Body Awareness
Alternating courses all around your body awareness:
Dance improvisation, life drawing, meditation and contact improvisation (each one as a course)
- to increase your body awareness, mindfulness and body positivity!
Current Course
Unfortunately there is no body awareness course taking place at the moment.
Previous courses
Yoga meets Adolf Koch: Transitions into free movement - a movement workshop
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 31.05.2023 – 12.07.2023 (Block course, 5 events, not on 14.06. & 21.06.)
with Andreas, certified yoga teacher (BDY/EYU)
Course language: German
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:"Yoga is freedom", says a commentary on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra - but how do I get from the strictly guided yoga exercise to free expression in movement?
At the heart of yoga is the effort to harmoniously connect the body, breath and mind while practicing. This holistic approach meets the claim of "organic gymnastics" from Adolf Koch's life-reforming physical culture school. She wanted to do "inspired bodywork" and lead the practitioners to "renewal of the body and soul" - today we would say: empowering. No concrete methodical exercise instructions have survived from Adolf Koch, but he has described his exercise principles in various works. This includes the alignment of the exercises to the needs and abilities of the respective body, as it is individually made (form follows function), the free expression of inner movement through playful external movements of the body, breathing rhythms instead of technical beats, as well as joy and fun moving (“We romp a lot, we like to romp”) – and of course being naked together as a social event (“Nude – be honest”*).
In the movement workshop "Yoga meets Adolf Koch" we want to experiment with yoga and the cooking recipes with relish and joy. From yoga we know mainly static positions (asana) and guided transitions in several steps (vinyasa). How can they be expanded with regard to the exercise principles of Adolf Koch's body school? For example through free, spontaneous and dynamic movements such as swinging and falling, shaking and vibrating, dancing and jumping? On 6 evenings we explore and research our movement and expression potential by starting with guided yoga and looking for transitions into free movement.
Adolf Koch (1897-1970), the founder of our association, was not only a committed social democrat and social reformer, but also an outstanding practitioner and teacher of nudism in the context of the life reform movement in the 1920s. He ran his "School for Physical Culture" in Berlin-Neukölln until the 1950s. This resulted in 1951 in the "Adolf Koch eV Family Sports Club". At its peak, Adolf Koch's institute operated 13 gymnastics schools throughout Germany and was instrumental in popularizing the nude sports movement.
*Quotes from Adolf Koch (1929): Nudity, Physical Culture and Education. Ernst Oldenburg Verlag, Leipzig.
Level: No prior knowledge required – please let the instructor (Andreas) know about any physical complaints or limitations before the start of the lesson, and we will then find individually appropriate forms of exercise
Please bring along: A yoga mat, a blanket, something to drink. We move barefoot or in non-slip socks.
Contact: bodyawareness@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
dance integration
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 12.04.2023 – 03.05.2023
Block course (4 events)
with Eva Papadopoulos
Course language: English
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:"I can't dance", "My body isn't flexible", "I should have started earlier"
This four week course is about dispelling such notions and bringing a sense of freedom back into the body by exploring movement patterns and getting into functional movement.
With music, principles from the Feldenkrais technique and yoga, fixed movements and improvisations we will move in space, connecting with our dancing body as well as with others.
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Please bring: A yoga mat, a blanket, something to drink. We move barefoot or in non-slip socks.
Contact: bodyawareness@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
dance integration
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 7.12.2022 – 21.12.2022
Block course (8 events)
with Eva Papadopoulos
Course language: English
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:Moving slowly is an invitation for all to come and discover what it means to find the natural flow in movement.
We will spend time slowly exploring our joints and how they relate to each other.
We'll start with the hip and explore its connection to the legs, examining the relationship of the sit bones to the torso, the relationship of the head to the shoulders, and the tailbone to the pelvis.
We will release tension, find freedom in the body and begin to understand our movement patterns.
Each class ends with a short movement sequence to bring what you've learned into the room.
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Please bring: A yoga mat, a blanket, something to drink. We move barefoot or in non-slip socks.
Contact: bodyawareness@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
The Integrated Body
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 11.05.2022 – 15.06.2022
Block course (6 events)
with Eva Papadopoulos
Course language: English
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:Have you ever watched a baby learn to move?
What are the foundations of movement in a human being?
How important is it for these foundations to be properly integrated?
What happens when they are not?
How to relearn the basic movement patterns as an adult and find that physical freedom?
In our course we dive into the 4 basic movement principles according to Irmgard Bartenieff. In the sessions we will briefly try out each principle and experience it with the help of improvisations and short, choreographed sequences in space.
The course is open to everyone!
Please bring: something to drink, possibly a large towel and possibly shower utensils. We move barefoot or in non-slip socks.
Contact: bodyawareness@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
Life drawing
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 08.12.2021 – 26.01.2022
, block course (6 sessions)
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:For beginners and advanced in life drawing. You can decide whether you want to draw, stand model or try both in exchange. In any case, we are all naked! Some basics of drawing, anatomy, perception of the human figure and proportions will be explained in the beginning.
Please bring along: Drawing material (drawing paper A4 or A3, drawing pad, soft pencils, eraser or plasticine) and a towel.
Contact: aktzeichnen@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
Meditation and Contact Improvisation
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 10.11.2021 – 24.11.2021, Block course (3 events)
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:With our naked body as a starting point, we explore our mind and body through meditation and contact improvisation.
We usually start with a guided meditation to put ourselfs in a state of mindfulness. Then, we come into contact with space and people around us by getting in motion with the methods of contact improvisation. Through closeness and distance, weight and lightness, as well as hardness and softness, we stand in relation to ourselves, the space and the others. Accompanied by music, small solos, duets and group improvisations can arise.
Please bring along: Something to drink and possibly shower utensils.
Contact: tanzen@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
Solo jazz
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 15.09.2021 – 27.10.2021
, block course (6 sessions)
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:Swing back to life!
Rolling back to the wild 20's we move full of joy with cool solo moves to swing and jazz music! In each session we learn a few new moves that can be combined with previous ones. Over time we will build up a repertoire that guarantees to make you look good on any (swing) dance floor.
The course is open to everyone and you can join at any time. It can be taught in German and English.
Please bring: something to drink, a towel and shower utensils. You are welcome to dance in shoes!
Contact: bodyawareness@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
Dance Improvisation
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 29.04.2020 – 11.06.2020, block course (8 sessions)
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:We dance naked. We move individually out of the moment following the impulses of the body, ideas, images or music.
After the first course gave us a more general picture of dance improvisation, we will now focus more on the elements flow, impuls, tempo and space. Join at any time! After a warm-up, we engage in individual, partner, and group exercises and close the session with free improvisation and relaxation.
The aim of the course is to discover possibilities and limitations of body movements and to find new ways to move in order to enrich one's own dancing. We reflect what we noticed and saw during the session. The dance instructions can be given in English as well.
Please bring along: something to drink, a bigger towel and possibly shower utensils. We dance barefoot or in non-slip socks.
Contact: tanzen@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
Former courses
Taiji
When? Wednesday, 20:00 - 21:30
from 21.08.2019 – 25.09.2019, block course (5 sessions)
Where? Familienzentrum Mehringdamm 114, Gymnastiksaal (Room 305)
Please ring the lower door bell.
Free for members. For guests 5€.
Details:Taiji (also Tai Chi) is for everybody, there are no special requirements. We will work with imagination and physical coordination. We don't need a yoga mat - just ourselves :) For practise you would usually wear light, thin-soled sports shoes, non-slip socks, or just go barefoot.
Taiji (as an internal martial art) combines aspects of martial arts, meditation and chinese health concepts. It's all about connecting those three aspects by assuming simple postures and slowly flowing sequences of postures. We will begin with a few basic exercises (Qigong and silk reeling) and then start learning our first Yang-style Taiji movements.
These postures and movements can be practised either in a simple way, or -depending on your individual ability- will let you discover ever more complex levels in that same posture.
Our goals in practising Taiji are to develop an awareness of our body, to practise mindfulness, to counteract everyday stress through mental and physical relaxation, to strengthen our body's self-healing powers and to improve our general posture and even everyday movements.
Please bring along: Possibly something to drink and possibly shower utensils.
Contact: taiji@adolf-koch.de (Maik)
