Embodied Brain

In 2008 I was introduced to the science of the brain through reading the book ‘A General Theory of Love ‘by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini and Richard Lannon. By the time I reached the end of the book my curiosity had been stirred up to explore the link between the workings of the brain and the mindful movement practice I had been teaching for nearly 20 years.

Over the past 7 years I have immersed myself in the subject of neuroscience and have read every book I could find on the links between mindful meditation and the workings of the brain. I have undertaken an online course with Daniel Siegel in Interpersonal Neurobiology. I have been inspired by Rick Hanson, Richard Davidson, Kelly McGonigle, Kirsten Neff, Brené Brown, Linda Goodman and Tara Brach in the ways they are applying mindfulness and neuroscience in their work.

I have studied hundreds of bodies coming to my workshops in the 5 Rhythms Movement Meditation Practice and now in my work with Open Floor Movement Practice and on each dance floor I facilitate, I can see many of the links I have read about, in my study of neuroscience, between the workings of the brain and mindfulness meditation.

Thus I have created a practice which I call ‘Embodied Brain’ which captures those links between neuroscience, mindful movement and meditation and uses them to move practitioners towards positivity, compassion and resilience.

I believe that a great transformation takes place within us when we explore the link between the brain, the mind and the body, with curiosity and respect rather than with fear and avoidance. Inviting our thoughts, feelings and habits into awareness and movement allows us to learn from them rather than be controlled by them. We can learn to steady ourselves, ground ourselves more and more within the present moment and listen to the wisdom coming from an Embodied Brain.