Working in the 1930s, Marion studied breath and relaxation in Munich, Germany, with Lucy Heyer, who had been trained by Elsa Gindler, a renowned innovator of body therapies. Heyer worked with her husband, Dr. Gustav Heyer, a colleague and former student of Carl Jung. Lucy and Marion did bodywork on patients who then saw Dr. Heyer for psychotherapy. The Heyers found that with the bodywork, the patients could experience their emotions more easily.

Marion had to flee Germany at the beginning of World War II. She came to America in 1940 and settled in Berkeley, California. For many years she worked as a physical therapist, first at Kaiser Medical Center and then in private practice.

The Rosen Method developed over the years that Marion practiced physical therapy. Marion observed that clients who talked about their lives recovered more quickly and did not come back again with the same problems. She watched for the interconnections between the physical posture and the emotional state of the person, and noticed how the body is a living metaphor of a person's inner state.

In the mid-seventies Marion began to teach and draw more specifically on her early training in relaxation and bodywork. As the body/mind renaissance flourished in California, students were drawn to Marion and her gentle, powerful work. Eventually, the Rosen Institute was formed and Rosen Method training centers were established in many countries around the world.

Video Interview Part 1

How the body changes over time, bringing awareness to the body, "armor of the body" (contraction and relaxation), inner knowing, and learning the Rosen technique.

Video Interview Part 2

Rosen's early work in 1930s Munich, connection to Wilhelm Reich, experiences stored in the body, learning about the self, and connections between Rosen method and psychology and psychotherapy

Video Interview Part 3

Patient experiences and progress, connecting the physical body to emotional memory, bringing awareness to emotional pain, and creating a safe space vs. premature diagnosing

Video Interview Part 4

The body and universal truths, disclosure about body work philosophy, the role of bodywork within the context of U.S. health care system

Video Interview Part 5

Traits of Rosen instructors, connections to physical therapy, movement in the approach, managing prejudgments, transformation of practitioners and happiness as innate.