Overview: “Continuum is an extraordinary awakening to the fullness of what it means to be alive. Continuum is a process by which we can experience the interconnection of our own origins with the larger currents of all organismic life, beginning with the first cell and ultimately layered into the intricacies of human form. Continuum has pioneered and revolutionized the role of somatics in health, education, relationship, physical fitness, creativity and spirituality... Continuum uses movement, the dexterity of breath, the resonance of sound and the value of meaning to amplify and refine this far-reaching communication within ourselves, with others and with our world.”
--excerpt from Continuum Movement
“According to Jean Liedloff, the continuum concept is the idea that in order to achieve optimal physical, mental and emotional development, human beings — especially babies — require the kind of experience to which our species adapted during the long process of our evolution. For an infant, these include such experiences as...
- constant physical contact with his mother (or another familiar caregiver as needed) from birth;
- sleeping in his parents' bed, in constant physical contact, until he leaves of his own volition (often about two years);
- breastfeeding "on cue" — nursing in response to his own body's signals;
- being constantly carried in arms or otherwise in contact with someone, usually his mother, and allowed to observe (or nurse, or sleep) while the person carrying him goes about his or her business — until the infant begins creeping, then crawling on his own impulse, usually at six to eight months;
- having caregivers immediately respond to his signals (squirming, crying, etc.), without judgment, displeasure, or invalidation of his needs, yet showing no undue concern nor making him the constant center of attention;
- sensing (and fulfilling) his elders' expectations that he is innately social and cooperative and has strong self-preservation instincts, and that he is welcome and worthy.”
--excerpt from The Continuum Concept
