MINDFULNESS IN MOTION:
Authentic Movement as Spiritual Practice
With Susan Bauer (MFA, RSMT/E)
August 15 – 19, 2016
Monday – Friday 9:30am – 4pm (Wedn. 9:30am – 1pm)
Berkeley, California
If you maintain mindfulness you will un-mistakenly know what to do and what not to do. Thus clear awareness is most important; it is your inner Buddha.
-His Holiness Garchen Rinpoche
If we continuously maintain self-awareness, we will be able to experience peace and happiness.
-Amma
Workshop Description
How can we stay present and aware, while being responsive to our inner and outer perceptions? How can we listen to our ‘speaking’ body as we move with our aliveness?
Many spiritual teachers suggest developing a heightened state of awareness or ‘mindfulness’ through practices such as meditation. For over 25 years, I have found Authentic Movement to similarly help develop such inner presence and clear awareness. In this 5-day workshop, we will explore Authentic Movement as a mindfulness practice that engages our multi-dimensional selves as body, mind, and spirit.
Daily Practice
Mornings we will ground in the practice of Authentic Movement within a sacred container created by the witness presence, allowing movers to deepen their exploration of the worlds of movement, sound, imagery, myth / metaphor, and spirit.
Silent processing time to draw, write, or rest will then be followed by verbal sharing and brief witness feedback.
Afternoons we will engage in dyads and structured Authentic Movement-related exercises, such as those that help us learn to discern the various layers of our awareness. This includes exploring ‘tracking ’ (such as tracking thought, emotion, imagery, and /or sensation), as well as discovering our tendencies–while expanding our potential for perceiving.
These sessions deepen our ability to move with mindfulness, as well as to witness insightfully–both for ourselves and for others.
Later in the week, we further engage our creativity through variations on the Authentic Movement practice:
- one session will be held outdoors to expand our practice of mindfulness into our daily lives and our relationship with nature
- one session will explore Moving-from-Within™, a dynamic improvisational movement practice bridging principles of Authentic Movement and creative dance within community
With an increasing capacity to concentrate, to listen to impulse, the mover learns to recognize the channel within which the creative or authentic energy flows.
In so doing, each movement, no matter how small, becomes impeccably ordered, placed, or sensed…honoring that knowledge holds the transformative power of the work.
– Janet Adler (from Who is the Witness?)
Registration and Tuition
This workshop is open to all those with previous Authentic Movement experience and is limited to 12 participants. Brief application required.
Acceptance is on a first-come basis, so please apply early if interested!
Depending upon your previous experience, if you have not yet worked with Susan previously, or not within the past year, it may be requested that you do an individual session before beginning the intensive. This session can be scheduled in July or August and is payable separately from your tuition.
Tuition: $595 if paid in full by June 15th; $650 thereafter
APPLICATION DEADLINE: July 1st! (Extended to July 9th: All applications must be received by this date.)
Registration: download the Application as a Word document or a PDF.
For more information contact Susan at (510) 333-6415 or email to
Faculty Biography
Susan Bauer, MFA, RSME/T is a dance / somatics educator who has taught in both college and community settings in the US. and Asia for over 25 years, informed by her background in dance, Authentic Movement, and Body-Mind Centering®. Having practiced Authentic Movement since 1984, she is devoted to helping others deepen their experience in this inspiring practice. Susan has studied with Janet Adler, and facilitates groups in the U.S and Asia.
Susan developed her own form of dance improvisation, called Moving-from-Within™, that she founded in 1987. Susan’s articles have appeared in Somatics Journal, Contact Quarterly, A Moving Journal, Thailand’s Seeds of Peace, and Essays on Authentic Movement, Volume 2 (2007).
She has served as Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco and at John F. Kennedy University, and has a private practice in the Bay Area as a Registered Somatic Movement Educator / Therapist. She is also a recent Fulbright scholar to Bali, Indonesia, and leads tours to Bali in Arts and Spirituality.