Trauma is relational—we create it together.  When war veterans come home with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) it’s because of the kinds of interactions they’ve been a part of.  It’s the same with rape victims–they’ve experienced a damaging interaction.  So it follows that trauma is healed together.  We need rituals that bring us together to address our social wounds—whether they’re as severe as PTSD, or as common as relationship patterns that aren’t serving us.  We all have those kinds of patterns.

Dance and group somatic practices are healing rituals composed of movement, awareness, and inter-action.  I had the incredible privilege of bringing SomaWorks to doctors and medical students at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona a week ago. I saw how deeply art and medicine intertwine. The technology of physical inter-action is ancient, and the recognition that we greatly benefit from it is at the cutting edge of medicine.

I have a short video to share with you, dancing with my dear friend Callie Ritter. I could not have done this 20 years ago…I am so grateful for the healing and learning I have experienced.