Presence is essential to existence. With a focus on both universal and human themes, Marilyn studies the meaning and importance of presence in the Rosen Method and its practice of bodywork. She presents the Rosen Method, with its special quality of presence attuned to the universe or natural world, as a feminist approach to suffering in that it is a countermeasure to patriarchal notions of duality, domination, and distrust of the body. Through presence, the Rosen practitioner and client together create a relationship which recognizes the intrinsic worth of each, and through which personal change can effect universal change. As a Franciscan Sister of Mary, Marilyn identifies the Rosen Method as a viable ministry because of the congruence of each systems' expression of presence in daily practice.

Master's Thesis, June 1999

Marilyn J. Davis was born in St. Louis, Mo., the oldest of eight children, and attended St. Louis University where she earned a BS/BA in Accounting and an MBA with a major in Finance. She is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary and served as an accountant in their health care system for forty years. Marilyn is currently an intern in The Rosen Method bodywork program.