“Can you tell me why a spiral design seems omnipresent in our natural world and the universe?” writes in a curious reader to the popular science magazine Discover.
Across the board, it seems the swirls, curls, whorls and whirls of natural patterns arise from varying physical principles, and the bottom line answer is, “we don’t really know.”
The GYROTONIC® Expansion System for exercise is built upon such a realization of the powerful universal dynamic and mystery of spirals in the human body and movement. We may not always fully understand every function and interrelationship in a complex movement, but we do know that practicing in tune with the natural organic body works — for performance, recovery, and for general well-being.
The artful, elite equipment was designed by the system’s creator Juliu Horvath in the 1980s as he guided New York City dancers in a curriculum originally named “Yoga for Dancers”, based on his self-realization of universal energy through his physical practices.
Decades later, GYROTONIC® today is practiced in over 50 countries with numerous specialty applications, lauded by celebrities and healthcare professionals alike. It is not only the design of the weighted traction and customizable circular pathways that succeeds with clients — it is in the design of a curriculum that coaches proprioception, sensory feedback, multidimensional awareness, and rhythmic breathing that engages with a person’s ability to self-adjust in totality, reinforcing dynamic stabilization and breaking through compensatory habits.
Taking root words from the Greek “gyros,” meaning “rounded” referring to a circle or spiral, and “-tonic”, indicating that which “invigorates, restores, refreshes,” the GYROTONIC® method is for both the athlete or for the office worker for postural and restorative health.
It is also an inherently accommodating system — as a trainer, the oldest person I saw regularly practicing on GYROTONIC® equipment was then 94 years old. Muscular contractions were not the goal as much as supporting holistic, flowing movements in space, a delight to witness of health in motion.
In my over two decades with dance training as an adult and almost 8 years with the GYROTONIC® system, the particular advantage I see in training with the intention towards circularity is really about embracing the nervous system for how it reacts instinctively and being able to build new neural pathways through sequenced motor control guided by feeling. For many people, they may want to push through physical limitations in ways that emulate how they can push through mental activities at work, but such uniform stress can inhibit receiving sensory feedback and limit learning. It also leaves very little space for the power of the imagination to influence the body beyond one’s expectations and to create an expansively positive experience.
What can seem daunting at first becomes a comfort — “I don’t really know what I’m doing!” is often said by clients in the initial approach. And just like at the highest levels of science, that might itself be the point — that we know that we don’t know, and yet, we keep observing, engaging, and in our actions curiously asking why, letting our body steady the way.
Learn more about it here: https://youtu.be/xhWzxX7Ejog
Melinda Lee, GYROTONIC Instructor