Aims, Goals, and Objectives

The aims, goals, and objectives of the Foundation for Movement Intelligence are:
• To popularize Bones for Life® and its adjunct programs — Walk for Life, Mindful Eating, and Bones for Life with Chairs — disseminating their principles and engaging the interest of the public and the media through classes, trainings, conferences, advertising, signature events, and other promotional activities
• To increase recognition of instructors of Bones for Life® and Ruthy Alon’s other Movement Intelligence [MI] modalities by promoting their teaching as a visible and viable profession
• To oversee the preparation and certification of successive generations of MI Teachers, Trainers, and Specialists
and ensure continued communication and support
• To provide and promote vehicles for internal communication and discussion among the Movement Intelligence professional community
• To form affiliations and alliances with educational and academic institutions
• To develop opportunities that underscore the efficacy of these programs through objective scientific research
• To sponsor and underwrite educational outreach to underserved populations
• To grow and channel our base of volunteer, donor, grantee, contributor and collaborator efforts
 

Founder’s Statement

“What excites me about Bones for Life® is the alchemy of people transforming their compromises into hope, and trusting themselves to restore their own well-being. “I am especially moved by everyday people, not just those who are at the height of success and winning life’s race, but those with hardships who have forgotten their right to feel good about themselves. “I would like to see the Bones for Life® program growing popular, offering an intelligent culture of movement and perception that takes life beyond the blindness which deals with fear and limitation through aggression, rather than by learning how to gain strength and dignity through a new, well-organized, and naturally meant way of moving.”     — Ruthy Alon

Background

The Foundation for Movement Intelligence was formed in February 2007 as a Maine nonprofit organization.
Our fundamental focus is to foster public awareness of alternative approaches to osteoporosis prevention and reversal, specifically as presented in an exercise program created by Ruthy Alon called “Bones for Life.”

It is well established that weight-bearing and impact exercises are conducive to strengthening bone tissue,
but, due to the sedentary nature of modern society, not much is widely known about proper body mechanics
for withstanding increased forces. If not carried out safely and intelligently, activity to increase bone strength, rather than helping osteoporotic conditions, can actually lead to further skeletal damage and deterioration.

In answer to this state of affairs, the 90 processes in the Bones for Life® program effectively comprise a training in optimal human biomechanics, teaching, as a precondition to adding weight, natural and ergonomically precise ways of sitting, standing, walking, falling, reaching, etc., i.e. the “best practices” of human posture and locomotion. Challenging bone-building activity is not engaged in until the skeletal frame is first securely organized into a resilient and reliable weight-bearing structure.

In the mid-1990s Ms. Alon began developing the Bones for Life® program, for which she carefully deciphered the details of movement patterns of indigenous cultures [including squatting, climbing, running, jumping, and carrying loads on their heads] and then synthesized these patterns into a sophisticated, yet readily assimilated, experiential program in the activities of daily living. In the Bones for Life® program, though weight is added only after one’s body is properly aligned, and then only in relatively small increments, pilot studies conducted several years ago showed significant increases in BMD (bone mineral density) among trainees after only four months of participation in Bones for Life® classes. We would not be surprised to find that less detectable positive changes in bone tissue quality occured concomitantly, as a result of this program’s functionally restorative activities.

In sum, Ms. Alon’s approach is gradual, safe, and gentle — and hence applicable to a broad range of people who are concerned about avoiding injury while improving the quality of their lives. We thus feel that Bones for Life® deserves greater attention, and it is our mission to make the principles and practices of Ms. Alon’s work more recognized by, and more widely available to, the general public.
 

FMI ° 145 Newbury Street ° Portland, ME ° 04101