WILD MIND, WISE BODY:
Embodied Writing and Movement Weekend
November 12 & 13, 2016, Club Lite Amsterdam
with author-expressionist Geertje Couwenbergh
& DJ-visionaire Maegan Melissa Gorbett (a.k.a. Alma Omega)
O chestnut tree, great rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?
– William Butler Yeats
Writing is allowing your mind to show up on paper. Dancing is allowing wisdom to show up in movement. Both are unique, fluid and fleeting expressions of the puzzle we call life. In their expressions -however small or bombastic- lies questions & answers, truths & mysteries…This weekend explores the way your body & mind moves -and how, together, they can dance.
cultivate confidence and play
Both writing and dancing rely on trust. In writing practice, you trust your mind to move your thoughts and longings, your lost and broken stories on paper. In embodied movement, you trust your body and all its memories to act and express itself. Not only do both disciplines require trust; they also strengthen it. The more you surrender to first thought and first movement, the more confidence you build -both on paper as in body. Freedom is not needing to know what comes next. When you move and write from this basic trust, you open yourself up to deep healing, play, connection and surprise.
wild mind, wise body
During this program, we move in between language and non-language. Vocalizing and feeling. Movement and stillness. Embodied movement opens up your writing to the wisdom and memories of the body. Writing helps vocalize what you experience and wisdom of -and in- your body. The fruit of this dance is a life more in tune.
Dance when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you’re perfectly free.
– Rumi
teachers
The two teachers of this unique program have been long term friends, soul-sisters and colleagues.
Alma Omega Maegan Melissa is a devout lover of music, dancing through the spectrums of life, and all gentle passages that lead to a more open heart. Music and dance has shaped and transformed her life in magical and expansive ways, and has been the backbone of her inspiration and transformation throughout life: from her hip hop/blues American-roots, House music changing the course of her life at the age of 18, Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms-movement meditation changing it again in her 20’s, to the wild freedom & interconnected web in Berlin, and her path of rebirth & reinvention there.
Music, dance, community, connection, celebration, elevation & evolution are her passions, and she is founder of Cacaophany (Cacao Rituals combined with Embodied Dance) and Lucid (high-vibed dance gatherings based in Berlin): www.Messy-Magic.com/
Author, columnist and expressionist Geertje Couwenbergh has been teaching writing as a body based practice for almost a decade. Her programs and retreats (usually integrated with yoga) guide you into the uncensored basics of writing; connecting to your body-mind.
She has published four non-fiction books, and her work -mostly personal essays and columns- can be found in Rebelle Society, Happinez Magazine, The Optimist, Elephant Journal, The House of Yoga, Moodiez and Bodhitv.
specifics
Dates:
Saturday November 12: 13.00 -17.00
& Sunday November 13: 14.00 -18.00
Location:
Club Lite, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Price:
€90 (basic) €120 (support)
suggested pre-weekend event:
Opening cacao ceremony
on Thursday November 10: 19.30 -22.30