The educator synthesizes the multiple tools of the practices she has been exploring for 40 years now, combining knowledge with instinct and presence. An important factor in teaching the workshop is the alchemy that is created in the group, recognizing and exploring the energy and the material that each participant brings, which makes the lesson unique every time. The environment of trust thus developed within the group allows participants to unlock hidden aspects of themselves and expand their potential, physically and mentally.

Training based on contact with one’s inner movement and the relation to the other reflects what is happening in the moment and frees the individual from prejudices and automatic mechanisms of expression. The guidelines and the open boundaries set in the lab create the conditions for participants to gain greater access to the resources they carry within themselves. Movement that focuses on self-awareness awakens the connection to the senses of each participant. The atmosphere of the lab favors letting go and relaxation, as well as a strengthening of the body.

Following the principle that by intervening less in the action, we gain more energy (doing less is more), participants indulge in their movement with less effort, less unnecessary tensions, greater enjoyment and sense of safety. This results in the body recovering its vital energy, being able to move with more flexibility and express itself unhindered with more vitality. The participants, discovering new ways of support expand the limits of their endurance, they soften their bodies and they gain a sense of their strength. Connecting to their vital energy, moving with more ease, the participants discover open possibilities for self-expression; while improvising, playing and interrelating with the others in the space they come in contact with their choices that reflect their way of being.

In the workshop, a safe space is created for all participants to discover that they can move by recognizing the limitations and difficulties they encounter in their body. They become more accepting and open towards themselves and others. The process enables them to disprove and overcome beliefs and ideas about themselves, to work on stereotypes, the shame and the fear mechanisms that inhibit their desire for physical movement and contact. The resistances and a sense of self-denial deprives us of the fulfillment of our needs towards self-expression and communication. Being in a process of movement exploration, the participants discover tools and pathways that can soften their inner conflicts, bring understanding to themselves and connect with the healing aspect of movement and dance.

Every person can move and dance at any age. Each limitation offers potentially creative knowledge. This happens when the mover relates to his/her physical resistances with awareness and acceptance, without being stuck as he/she engages in conflict with him/herself. The limitation the participant encounters every time in his/her body is transformed into a lever of inspiration, a field of experimentation and discovery, through the play of improvisation as he/she composes in the moment.

The participant trusts the silence and enjoys the musicality of his/her movement, developing listening as a fundamental principle to connect and embody the information received from the environment. He/she listens to the sensory stimuli, impulses and internal pathways that occur in his/her body as he/she moves. The participant, thus, has the opportunity to dance to his/her own music, his/her own pulsation and rhythm that can be coordinated with that of the others. Then, the musical choices proposed in the lab by the educator inspire and create a rich canvas of qualities, without binding and defining personal choices of physical expression.

Movement contains the potential for constant change and transformation, developing in the individual receptivity and a sense of permeability. By following a training framework that supports the kinesthetic experience outside the demands of everyday life, the participant gives him/herself the space to get closer to his/her essence and needs. He/she moves away from the noise of the mind and the emotional confusion, connecting body – mind – psyche, ones finds relief and freedom through the physical experience. The problems of everyday life acquire a different dimension and importance in him/her. They take up less space in his/her being.

Under these conditions, mind-body training becomes an ever-evolving process of self-care and self-expression. Freeing from the barrage of daily life stimuli, the participant prioritizes and experientially illuminates the calls that come unassumingly from his/her body. By following his/her truth, he/she comes into contact with a sense of completeness and leaves the lesson more rested, empowered, with more vitality and faith in him/herself.

An important element at the end of the lab is the verbal sharing of the experiences of each participant. The group circle creates the space where discourse grounds unconscious experiences. Participants name information gained from their experience. They listen to each other with interest, curiosity and respect. By formulating observations and questions, they identify moments that they experienced and left some meaningful inner imprint. The process is completed with a greater sense of clarity and personal integration through this energetic mirroring.

In More Detail

The experiential labs – movement classes increase the perception of body posture and the function of movement, they cultivate knowledge about relaxation and strengthening, suggesting ways to manage stress. By developing kinesthesia, contact with others through interaction, we connect mind-body, self with the environment. Movement stirs the imagination and the emotions; it move us profoundly. By incorporating dance into our lives, we accept the beneficial effects that support us every day.

In the class we create the conditions so that the mind-body rests as the participants initially move slowly on the floor, awakening the body and the senses in a conscious way. We use exercises from Developmental/Evolutionary Movement, movement patterns that connect us with natural human movement from fetal to standing.

Our movement begins with the letting go and our relationship to gravity, our relationship with breathing, our contact with the earth and the support it offers us. We develop sensory movement through exercises that connect us to our inner pulse and the pathways of our inner movement. The process of physical awakening through imagery-based instruction and visualization of body function information, allows the body to soften and release the blocked energy it carries. The mover, exercises by internally activating the muscles and the viscera; his/her body acquires better organization, coordination and functionality. He/she, thus, discovers ways to get out of inactivity and stagnation, helping him/herself physically and mentally. The result is the flow and the authentic self-expression, being effortless and richer in inspiration.

By relaxing and strengthening at the same time, we meet basic needs in multiple levels; we discover spirituality through our physicality, we evolve as humans. Then, everyday life acquires meaning and enjoyment. By helping ourselves, our bodies and what our body reveals to us every moment through movement, we create a quality of life and expression, supported by wellness, knowledge, harmony, creativity, freedom and love.

Gallery: