Bridge Years and Grade 7 Eurythmy - Soul Gestures

In the middle years, also known as the bridge years, 5th-8th, we find the Kingdom of the Animals. The reason it is called the bridge years, is because it is a time when the children are “building a bridge,” so to speak, between their feeling-life and their thinking-life. So there is a lot going on at this time. They experience the 12-year-old change, which brings chemical and hormonal changes in the body, which in turn, brings LOADS of emotions with it! And these emotions rise to the surface to be expressed. During the bridge years, I teach them how to do this with grace.

There are a lot of feelings happening during these Bridge Years! The children are growing and changing and trying to understand where these instincts are coming from and what to do about them, just like the instincts of the animal kingdom. The first two years of the bridge years they are trying to understand what they are feeling. We use eurythmy to help them feel and express into their feeling-life. And the second two years, they are trying to learn how to harness these wonderful new powers they have been given through their instincts.

What better way to do that than with the expression of soup gestures! In seventh grade, we work with and try to understand feelings of the soul. Not just a simple emotion, no! We did that in the younger years. I am talking about more complicated expressions, like for instance, love. Sounds simple, right? But is love simple? It has so many layers and complexities that we work hard to dive deep into what it means to love someone or something. We love when we find something/one that speaks to our hearts and fits in with our values and beliefs. But we can also love that thing/person when we are frustrated, mad, or angry… enter the complexities of love. So when you love something, yes, it is a simple action, but by no means is it a simple emotion. So taking a deep dive into the soul gestures help us to be able to find the full spectrum expression of love. We put it on, we allow it to become us. We are now love.

We do this with many of the soul gestures: beauty, grace, strength, wisdom, all of which are deep and complex. We put each on and become them. But there is also a fun side to these soul gestures. We also work with Merriment, Alarm, and Disappointment. We use them and become them in a fun way!
In the zoom class, we create a story together as a class. It can be as dramatic, funny, or scary as the class wants it to be. We play a game so that everyone can contribute and no one really knows where the story is going. As each child adds a line, it allows them to express what they are feeling. You never know what twist or turn the next person will give to the story. And by the end, we have a fun, outrageous story to which we can add these soul gestures. Adding the soul gesture allows us to really dive into the feeling of the story, as well as express what the character is feeling so others can witness and feel it along with them. This is always a fun, end-of-block activity that we do, and the kids really enjoy it! What better way to express our feeling life in a fun and humorous way, while also keeping the seriousness of it through our poem and movement in our recorded videos.

By the end of my time with them, the children will have experienced a wide range of soul expressions that they can use and call on at any given moment. Have you ever had a friend tell you something, maybe it’s something sad, and you just couldn’t find the right thing to say to them? Well, with the practice of soul gestures, these children will know how to handle that situation. They will know the right thing to do when that friend comes to them. Words have their purpose, but actions/gestures speak much louder and express the exact, correct response, much more than any words ever could. And isn’t it nice when you know exactly what to do? It all starts with understanding the complexity of the emotion, then being able to share in that moment with that friend. Soul gestures are an amazing study and I’m so glad I get to go on this adventure with these seventh graders at Seasons of Seven!

Eurhythmy Teacher, Ms. Tiffany C.

Learn more about our program and watch samples HERE.