s opened up Kathryn Zimmerman Studios in downtown Quincy, located in at 511 Main St., (in the offices above the Quincy Thrift and the Downtown Barber).
Zimmerman plans on offering both private lessons and small group workshop intensives in what’s collectively known as Performance Neurology. What’s that you might ask?
It’s the study and practice of improving how the brain functions for better physical performance and well-being. Sports medicine in particular is now interested in the potential of this field. For example, if an athlete keeps having a repetitive injury—pulling a stiff muscle—might it be brain related? Is the athlete repeating a bad habit with their body that is causing the problem?
Zimmerman’s upcoming workshops intensives begin this Sunday with “Walking and Posture” at 1:15 p.m. Other small upcoming classes are “Performing Resonance,” “Refocusing the Artist’s Primary Tool” and “Learning How to Learn.”
“Intensives introduce fundamentals of Performance Neurology via delight-filled learning activities. Performance Neurology coordinates innate physical intelligence with [an] individual’s intellect [to] improve overall attention, skill, and poise,” said Zimmerman.
She’s also offering children’s programs and individual intensives.
Zimmerman uses what’s called the Alexander Technique, which according to the Alexander Technique website is “is a way to feel better, and move in a more relaxed and comfortable way… the way nature intended.” A practitioner, such as Zimmerman, helps a client to identify habits that are harmful to the person’s body (think bad posture or tense muscles from stress) and teaches the person to form new habits and ways to move better.
The Alexander Technique claims to be helpful for those suffering from repetitive strain and stress, backaches, and stiffness, for example.
Zimmerman came to this work through a lifetime of experience, both from using the technique to recover from her own injuries, and as a person with a background in movement, dance, and theatre.
For more information about her workshops Zimmerman can be reached at (515) 451-3377 or [email protected]
