Transitions
A Dance of Awareness one-day workshop
- with Clare Osbond, assisted by Laurence Baretto de Souza
Sunday 21st January 2024, 11am - 6pm
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How is it to move forwards, embrace the new? How is it to hold back, stay with the old, the habitual? As a dynamic being, I am faced with a choice in any given moment. I can chose to move forwards to new possibilities, fulfil my potential - my 'becoming'. This is generally the intention of most workshops (including ours). The very idea of which can threaten my safety and security. The paradox being that 'defence' structures established throughout life, tend if anything, to become more rigid for protection in workshop settings!
I have the choice. To move forwards, to stay where I am, or even go back, to regress to old ways and old patterns of existence.
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Dance of Awareness allows us to discover more about ourselves - the dance between body and mind, the blocks to action and the sources of energy that if mobilised, could empower and transform us.
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We will spend the day as beings exploring transitions. Through the Dance of Awareness cycle we transition from one phase to the next – from Sensing, to Grounding, to Expressing, to Releasing, to Connecting and then to Completing. And as we dance through the phases of the DoA cycle, we will pay attention to the transitions from one phase to the next. You may flow through the cycle with ease. You may encounter resistance. In which case there is a choice. Do I push through, overriding my natural rhythms, or do I follow my resistance? And again there is a choice. Do I (or how do I) let it be seen? Do I withhold, block, recoil, disengage? There is always a choice. And here we make it conscious. Here we honour and welcome each choice. With self-consciousness and self-awareness you step in to who you truly are.
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These transitions may mirror, or offer some insight into our relationships - both to our own being, to our being-in-the world as well as how we first came in to being. We grow and develop by adapting to our environment and those around us. Through our primal experiences of sensing, perceiving and responding, we took on physical form through touch and movement. New movement patterns and capacities develop and are sequential in nature. So the effective embodiment of earlier patterns serve as a support for the emergence of later patterns. Likewise, each phase of the DoA cysle supports the embodiment and impetus to the next phase. For example incorporating what we have learnt in Sensing as we go in to Grounding.
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A transition is a bit like an edge - the place where we are stable enough to be receptive to change, yet be open enough to respnd spontaneously. If we have too much reliance on stability, nothing much will change; but when we are in a state of overwhelm, nothing much can be learnt. The edge is the place of greatest therapeutic potential. This is the see-saw of life! The see-saw tips... and there is a transition.
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All that is required for this workshop is a willingness to experience your being. Being you. Throughout the day we will stay with awareness and what is present for you in any given moment.
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We will spend the day as a group, dancing (with music) through the DoA cycle - sometimes with structure and sometimes without - sometimes individually and sometimes in connection. There will also be time spent in the circle, time for feeding back and for sharing. We will explore together what is already happening, what is trying to happen and what might be stopping things from happening.
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You are welcome. Whether you are currently going through a transition in your life, or not. Whether you have experience of Dance of Awareness, or not. Wherever you are at this time. A day spent with two experienced therapists, in a supportive and experimental space. Clare and Laurence are both Dance of Awareness practitioners. Clare is a Body and Movement Psychotherapist and Laurence is an Integrative Psychotherapist and Mindfulness Teacher.
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Workshop Details
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Location: The Studio, 39 Whippingham Road, Brighton BN2 3PF
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Date: Sunday 21st January 2024
Time: 11.00 - 18.00
Please arrive between 10.45 and 11.00
There will be a one hour lunch-break about 1.30pm and a short tea-break mid-afternoon. Tea / coffee etc will be provided.
If you require a hot drink at other times (including on arrival), please bring a thermos as drinks in cups/glasses are not allowed in the studio.
Cost: £85. Our cancellation policy can be found here.
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To book: No previous Dance of Awareness experience is required - but if we haven't worked with you before, please email us a short paragraph about yourself, including any movement or group experience you may have. Please pay by bank transfer (email for bank details). On booking you will receive a booking confirmation.
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If you want to discuss anything by phone, please email Clare to arrange a time to call.
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