Gentle Movement for Traumatic Times

“Gentle Movement for Traumatic Times” combines energetic grounding, breathing, simple meditative movement and partner practice to address stress and conflict management in daily life. Both seated and standing options, along with other adaptations for physical limitations, make this workshop accessible to all.
The focus will be on movement and approaches of particular benefit for Friends of Color.
This workshop is open to all.

Workshop Description

“Gentle Movement for Traumatic Times” combines energetic grounding, breathing, simple meditative movement and partner practice to address stress and conflict management in daily life. Both seated and standing options, along with other adaptations for physical limitations, make this workshop accessible to all.

The focus will be on movement and approaches of benefit for Friends of Color. The workshop leader will center and create space for voices of Friends of Color during large group conversations.

This workshop is open to all.

Objectives for the week

Co-creation of a space for grounding, self-care, learning and practice of new physical movements (and their mental counterparts)

A better understanding of physical presence and stance, and the importance of timing in everyday life

A feeling of greater mind-body-spirit unity

A greater sense of community among the participants

Areas we will cover

• Finding our own rhythms for breathing and gentle, seated movement
• Expanding awareness of our surroundings and natural environment
• Practicing meditative movement that exemplifies “going with the flow” and “standing on our values” – individually and with partners
• Learning simple movement sequences that can be done solo or in a group setting
• Practicing both leadership and followership stances
• Using partner practice (movement) to understand conflict management options and the importance of timing

Workshop Format (note: the agenda may change)

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Themes	Breathing, finding our rhythm, expanding awareness of the space around us, basic responses to stress	Practicing responses to stress with partners. Beginning to learn two meditative movements	Understanding conflict management options and the importance of timing. Practicing two meditative movements	Using stances to set a tone and create space in a room. Going deeper with our meditative movements	Practicing movements in more depth. Takeaways from this week
Agenda 2 hrs, 45 min	Welcome and connecting Meditation/worship- Grounding movement Break Stress responses and using our bodies in new ways Conversation	Reflections from Day 1 Meditation/worship Grounding movement Practicing “going with the flow” and “standing in our values” individually and with partners Break Conversation Meditative Movement Movement Sequence-Part 1	Meditation/worship Reflections Grounding movement Demonstration of conflict management options (from the martial arts) Practice with partners Break The importance of timing Conversation Meditative Movement Movement Sequence- Part 2	Reflections Meditation/worship Grounding movement Practicing stances for leadership-followership and more Break Conversation Meditative Movement Movement Sequence- Part 3 Requests for Day 5	Meditation/worship Grounding movement Practice time based on participant interests Conversation and takeaways

There are no recommendations for pre-reading or specific requests to bring items to the Gathering.

However, I may bring a few black and white handouts

Leader Experience

As part of my spiritual martial arts practice – Shintaido – I have led in-person movement sessions for 20+ years as an internationally certified instructor. Over the past two years I‘ve led many sessions via Zoom, including a session for Friends of Color during the 2021 Gathering. In my professional life I have trained more than 650 people in interactive workshops over the past 30 years.