Every Friday our white-marker wall is filled with notes and research from the Spiral Praxis Advanced Studies Program. These notes consist of lessons and insights that come from the curriculum as well as from the students themselves. Each drawing represents hours of somatic exploration and embodiment—it’s a source of great pride for all of us to create our own self-education and to move through an organic process of inquiry.

Learning the Nuances of Bodymind Exploration

As I delve more into Spiral Praxis and bodymind exploration, I'm learning that the whole field of bodymind is incredibly vast. As you start making progress, you continually find deeper levels of awareness.

Beginnings: Movement From The Void

Like all unexpected life events, we began Spiral Praxis under inauspicious circumstances, in the bustle of our university days. Both Stephanie and I had just met each other while starting a dance improvisation group. Our days were really busy.

At SMC, we work with children struggling with diverse motor impairments, from slight developmental delays to severe disabilities, and we observe one universal about them all—they are all capable of great transformation. Some children in our studio have learned how to roll, crawl or walk for the first time many years after their birth; others have learned how to focus their energy, to control their behaviour, or to play with other children when formerly…

One of the most gratifying aspects of developing Spiral Praxis has been to find new ways to help populations of people overcome obstacles in their lives. Recently, we’ve begun to focus on developing new somatic techniques for treating children with physical disabilities. Children with disabilities can suffer from a wide range of difficulties including severe muscular contractures, impairment of locomotion, weakness or even paralysis…

This website is dedicated to a somatic bodymind worldview —in sum: to somatics as adventure, art, rigorous discipline and life-long calling.  This may not be a radical departure for those who have already experienced epiphanies through personal bodymind explorations.