Save the date: another in-person intensive this August

Last fall, I did my first in person workshop in far too long, and it was wonderful. I got to meet in 3D some beautiful humans I’ve only known through zoom classes. We got to dive deeply into Peony Somatic Dance. And we were able to instantly build safe community where each person’s unique movement art could emerge and be witnessed. Again, it was wonderful.

And of course, it left me wanting more. This time we’ll be focusing specifically on the foundational practices of Peony Somatic Dance that come from my study of Butoh. But we’ll also be adding in other Japanese arts to compliment that, including Haiku and Origami? Why these?

Haiku has been a vital part of my mental health practices over the last couple of decades. It actually came into my life before I started to dance again! I used to write haiku every single day to help me focus on the world outside myself. (And I take this seriously. We’ll be talking about why, for example, haiku are not traditionally supposed to have any sense of I/me in them.)

Origami is another of the Japanese arts that can teach us something about movement, space, and simplicity. It feels like a perfect match for our work.

So, yeah… save the date. If you’re coming from out of town, maybe start looking for places to stay. There are a lot of wonderful spots within walking distance of the studio, which is here. And if you’ve never done so, read about Peony Somatic Dance (and feel free to send me any questions you might have.)

Resting in Dreamland: an extended winter solstice worksho

Written in the Body: Movement, Ritual, and Writing to celebrate seasonal transitions.

Winter Solstice 2023: Resting in Dreamland

ONLINE from December 3rd through January 5th with a live event on zoom on December 10th.

DEADLINE for Registration: Wednesday, December 6th

Co-Facilitated by me and Deborah Globus (more about her below!)

PLEASE NOTE: Our number one priority as guides is accessibility. All movement prompts, as with all of my teaching, will have space in them for every single body, no matter what’s going on with you in the moment. All of Deb’s prompts, and the entirety of the workshop, will place emphasis on honoring energy levels, so there will be options for low, medium, and high energy explorations.

Online, streamed, and filmed live event: Sunday, December 10th, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, Eastern U.S. Time. (The video will be made available to the group the day after and will remain available until after the new year.)

COST (and please email me if you need a different price. No questions asked, as always): $77

Written in the Body will be a series of workshops that focus on each of the solstices and equinoxes over the next year. It seems right that we start in the winter, this time of hibernation and rest and pause.

The live event part of each of these workshops will not actually take place on the solstice or equinox. It will always take place at least a week or more before so that you can then prepare, based on all you’ve learned and practiced, your own ritual on the actual day and at the actual time.

Perhaps, for example, you’ll take what you’ve learned and practiced and run a group ritual in your area. Or perhaps you’ll take what you’ve learned and practiced and enjoy a solo ritual.

The point is that you’ll get to the solstice or equinox ready in whatever way feels right for you.

Winter Solstice: Resting in Dreamland Themes

“This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath.”

— Margaret Atwood

It’s rather ironic that this time of year has become so typically frenetic. It’s the opposite of what’s happening with nature, right? And it’s the opposite of what’s meant for us, as we are nature.

We’re meant to come inside from the year’s hard labor and to light a fire and rest.

Rest being reinvigorating and not just the “catching up on sleep because we’re so freaking exhausted” that it’s become.

Rest is quiet time with family and friends. Sharing stories. Making good and warm and filling food. Dreaming…

And so we will be dreaming together. And we do not mean setting goals. That’s not dreaming. That’s the step after dreaming. (As Deb often has to remind me… if you know us, you understand that!)

We will be focusing on a couple of core themes:

Gathering around the fire in community is number one. Coming together to witness one another in our dreaming and to hold space for those dreams as they arise or as they pass away.

Exploring the wisdom in our bones. Another way to think about this is to ask: What is your body trying to communicate to you?

AND

Discovering what supports us in softness. This is something the larger world does not encourage, right? Hustle culture, scarcity mentality, the idea of winning are all about being less vulnerable, less open, and, well, harder. But we know that the opposite is what’s truly valuable. What do you need to really nestle in to your softness? To allow the soft that precedes growth?

The Basic Calendar

On Sunday, December 3rd, we’ll be opening a private Facebook group to which you’ll be invited. Everything pertaining to the workshop will be loaded there, including the eventual video from the live event.

It’s in this space that you can share experiences, ask questions, make connections with other human beings doing this sort of work or learning about it for the first time.

Again, community is a priority.

On Sunday, December 10th, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, we’ll be running the live event of the workshop. This will be recorded so if something happens and you can’t make it, you’ll be able to participate and learn after the fact.

Deb and I will be adding material to the Facebook group in approximately this pattern:

Mondays: I’ll load a breath/movement/rest video so that we start the week getting into these bodies.

Wednesdays: Deb will share a writing prompt to explore our themes more deeply.

Fridays: Deb will share a wide variety of information relative to working with the energy of the four quarters. Everything from information about what crystals might work best to correspondences and pertinent lore and myth.

Live Workshop: Sunday, December 10th

This will take place on Zoom from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM Eastern time, and again, it will be recorded for you to use and refer back to as much as you want and need.

During the workshop, Deb and I will bounce back and forth.

I’ll be providing movement, breath, and body based explorations that allow you to feel your way into what you need from this time of year.

Deb will be providing short writing prompts and also clearly demonstrating the four parts of ritual.

About Deb Globus

Hi! My name is Deborah Globus and I’ve been journaling for 35 years, and working with personal ritual for almost as long, helping women create beautiful rituals and practices to navigate, articulate, and share the milestones and transitions in their lives.

I draw from many traditions - the Christianity I was raised in, the earth-based practices I believe in, the Judaism I take part in, and the many other faiths and belief sets in which I find inspiration, and I use all that to support others who walk their own spiritual paths.

Oh, and I wrote a book! Which you can find right here.

REGISTER HERE

In Person Erie Workshop: Loving Kindness and Movement

WHEN: Saturday, December 4th
TIME: 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM (or a bit after…)

WHERE: Pranayoga: A Little Breathing Room (Next to Virgil’s Pizza)
1001 West 6th Street, Erie, Pennsylvania

WHAT: The (Un)bearable Lightness of Being: MOVING METTA

BRING: Pen, paper, water, anything that comforts you (blanket, crystals…)

NOTE: PLEASE BRING A SMALL CANDLE IN A CONTAINER.

REGISTRATION: $40 (If this is difficult for ANY REASON, please contact me and we’ll work something out.)

There are limited spaces available so please register as soon as you are able.

Also Note: this is a MOVEMENT workshop. It’s neither dance nor yoga. We’ll be using a lot of natural, primal movement, and very simple movement prompts supported by music.

WHAT THE HECK IS METTA?!?!

Very likely, you don’t know that I spent a lot of years studying Buddhism. I even helped bring a western Lama to Erie for the first time so many years ago.

I haven’t been studying it since I found Tantra Yoga but wow… they are related big time.

And after Peony’s death, it was actually Tibetan Buddhism that helped me in those initial dark hours, so perhaps I’ve started up again.

Regardless… metta… ((FOCUS!!))

Metta means loving kindness, goodwill, benevolence… It’s one of those concepts that doesn’t just have a one to one word translation equivalent in English.

Metta meditation is a way to turn our hearts toward loving kindness. We can aim that at ourselves or others. Ideally, both.

It’s a meditation that comes with scripts, like the one in that meme right there. But there are a lot of variations.

HOW WILL WE MOVE METTA??!?!

We will be bringing the ideas of metta to our movement practice. That might be the more correct way to look at it. Though I think it also works to think of moving the metta itself.

This idea came to me at least a year ago.

But I wasn’t sure exactly what it all meant.

Then Peony died and I renamed my movement arts practices after her.

Even before her death, though, the idea of delicacy and gentleness had started entering my teacher vocabulary in new and kinda (to this teacher) startling ways.

I mean, I’ve always been pretty… assertive in my practices.

But then when Peony passed, something really truly surprising happened.

I got softer. I wasn’t expecting that, though many around me would say it had been happening especially since I met Craig and started to live a life in which I felt so very safe.

But what will we DO?!

Sorry… there’s so much to cover!

We’ll be learning a bit more about metta itself and its place in the four Buddhist immeasurables (and what the heck they are).

THEN we’ll start to explore moving in ways that are consistent with those ideas. This movement won’t look like DANCE so don’t be afraid. It will even include simple things like super slow walking.

We’ll then increase the reach of the ideas by working in partnerships and as a group.

As usual with my work, there will be a BIG emphasis on breath, and we’ll be creating ritual together. Duh… that’s what all my stuff comes to. ((ha))

If you still have questions, as always, just ask.