Movement Meditation is a container for practicing embodied mindfulness. 

Sitting meditation is a way to practice observing your thoughts and emotions.  Movement meditation can help you find the link between motion and emotion, bringing mindful awareness into your everyday life.  Your body is your home for a lifetime—being radically present in your body can help you address trauma, ‘fixing the holes where the rain gets in.’  Because movement meditation brings mindfulness to our actions so concretely, it can also help you bring mindfulness to your inter-actions—in your partnerships, and with your community.

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Created by Matthew, Somatic Ideation is ‘body-storming’, using movement and awareness as resources for creative thinking and decision making.

When we make decisions it’s easy to ‘get in our heads’ and become anxious.   While much of our contemporary understanding of thought revolves around how our brains function, we are also coming to understand that the brain does not work separately from our bodies.  The HeartMath institute has done excellent research into how even our organs affect our thought processes. Have you ever had the experience of exercising your body and having ideas come to you?  Perhaps a decision you were waffling on became clear?  No problem can be solved by the same level of consciousness that created it—so in turn we enter the consciousness of the body for new solutions.  Bringing embodied mindfulness to the ideative process can literally get you out of your head and put you in touch with your intrinsic embodied intelligence.

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Somatic Movement Therapy is the art and science of honoring your body’s natural intelligence through gentle movement with awareness

Similar to physical therapy in its specificity and physicality, somatic movement therapy is differentiated by its focus on mindful participation.  Motion and emotion and are intimately connected:  I will empower you to feel and participate in your healing so that you can enjoy the process and renew your motivation for self-care.  We all want to be healthier in our bodies.  The intrinsic motivation to act on this desire arises when you can actually feel the difference and enjoy the path that gets you there.  I am a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist through ISMETA, the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association.  My particular Somatic Movement Therapy lineage is as a Certified Laban Movement Analyst (CLMA).

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The basis of Authentic Movement, pioneered by Mary Whitehouse, Joan Chodorow, and Janet Adler, is the differentiation of mover and witness

Unlike performance, however, neither person has any agenda.  The mover moves in any way they like, usually with eyes closed.  The witness stays mindfully present.  Afterward there is generally some verbal reflection on the experience, traditionally in the first-person present tense.  This way of speaking supports the meaning making process as belonging to each individual, and not a property of the movement itself.  The process can be quite insightful and therapeutic, deconstructing layers of somatic experience for both mover and witness.

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Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) in Boise

As a somatic modality Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) shares values and methodologies with Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, Body-Mind Centering and somatic psychology methods such as Somatic Experiencing.  In application I can see, feel, and describe movement, using my language, perception, and informed touch to help you become more articulate in your body.

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Laban Movement Analysis is a form of movement inquiry begun by Rudolf Von Laban in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s

Like a language system for movement, LMA offers a theoretic underpinning for how we comprehend, construct, and make meaning with our bodies in space.  Irmgard Bartenieff was a student of Laban’s who particularly expanded the functional and expressive embodiment of the teachings.  I am a Certified Laban Movement Analyst (CLMA) having trained with Integrated Movement Studies (IMS). Review my Somatic Movement Therapy page to learn more in how I work.

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