I invite you to create BraveSpace for yourselves and others over the next month.  I have created a private facebook group to connect us in an experiment of embodied authenticity and vulnerability.  I’ll be working with a group of courageous souls here in Boise to break down the constituent elements, principles, and purpose of BraveSpace.  Over this month I’d like to share with you what we’re doing and invite you into this individual and communal experiment. 

We are social beings, constantly monitoring ourselves to stay within social norms.  This benefits us in creating a relatively orderly society.  It also maintains power structures that don’t necessarily serve our individual or collective well-being.  We perform these social roles in our bodies:  I remember when I first consciously stopped slouching 23 years ago how much I had to grapple with a sense that sitting up tall represented a social status I didn’t feel.  Sitting up actually felt egotistical, yet my slouching was of no benefit to anyone. 

Our ability to engage with our bodies’ intrinsic sensitivity and intelligence can be a revolutionary act.  Through somatic attunement we can circumnavigate power structures that otherwise dominate our bodies and consciousness without our consent.  We can perceive choices and opportunities we would otherwise miss.  To move freely is courageous, and when we’re willing to play in the pleasures and discomforts of moving with feeling we create Brave Space for ourselves.  When we do so vulnerably and generously—allowing ourselves to be seen in our freedom without controlling others—then the Brave Space we hold expands beyond our selves.  Our actions can only be generous when they do not constrict or act upon others who cannot or have not offered their consent.  

The short of it:  Dance for others, and do not insist that they watch you.  

Click here to join the private facebook group. 

I choose to be here.

Here in this body.

Here on this planet.

Here in this discomfort, ecstasy, agony, and love.

I choose to be here because then I’m available for Joy.

I choose to stand bravely and vulnerably for Joy.

I choose Joy as my spirit guide.

I am the practice of choosing.

Does this resonate for you?

Lets practice together:

The Holding Brave Space Seminar starts next Saturday for six embodied leaders ready to explore how discomfort and Joy might depend on each other. 

I’m honored to be teaching at EmbodyFest, a dance retreat/micro-festival at a hot springs resort center in Mexico, Nov. 29th-Dec 5th.  Mention that I referred you to get $50 off your ticket.

I’ll be teaching in Southern California Nov 17-19:

  Ecstatic Dance San Diego on Friday Nov. 15th

  SomaWorks Connect: BraveSpace in Santa Monica Saturday Nov. 16th

  Ecstatic Dance Los Angeles on Sunday Nov. 17th

For Boise Events Please Click Here, and text DANCE to 2089850331 to be on the text list.

Brave Spaces are inclusive and authentic, built with respect for difference.  Charged with intention and possibility, Brave Spaces encourage improvisation and vulnerability.  To be ‘brave’ means being ‘ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage’.  

As we open we will inevitably face fears, traumas, and insecurities, both in ourselves and others.  As we interact we will encounter power dynamics and assumptions. It’s what happens next that matters most:  By encouraging mindful reflection without shaming, Brave Spaces hold us accountable for our actions and attitudes so that we can see ourselves and grow.  When we leave a brave space the world feels wider than when we came in.

Embodied activities such as ecstatic dances, movement classes, and bodywork are especially brave because our bodies are inherently irrational.  It’s delightfully freeing that movement gets us out of our heads.  And, it is brave to move and be moved because often we don’t know and can’t know exactly what we’ll do next.  We are revealed, naked in our authenticity.  To stay ourselves while moving with others we must be resilient in the face of judgement—particularly our own.

The Holding Brave Space seminar will examine the elements that go into creating Brave Spaces for yourself and for others. 

Ecstatic Dances and Movement Therapy oppose each other on an intriguing axis.

On the ecstatic end of the axis there’s…ecstasy.

On the therapeutic end there’s a motivating pain—a problem asking to be addressed.

Indeed, each of these situations exist:  

I work with clients with whom I resolve dysfunction, and dancers with whom I share ecstatic experiences.

The converse is also true:  

There are often ecstatic moments in therapy and pained dances/dancers.  

So what exactly is the axis?

I consider it to be Somatics—a discipline I see as Moving to Feel.

Move and be moved.

You don’t need to be ecstatic to do ecstatic dance.  

You don’t have to be in pain to benefit from movement therapy.

Improvisation is wonder medicine.

How do you improvise?

I improvise my way.

I wonder:  What’s next?

If I don’t freeze something happens.  I observe myself in action.

If I don’t get lost in judgement I don’t freeze.

What are you wondering?

When are you judging?

What’s so obvious?

I invite you take a minute to let your body improvise.  Let it wonder.

If you have another minute I’d love to hear your reflections.

Consent represents our connection agreements.  

In negotiating consent we navigate power differentials, differences in personal needs and desires, and the overlap in our timing.  

We humans desire and depend on many forms of connection with each other.

People and experiences will come toward us that we can choose to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to.  

If we reposition ourselves in time and space we’ll have different opportunities.

Beyond choosing between ‘yes’ and ‘no’, we can follow curiosity by moving our bodies to shift our relationships with others.

Would you like to explore this more?

I’d like to propose an Embodied Consent resource and research group.  

My intention is to further our understanding, facilitation, and communication around consent from a somatic viewpoint.

My call to you is to join in the sharing through zoom videoconferencing and a google group, or to join an email list of people who want to stay informed about what comes up.  

Email me if you feel called!