SPECIAL EVENTS

UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS

Neuroqueering Somatics: A conversation at the intersection of neurodivergence and somatic practice
Thursday, June 26th, 12-1:30pm Eastern U.S. time
with Dr. Nick Walker and Katy Higgins Lee 

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE!

Join us for a conversation as Katy Higgins Lee interviews Dr. Nick Walker, a leading thinker on the neurodiversity paradigm, to discuss the creative possibilities that emerge when we practice neuroqueering somatics. The concept of neuroqueering was coined by Dr. Walker and refers to a practice of intentionally subverting normativity and embracing neurocognitive diversity.

This 90-minute conversation and Q&A are free and open to the public.

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ISMETA OPEN HOUSES

Join us for live, interactive sessions to "tour" ISMETA's various resources for individual and organizational members. You will learn which membership track best serves your needs, and various ways in which you can participate in our professional community. These events are designed specifically for students and practitioners of Somatic Movement who are looking to become members of ISMETA. They are hosted by ISMETA’s Board of Directors and offered twice on the same day to cater to the many regions of practitioners globally. Welcome to the professional home for Somatic Movement Educators and Therapists! Watch the introductory video and stay tuned for our next sessions.

PAST SPECIAL EVENTS


photo ©Jamie McHugh

EARTH MATTERS: ECOSOMATICS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE with Jamie McHugh, MSMT
Conversations to inspire embodied action in the face of planetary dysregulation
Sponsored by the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association (ISMETA)

It goes without saying: Earth matters! Without a viable planet, there is no living soma. This fundamental truth in the face of Earth disruptions is the ground for our conversations. These interactive roundtables are designed to connect the ISMETA community with artists, activists, scientists, agriculturalists, philosophers, and many others dedicated to the preservation of life on Earth.

Earth Matters: Ecosomatics in the Anthropocene with Jamie McHugh, MSMT
Review, Recycle and Renew Community Meeting
October 24, 2024   10-11am PT/ 1-2pm ET/ 7-8pm CET
Contact Jamie McHugh with any questions.

 

HONORING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY: A SOMATIC MOVEMENT EXPLORATION
Monday, October 14th, 12-1pm Eastern time

ISMETA Master Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist Dr. Amber E. Gray facilitates a moving meditation to acknowledge and honor Indigenous Peoples Day.  In this hour-long session Amber offers a gently guided heartful moving practice to connect us to the earth as place and as human story. Dress comfortably for movement, and please join from an environment where you can sense your connection to the earth. If you are indoors, you’re welcome to have a piece of music you love moving to cued up to play during the movement portion. Donations to one of the following organizations are welcome and very encouraged:
Tewa Women United
4KINSHIP Indigenous Futures
Both organizations do incredible, ethical, life-changing work with Indigenous communities, and Amber knows their work firsthand. She serves on the board of Tewa Women United and is a friend of Amy Denet Deal, the designer and inspirer who created the 4Kinship brand and who tirelessly commits all her creativity and work to the Indigenous Futures fund.

SPECIAL EARTH DAY EVENT-Book Talk
Geographies of Us: Ecosomatic Essays and Practice Pages with Editors Sondra Fraleigh and Shannon Rose Riley
APRIL 22nd, 12pm ET
Geographies of Us is the first edited collection in the field of ecosomatics. With a combination of essays and practice pages that provide a variety of scholarly, creative and experience-based approaches, the book brings together established and emergent scholars and artists from diverse backgrounds and covers work rooted in a dozen countries. The essays engage crucial methodologies and critical/theoretical perspectives, including practice-based research in the arts, especially in performance and dance studies, critical theory, ecocriticism, Indigenous knowledges, material feminist critique, quantum field theory and new phenomenologies. Practice pages are shorter chapters providing readers a chance to engage creatively with the ideas presented across the collection. This book offers a multidisciplinary perspective that brings together work in performance as research, phenomenology and dance/movement; this is one of its significant contributions to the area of ecosomatics.

AVAILABLE IN THE ISMETA ONLINE BOOKSTORE! (Log in and go to the Bookstore)

BILINGUAL BOOK TALK (SPANISH AND ENGLISH) - A book for everyone who has a body!
INTELIGENCIA CORPORAL/BODY INTELLIGENCE
with author and ISMETA Board Member Bibiana Badenes
June 7th, 12-1pm ET

Inteligencia Corporal: descubre el poder del movimiento consciente. El programa de inteligencia corporal que presenta Bibiana Badenes abarca una amplia variedad de prácticas que fomentan la consciencia somática y la alineación, con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad del movimiento tanto físico como emocional. Se trata de un sistema de desarrollo corporal activo, fácil y transformador, que se inspira en los fundamentos de la fisioterapia, el método Rolfing Movimiento, la anatomía experiencial, el coaching, el movimiento somático y la danza. Con 50 ilustraciones originales y 75 ejercicios somáticos para tu practica diaria.

Body Intelligence: Discover the Power of Conscious Movement. The body intelligence program presented by Bibiana Badenes encompasses a wide variety of practices that promote somatic awareness and alignment, aiming to improve the quality of both physical and emotional movement. It is an active, easy, and transformative system of body development inspired by the principles of physiotherapy, the Rolf Movement method, experiential anatomy, coaching, somatic movement, and dance. The book includes 50 original illustrations and 75 specific somatic exercises for your daily practice.

smallEmbodied Activism Front Cover - High Resolution
EMBODIED ACTIVISM WITH RAE JOHNSON
Friday, May 26th at 12pm Eastern U.S. time
Hosted by the Equity, Justice and Accessibility Committee
OPEN TO ALL
How do ordinary people with busy lives leverage our actions in support of liberation, justice, and authentic connection? How can activists and social change-makers avoid burning out? How does the body factor into what our social movements might miss? Instead of thinking about social justice as a process that starts with changing people's minds, embodied activism asks us to understand our bodies—how we feel in them and relate to others through them—as crucial sites of social transformation. Drawing on the somatic arts, trauma-informed psychology, and anti-oppressive movements, embodied activism helps us explore and transform the political realities of our everyday lives in a new way: by harnessing the felt experience of our bodies as the sites of our activism. In this community conversation, author Rae Johnson will discuss how we can listen to our body language, question body image norms, and reconnect to our sensual capacities in service of social change. Join Rae in a discussion about their latest book and learn perspectives for transforming an unjust world, one body at a time.
SEE VIDEO OF THIS EVENT BELOW
RAE JOHNSON, PhD, RSW, RSMT, BCC is a social worker, somatic movement therapist, and scholar/activist working at the intersections of embodiment and social justice. Rae's approach to embodied activism has been shaped by decades of frontline work with street youth, women in addiction recovery, psychiatric survivors, and members of the queer community. Since completing their doctoral studies, Rae has held academic positions in several somatic psychology graduate programs, including at Naropa University and Pacifica Graduate Institute. They currently teach somatic psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and co-direct an online certificate program in embodied social justice.