As a child psychiatrist, Judith Kestenberg (1910-1999) wanted to support positive parent-child interactions. She recognized the importance of movement as a means of communication during infancy and early childhood.
She was also aware that nonverbal clashes could occur between the movement patterns of parent and child. To facilitate healthy movement interactions and build a foundation of empathy and trust, Kestenberg came up with the notion of nonverbal attunement.
Attunement is the blending or adapting of one’s own preferred movement rhythms to those of another person. Attunement allows the parent and infant to converse in harmony. And learning to attune allows the adult to practice flexing his or her movement style without necessarily altering habitual ways of being and moving in the world.
When we consider pattern, change, and movement, they seem to exist on a continuum – from rhythms of temporary duration to patterns of more steady and ongoing duration. But if Bergson was right, however long or short the duration, constant change is here to stay!