"Finding yourself is not really how it works.....Finding yourself is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, and excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got it's hands on you." -- Emily McDowell
I have been a licensed professional counselor since 2000 and opened a private practice, the Attachment Center of Central Oregon, in 2006. My work has addressed attachment and relationship patterns which are adaptations to trauma, abuse, negative experiences, and life challenges. My therapeutic approach has been heavily informed by mindfulness, interpersonal neurobiology, and EMDR (a trauma treatment protocol). I'm also attuned to how the body holds injury and attempts to protect itself at times.
A major component of my self care to be able to do the work that I do has been movement.
This has been through going to workshops (meditation, Feldenkrais, 5Rhythms, Soul Motion) as well as seeing my outdoor play as a mindfulness practice, a way to replenish and care for my soul. Over the years, my exploration of these pursuits has helped me to pinpoint what feeds my soul, and it's something I am passionate about bringing to others.
The decision to start Soul in Motion became more clear after a sabbatical I took in the Summer of 2019. I closed my practice for 3 months and spent that time riding across Europe on my bike. My partner and I were self-supported and got to spend that extensive period of time living fully in our bodies, with all the gifts and challenges that the journey brought. I love that feeling of aliveness and wanted to bring it to my work. I wanted to work in a more embodied way with others who want to be embodied as well.
In November of 2021 I decided to create a bigger change in my business, letting clients know that as of June 2022, I'd no longer be continuing with individual therapy, and the soul focus of my work would become Soul in Motion.....joining my therapeutic approach with mindful movement and dance in community....supporting a group to support themselves and each other.
I have also travelled down a challenging road with my body....so I get how it feels to hold shame rather than love for this vessel each of us call home. My dieting history started in second grade, and my relationship with my body was one of trying to fix it or control it until I was in my late 30's. I didn't fully inhabit it because I didn't even like it.....I was angry and ashamed, and it felt, at times, like an enemy. Through the movement, dance, and mindfulness....I now embrace this body and our relationship has more ease, lightness and joy. I'm aging....and I'm grateful for this newfound partnership. Life is more fun when you find peace with your travelling partner!
Come experience what it may have to offer you.
This may feel like a stretch right now....maybe your relationship has had it's complications.
I know this work can be reparative.
It is something I have experienced and seen in others. Intimacy with ourselves and our inner workings can't help but create appreciation.
Do you notice your attention is more externally focused than internally?Your body holds it's own intelligence, instinct, and emotion and can be a fabulous companion for giving guidance, support, love, connection, and in finding ground.
My decisions and choices become much clearer after moving.
Are you overwhelmed? Feeling like your to-do list is way too long, always figuring out the next plan?
We can get caught up there....listening, watching, thinking....and lose touch with the vessel that holds us and that would love some attention.
Return home to your body.
So you find sitting meditation challenging? One of the keys to happiness and joy is being present. And, a key to being able to work through difficult times is the same. This is a living, breathing, moving mindfulness practice that you can
take into your world.
Do you long to connect more deeply with others? To witness and be witnessed by others in a group of like-minded movers?
This is an aim of Soul in Motion...healing in community.
Being held, seen, and supported by a group, in relationship.
Do you ever look at your body and wonder how you've lost touch? Maybe it feels older, less energetic, looks differently than it did in the past. Rather than being frustrated or controlling, I invite you to move with these changes, to lean in rather than abandon this lifelong dance partner.
How and why I chose to create Soul in Motion
Making the change, jumping all the way in.
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email: soulinmotionbend@gmail.com
Contact: 541-948-7015