Deeper Dance

 Deeper Dance

In these monthly sessions we will explore through the dance and practice simple tangible tools and somatic skills to access a deeper dance experience. Using the 5Rhythms movement map to deepen into the body's wisdom and natural  intelligence, dancing these skills within the safety of a conciously co-created container enables the integration somatically and them to be available to draw on anytme, on any dance floor, and in daily life. As in life, as in the dance. Dance is the metaphor, it is the space to practice dancing more deeply and living a more fully expressed and creatively fulfilled life. Join us for a deeply nourishing series.

This series will be offered as one off drop in sessions with an arc throughout all five. Every session welcomes all levels of experience and ability.

Embodied Belonging: Weaving of Relationship to Self, Community & Earth

 At the very heart of “belonging” is the word “long.” To be-long to something is to stay with it for the long haul. It is an active choice we make to a relationship, to a place, to our body, to a life because we value it. Even knowing that it may not be all that we hope it to be, we are keeping the long view of what is possible, and our life becomes an offering to making it so. ― Toko-pa Turner, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home

There is an irony in living in a world with so many “things” to pursue and so many of us feeling a deep sense of disconnection and alienation. Our fierce individualism often leaves us separate from our bodies, one another, and the Earth. “Belonging” is always an integral strand in our many deeply woven threads to self, our communities, and the Earth. We long to belong, and we are created for connection. Building places of belonging begins with the self, trickles out to our wider circles, and ultimately connects us to the entire world.

This five-day workshop will dive into the dynamics of separation and belonging across these many dimensions, utilizing a mix of teachings, dialogue, and embodied experiences. We will draw on the richness of ecopsychology and the playfulness of the 5Rhythms® moving meditation, and we’ll engage in restorative time in contemplation in the natural landscape of Esalen. While holding the difficult emotions and realities of our present times, we will nurture curiosity and hone our intuition to evoke a sense of belonging within ourselves, with one another — across our uncomfortable differences — and with all sentient beings.

Participants in this workshop will experience:

5Rhythms moving meditation

Contemplative meditation

Teachings within ecopsychology and ecological and social awareness

Community dialogues

Time in nature

Dreaming and journaling

Participants should be prepared to work with challenging material, to encounter difficult and joyful emotions, to engage in experiential practices, including the 5Rhythms movement meditation, and to play within a respectful, compassionate community. We will investigate the ways in which we form connections with others and our various communities, and we will experience the deep fulfillment that comes from greater connectivity.

Recommended Reading: Returning the Self to Nature: Undoing Our Collective Narcissism and Healing Our Planet by Jeanine M. Canty, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home by Toko-pa Turner, Sweat Your Prayers by Gabrielle Roth