Remembering who we are: resources for resilience in challenging times
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
(Alan Watts)
We find ourselves in a time of crisis, challenge and change, a time of big questions. It’s unsettling to be with so much uncertainty and we may find ourselves travelling through unknown inner and outer lands without compass or maps. We can easily end up in a relentless maze of thoughts that go nowhere and leave us feeling adrift, anxious and stressed. Movement Medicine takes us out of thinking-centred ways of knowing into connection with the wisdom of our embodied heart and imagination.
In this Movement Medicine workshop we will use dance as a way to reconnect with ourselves and with what supports us. It is normal to become overwhelmed by our emotions during challenging times. The dance can help us to move with rather than get try to hold all that is going on inside our hearts, minds and bodies. From becoming aware and sensing what is true for us right now, we move to find and allow healthy expression and release so that we can envision and support the emergence of the new. This kind of movement work quite literally helps us to practice being nimble on our feet and to keep finding the ground and space we need to keep going. We will create a strong embodied connection to what matters to us and to what may help us navigate through this time in order to support our resourcefulness and resilience.
We will work with some of the fundamental practices of Movement Medicine to awaken our inner dancer and re-member ourselves as the interconnected, creative, choiceful beings that we are. Present in our moving bodies, connected to the aliveness of our hearts and the vast horizon of our minds’ imagination, we bring the richness of our inner landscapes into expression and tap into a deeper source of wisdom, support and healing.
Luckily, we have a beautiful outdoor space for our dancing, which will make it both COVID-safe and allow us to call on the elements within and around us as resources, teachers and reminders of our profound interconnectedness.
About Petra
I am a passionate curator of safe intimate spaces that bring together movement, creative, relational and embodied enquiry, poetry, nature connection and play. With my Moving into Connection work, I weave a rich tapestry of support, transformation and healing so that we can reclaim our aliveness, our creativity and our agency in service of life on Earth. At the heart of my work are processes that help us explore and strengthen who we are, as individuals and in relationship to each other and the world around us. Through re-membering and reclaiming the power of our bodies, hearts and minds and realising our profound interconnectedness with life, we can find the inspiration and support to be more fully human together and create positive change for ourselves and in the world.
I am a fully qualified Movement Medicine Teacher/Facilitator with Level 4 Advanced Training. My studies with the School of Movement Medicine (UK) started in 2009 and continue with ongoing CPD training. I am also a mentor on the School’s Apprenticeship Programme. I am interested in body-based approaches to trauma and the insights neuroscience, polyvagal theory and similar approaches offer in understanding our individual and collective behavioural patterns and how we can change them. I also draws on over 13 years of experience of facilitating diverse groups in Africa, Europe and Asia, whilst working with NGOs and governments in the international development context. My love of being in nature has led me to offer outdoor nature reconnection events that include simple creative and playful practices that encourage an embodied listening to life’s ongoing conversation with us.
All of my work is informed by my passion for life and deep love for the Earth and all beings. My hope is to inspire, support, nourish and connect people so that we can all play our part in creating the more beautiful and meaningful world that our hearts know is possible.
I offer regular classes, workshops and events in the Garden Route, Cape Town and Johannesburg, as well as sometimes teaching in Europe and elsewhere by invitation. Right now, most of my offerings are taking place online due to COVID.
More at www.movingintoconnection.com and on Facebook under Moving into Connection