March, 2024 ~
I’ve just returned from Australia, and shortly after that, Austin, Texas, where I taught in the Embodied Neurobiology Alternate Route to Dance Therapy Program. “Sitting Alongside” is a movement observation and assessment class that centers Indigenous ways of seeing and “assessing”. Traditionally centering systems that originate in euro-centric contexts, this course weaves the brilliant work Body Mind Centering and Polyvagal -informed DMT with this Indigenous perspective. In “Oz”, I shared Continuum in urban studios and at Dance in the Wild on the wild land in the gorgeous Dandenong range; I offered our (my clients, mentor and my) Polyvagal-informed Somatic and Dance/Movement Therapy training in steamy, earthy Darwin, and I taught Trauma and the Moving Body as part of Yoga for Humankind’s amazing 200 hour yoga training. I am struck by the longing to dive deep, to immerse in material experientially and “embodiedly”. A turning in and turning away from the online, image-promoting learning opportunities that exploded during the pandemic. Yes–online learning increases access to information and education and as such, is essential. And it got us through 3+ years of pandemic and shutdowns. It also spawned a plethora of virtual experiences, training, and self-named experts. It’s speeding us up at a time when the longing for deep dives requires slowing down.
March 22nd was the 1 year anniversary of my spinal surgery. March 12th was the day, in 2023, my left leg collapsed and I lost the ability to walk. Auspiciously, on March 11th of this year, I danced for the first time since March 12th, on the bare earth with bare feet guided by the amazing Jo Woods, dear friend and Open Floor Teacher. Australia is a healing land. It’s ancient, raw and full of wild surprise. While there, I also spent time with my friend and mentor Tony Lee, a Larrakia healer who teaches me the depth of our connection to nature, how the Digeridoo’s frequencies echo the vibrations and frequencies of earth, ocean, cosmos; how we can connect our energy to earth and Spirit energy and heal. We only need to pause long enough to sense this connection. Once, I would have dipped in to teach my class and made sure that, during the 4 days of Dance in the Wild, I could “connect” somewhere to keep up with emails and the busy-ness of my life. This time, I stayed. On The Land. I took naps. I swam in natural cold pools. I met new people and spent time sitting on grass with them. I listened to the magical bird calls. This is how I could dance again.
On March 22nd of this year, one year post surgery, I was able to move through the entire developmental sequence of Body Mind Centering, which I could not do even a month ago. I attribute the relatively fast restoration of my mobility to my willingness to slow down. REALLY s–l–o–w d–o–w–n. For years, I have zipped around the planet teaching the art of slow movement and slowing the restorative process down for clients suffering the deep wounds of trauma. What hypocrisy! There is so much to say about this slowing down, an ongoing theme in my life. This is inspiration for another newsletter, as is the new experience of being visibly disabled in the USA. This month, as I celebrate my re-ability to walk, swim, dance, and spiral on the earth, I offer GRATITUDE to the soft yield of Mother Earth.