Somatic Movement Offerings
We live inside a body that is constantly in motion
From the tiniest movement at the cellular level to the largest whole body action, you are constantly moving, and for the most part without even noticing. If you want to insure the healthy longevity of your body’s vitality it is necesarry to be in it with awareness of and attunement to it’s movement life.
A world of health, vitality and pleasure await you.
My classes and individual sessions help you to cultivate awareness and attunement to the body for optimal well being. I offer learning opportunities at three levels: for those new to movement, those who have experience and want to deepen their foundation, and for movement-dance-fitness-yoga teachers who want to enhance their teaching.
Individual sessions in Somatic Embodiment are available for those who want a more individualized focus. This is an opportunity to focus on your individual development with my full attunement to your uniquely specific needs. It is a great learning and growth opportunity that can bring new awareness, integration and dramatic improvement to what ever movement activity you are involved with as well as other aspects of your life.
The benefits are multidemensional extending to ones physicality, psychology and spirituality at a very deep level. The understanding that is gained from my approach to Somatic Embodiment lasts a lifetime and can be applied to any area of life.
The physical benefits:
Strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, fluidity, ease, increase in ability to learn sports, dance, yoga asana, martial arts or any other movement arts more easily, less prone to injury, enhanced ability to heal from injury and disease quickly, increased capacity for pleasure, and vital aliveness.
The psychological benefits:
Gain confidence, authenticity, freedom of expression, creativity, playfulness, and emotional and empathetic congruency as you get more deeply in touch with yourself energetically becoming more aligned in your mind/body connection.
The spiritual benefits:
Evolve your consciousness as you come into direct connection with the vastness inside yourself which is the same vastness that is all around you – the vast intellegence of all that is, the source of consciousness. Increase your sense of connection and belonging with the whole of humanity and the life of the planet.
Read more about my approach here.
Course and Session Offerings
Flowing From Within
Somatic Embodiment/Conscious Movement Basics
This is an intro class to Somatic Embodiment and Movement Consciousness. This class is for you if you are new to the inner world of the body or feel stiff, awkward, and out of touch with your body for whatever reason, and want to free yourself up and reclaim your natural flow, fluidity and ease of being in the body.
In this class I will be guiding you through movement explorations that will help you to get in touch with your body and build a loving body/mind connection. You will have an experience of letting go of your identification with the mental realm of thoughts so that you can enjoy the language of the vast nonverbal realm of the body’s consciousnes from the inside out.
We will we use specific movements and guided free form movement explorations to increase awareness of breath, sensation, energy and movement. We will also be using group and partner exercises to explore awareness of the nonverbal realm in regards to relatedness to others.
Your new balanced mind/body consciousness will create a more aware, intelligent and loving relationship with yourself, greater ease of being in relationship with others, increased freedom of movement, expression, and a relaxed and aware presence.
The Living Anatomy of Movement
An Owners Manual of the Body in Motion
The Living Anatomy of Movement is designed to help you cultivate an in depth somatically embodied understanding of the body in motion in it’s most effective coordination and aligned movement patterns. This course is based on the comprehensive understanding of the language of human movement from the perspective of Laban Movement Studies and Bartenieff Movement Fundamentals.
You will cultivate a fundamentally embodied understanding of the nature of how the breath, energy flow, spatial awareness, and inner connectedness between the body parts relate to how your body most effectively moves. It applies to and benefits every aspect of your life – work, play, sports, yoga, dance, fitness, martial arts or any other activity.
I call this class “An Owners Manual” because the body is your home, your vehicle and your means of communication and expression. Why not learn “how” it works optimally? My mission is to help you become the master of “how” you move your body, because “How” you move your body is the most important factor in longevity and success of your movement life. The success and benefits of “what” movements you do depends on the “how”. This class is about developing an intelligent “how”.
The Living Anatomy of Movement is for anyone who wants to get more deeply in touch with themsleves and move with more refinement, skill, grace and youthful vitality. It is especially suited to people who already have some kind of a personal involvement with dance, sports, yoga and the like, or whose work involves full body motion, who know there is a deeper more self connected way to approach physical activities and are ready to find out how.
It is also for you if you want to change patterns of injury and stress and create more ease of movement, greater coordination, optimal balance, increased range of motion, strength, personal meaning, want to take more responsibilty for your physical well being, and be able to be responsive to your unique needs. People of any age benefit form this learning. If you are younger you build a solid foundation from which you can cultivate sustainabiliy and longevity. If you are older, you can access your full body fluidity and reclaim your youthful vitality and reverse the affects of aging.
You can read more about Laban and Bartenieff here.
Dance Improvisation
(Solo / Contact / Group)
Dance Improvisation is the art of free form expression through movement. Most of us know instinctively how to dance, yet we are bound by the limited movement vocabulary of our habitual style. This class will expand your movement vocabulary so that you can experience the joy of limitless creativity in motion. You will learn how to improvise from the foundational principles that give you access to deep levels of connection to your body moving, altered body/mind states that help to free up your creativity in motion, and limitless possibilites for meaningful self expression.
Contact Dance Improvisation is the art form of improvisational dance with a partner. It involves the same principles necessary for Solo Dance Improvisation and extends these to shared movement with a partner or group and often includes specific ways of sharing touch through the flow, weight and momentum of the body moving. Learning Contact Dance Improvisation is an exhilirating dive into the power of shared dancing, the multidimensional realm of off vertical movement and the vast nonverbal realm of expression and interpersonal communication./
Group Improvisation is about developing the capacity to improvise with the group of people that you are dancing with. Most of us find ourselves dancing in groups, yet we don’t know how to relate to the group at large and often sequester ourselves inside of our solo dance which can be rich but also isolating. Of course there is an important place in a group dance experience for soloing, and, it is also important to be able to relate to the larger whole so that we can develop fluidity between being with ourselves and relating to the group. This is not only a metaphor for life in general but it is an essential skill in being able to enjoy and benefit from dancing in community with others.
In these classes I guide you in learning the skills of Solo, Contact and Group Dance Improvisation because they are each one an intrinsic part of the whole of being. Whether in a dance or in any other aspect of life we are constantly moving between our individual solo, our partnering, and moving out into the group. Developing skill and fluidity between these aspects of interrelatedness is essential in expanding ones life and dancing creativity.
Rising, Falling, Flying
Learn the Art of Level Change without getting hurt. In this class you will learn how to soften your body into its natural spiral sequencing for moving into the floor, rising up out of the floor, and moving through space with fluidity, ease and safety. These are essential skills for Contact Dance Improvisation, enhancing your movement vocabulary and cultivating movement intelligence.
Rolling, Drapping, Relaxing
Learn how to masterfully use large and small exercise balls for deep relaxation, body balancing and cultivating internal fluidity.
Advanced Teaching Skills
This is an advanced version of the Living Anatomy of Movement for movement instructors from any discipline. Become a more effective masterful teacher by refining your understanding of the internal connectivity of the body, optimal efficient sequencing, and spatial dynamics for balance and coordination. Learn to more effectively give verbal instruction so that your words speak directly to the body/mind, creating ease and clarity for your students in following your guidance. Hone and align your physical and energetic presence so that you more accurately model what you are teaching and create a more powerful body/mind consciousness in the class room.