Elsa Gindler (19 June 1885 – 8 January 1961) was a somatic bodywork pioneer in Germany.
Born in Berlin, teacher of gymnastik, student of Hedwig Kallmeyer (who, in turn, had been a student of Genevieve Stebbins).[1][2]
From her personal experience of recovering from tuberculosis (it is said by concentrating on breathing only with her healthy lung and resting the diseased lung), Gindler originated a school of movement education, in close collaboration with Heinrich Jacoby.[3]
What Gindler had called Arbeit am Menschen (work on the human being) emphasised self-observation and growing understanding of one's individual physically related condition. Simple actions such as sitting, standing, and walking were explored, as well as other everyday movements.
This became one of the bases of body psychotherapy since many of the most influential body psychotherapists studied with her or "Sensory Awareness" with Charlotte Selver at the Esalen Institute around 1962.
During the Nazi-period of Germany, Gindler used these investigations and experimental exercises with her students to covertly help people who were persecuted by the regime.[3]
^Mullan, Kelly Jean (2017-09-01). "Somatics herstories: Tracing Elsa Gindler's educational antecedents Hade Kallmeyer and Genevieve Stebbins". Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices. 9 (2): 159–178. doi:10.1386/jdsp.9.2.159_1. ISSN 1757-1871.
^Kelly Mullan (2016) "Harmonic Gymnastics and Somatics: A Genealogy of Ideas". Currents: Journal of Body-Mind Centering. https://www.academia.edu/32938188/Harmonic_Gymnastics_and_Somatics Archived 2019-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
^ abKnaster, Mirka (1996). Discovering the Body's Wisdom: A Comprehensive Guide to More Than Fifty Mind-Body Practices. Bantam. pp. 226–8. ISBN 978-0-307-57550-0.
ElsaGindler (19 June 1885 – 8 January 1961) was a somatic bodywork pioneer in Germany. Born in Berlin, teacher of gymnastik, student of Hedwig Kallmeyer...
approaches are based on either Reich or ElsaGindler. Gindler's vision preceded Reich's and greatly influenced him. Gindler's direct link to the United States...
developing sensitivity and awareness. His collaboration with his colleague ElsaGindler (1885–1961), whom he met in 1924 in Berlin, played a great role in his...
of Stebbins's many followers returned to Europe; one of these trained ElsaGindler, who is recognized as one of the earliest somatic innovators. Many further...
Esalen and other venues today. In the 1920s, Charlotte Selver encountered ElsaGindler in Berlin, who together with the students in her courses, researched...
Rosen's physical therapy practice and work with Lucy Heyer, a student of ElsaGindler. Under Rosen's guidance in 1980, the Rosen Institute (RI) was formed...
at the orphanage to grow up without the usual institutional damage. ElsaGindler and Henry Jacoby found in the 1920s that it was essential to understand...
- Geuter, U.; Heller, M. C.; Weaver, J. O. (2010). "Reflections on ElsaGindler and her influence on Wilhelm Reich and body psychotherapy". Body, Movement...
he began a serious relationship in May 1932 with Elsa Lindenberg, a dancer and pupil of ElsaGindler. He was living with Lindenberg in Germany when Hitler...
Gerda Alexander referred to personalities as Rudolf Laban, Mary Wigman, ElsaGindler, Heinrich Jacoby, Bess Mensendieck, Loheland school (Louise Langgaard...
practice, and ecopsychology. Authentic Movement, in a similar way to ElsaGindler's 'Human Work' in concentration, has revealingly comparable elements to...
doctor. In 1918 he married Lucie Grote, a masseuse, dancer and student of ElsaGindler. Heyer and his wife pioneered together a combined physical and psychological...
student of ElsaGindler, who is considered to be an originator of somatic practices that utilize the breath, the body and awareness. Gindler, Rosen and...
and Carola Speads, (both students of German body-reeducation pioneer ElsaGindler), Jean Erdman, Janet Collins, and at the Martha Graham School. In 1962...
1017/S0149767720000327 Kelly Jean Mullan. "Somatics herstories: Tracing ElsaGindler's educational antecedents Hade Kallmeyer and Genevieve Stebbins". Journal...
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