Faye's Mabel Todd Notes

Notes on Mabel Todd
from her biography written by Pamela Matt on ideokinesis.com

Years: 1880-1956
Hometown: Syracuse, New York

Childhood: As a child, she suffered from a severe illness that weakened her kidneys and threatened her with lifelong invalidism. She recovered from the illness and began developing a keen interest in science.

Beginnings of bodywork: Todd had a bad fall that immobilized her for months. She finally took control of her rehab. She used her knowledge of physics and applied that to movement mechanics. She gathered more information about the anatomy and kinesiology and allowed that information to infiltrate her practice of simple movements. She gradually improved her posture and movement.

Voice and posture: At Emerson College of Oratory on Boston where she enrolled as a college student, she discovered the relationship between voice and posture. A weak and unstable voice came concurrently with problems in posture and coordination. At the start of WW1, she began teaching with techniques from her rehab and voice methods and called the practice “Natural Posture.”

Development of teaching method: People working in makeshift factories for the war efforts needed help restoring their bodies from the harsh conditions. Todd taught them to use their bodies in more efficient ways and to break the habit of a “military posture.” She impressed many doctors in the area who sent patients to her. Her clientele grew and she began training her students to be teaching assistants. This process clarified her teaching method.

A class with Todd: She would present a picture of a skeleton or an anatomy chart that suggested good posture. An image will be offered to assist the student in achieving good posture. Voluntary muscular response to the image was discouraged. The student would be instructed to maintain that image while practicing simple movement patterns like walking or crawling.

Connection with Columbia University: Dr. Jesse Feiring Williams, who was head of the Department of Physical Education, invited Todd to earn a Bachelor of Science degree for a portion of classes usually required. Williams had been challenging the dualistic notion that the body was separated into two opposed parts: the material body and the immaterial mind. He developed a progressive and holistic curriculum that “promoted movement as a ‘laboratory’ for learning in all the subject areas as well as enhancing social responsibility and moral values.” Todd graduated from Columbia in 1927 and immediately began lecturing at the college.

Publication of The Thinking Body, a Study of the Balancing Forces of Dynamic Man: In 1937, Todd published this seminal work to “promote an understanding of body alignment as a function of mechanical principles.” Recognition from this publication helped sustain her studio classrooms for a while. By the late 40s, a new generation of the NYC medical establishment challenged her approach and threatened to sue her. Todd lacked the energy and funds to defend herself so she agreed to stop working in NY.

Publication of The Hidden You in 1953: Todd moved to California and developed her book The Hidden You in Los Angeles. She expanded on ideas from The Thinking Body to include psychological and spiritual connections to posture and movement. It seemed natural to her that “the process of exploring dynamic body balance would eventually inform all dimensions of one being.”

Her legacy: Todd died in 1956 in California. Her students dispersed after that. Lulu Sweigard organized and scientifically verified Todd’s method, while Barbara Clark developed accessible educational manuals for the general public.