About

Somatic Movement Education

 

Somatic Movement Education is a field within bodywork and movement studies which emphasizes internal body perception and experience. It unfolds through slow, guided explorations of mindful movement, using visualization, embodiment and touch. Gains in awareness of inner body&mind processes can:

• Help feel more physically grounded for better balance;

• Progress toward your ideal body alignment;

• Find new levels of ease and comfort in moving and breathing;

• Uncover new sensations;

• Support emotional regulation;

• Encourage self-care.

Somatic Movement Education requires no previous experience, only an open and curious mind. 

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What can happen in a class

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Classes will start with learning about anatomy of the body, using video, or images in anatomical books. We might become playful! lay on the floor or stand, be still or improvise movement. There will be solo work, and partner work if that’s comfortable for you.

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No previous experience in somatic movement or in dance is required.

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About

Body-Mind Centering®

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“Body-Mind Centering® (BMC®) is an ongoing, experiential journey into the alive and changing territory of the body. The explorer is the mind – our thoughts, feeling, energy, soul and spirit. Thought this journey we are led to an understanding of how the mind is expressed thought the body in movement.

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Our body moves as our mind moves. The qualities of any movement are a manifestation of how mind is expressing through the body at the moment. Changes in movement qualities indicate that the mind has shifted focus in the body. Conversely, when we direct the mind or attention to different areas of the body and initiate movement from those areas, we change the quality of our movement. So we find that movement can be a way to observe the expression of mind through the body, and it can also be a way to affect changes in the body-mind relationship." This is an excerpt from an article in a book by Bonnie Bainbridge "Sensing, Feeling, and Action". Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (OT, RSMT, RSME) is the founder of the BMC® somatic method. www.bodymindcentering.com.

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About

Infant Developmental Movement Education (IDME)

The IDME (Infant Developmental Movement Education) program is grounded in the principles of Body-Mind Centering® and trains individuals to observe and support healthy movement patterns in infants from birth to walking. It also helps caregivers learn nurturing ways to hold and handle baby that foster safety, ease, and natural curiosity. Through a sense of their own agency, babies and toddlers can fully participate in their emergent sense of self, in relationship to their environment and others. Supporting this agency through respectful handling and movement awareness is central to the IDME approach.

Beyond its relevance to infant care, this work has deep implications for adults. Since every adult once moved through these early developmental stages, studying infant movement can shed light on how our own bodies and minds function today. Some foundational patterns may not have been fully integrated in infancy, and revisiting them through somatic exploration in adulthood can be profoundly healing and transformative.

In essence, Isabelle believes that learning about infant movement benefits not only those caring for babies, but also adults seeking to reconnect with their own developmental roots and enhance the way they move and inhabit their minded bodies now.

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About 

Tango Somatix

 

Tango Somatix is the practice of somatic education to further improve one's tango dancing. To practice Tango Somatix is to enter into the learning of tango through an alternative door, which does not consist of learning steps and figures, but rather of becoming familiar with the depths from which movement is born. 

 

With time and practice, this is what may happen as you explore tango somatically: 

• An increased awareness of how your body moves; 

• Heightened sensitivity, for yourself and your partner; 

• Better clarity around your axis;

• The discovery of new levels of ease and comfort in your tango body; 

• The refinement of your body language, non-verbal communication with the other becoming more precise; 

• The arising of a new freedom in your dance expression;

• Getting "out of your head" so that pleasure becomes more easily accessible, especially the pleasure of co-creating movement with another person;

• Easier access to a meaningful tango connection, increasing the odds of experiencing tango bliss!

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​About

Tango Bliss

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Occasionally, in an unpredictable and uncontrollable way, the tango connection provokes a state of bliss, a sublime sensation of floating, and the experience of merging with one's partner, as well as with the music and the environment. It gives the impression of being transported out of oneself and the real world. It can provoke intense feelings. Loaded with existential meaning this experience becomes anchored in memory, remaining unforgettable.

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About

Isabelle Oppenheim

 

Isabelle finds meaning in her life by immersing herself in the study of movement. With a Master's degree in dance from UQAM, she has been initiated to different somatic movement practices, and is progressing towards obtaining certifications in Body-Mind Centering ®, both as a Somatic Movement Educator, and a Developmental Movement Educator (IDME). Isabelle is particularly interested in how greater body awareness can deepen the experience of connecting with another person through dance, particularly in Argentine tango and contact improvisation. Passionate, she continues to explore and transmit through teaching.