Weaving a thread between dance, mindfulness and art
My deeply ingrained practice and teaching of embodied mindfulness (and previously yoga) kept me rooted and grounded during treatment for breast cancer and recovery. Honouring my love of creativity, I then studied an MA in Fine Art, during which I explored the benefits of the rhythm and repetition in making, using hand-weaving in particular, as support for trauma. (As a Clinical Psychologist, my previous experience of trauma work was related to talking therapies.) In my MA, my research into Bessel Van Der Kolk’s writing on rhythm and repetition of movement also took me into the world of dance and the work of Anna Halprin and Martha Graham, such that part of my final presentation was an improvised transformational dance piece wearing my handmade ceremonial costume of a mythical bird. All the while, dance was pulling me back into the direction of exploring movement and the intelligence of the body which led me to train in Soul Motion, a form of mindful movement. I experienced this as a powerful healing medium for processing a recent diagnosis of ADHD (which gave coherence to the life I had experienced).
I see how the arts and dance offer a modalities for expression and connection without words especially suited to people with neurodivergence. Hence, I also bring arts-based creative practices into my Soul Motion® classes.
Last year, I was fortunate to find Emily Jenkins’ organisation Move Dance Feel for women living with and beyond cancer and undertook her introductory Dance in Cancer Care training. In this I experienced a strong overlap and fusing of my Soul Motion® dance and embodied mindfulness experiences. Her online sessions are uplifting, joyous and welcoming.