The essential flaw in education as we know it today is that it is based on ancient and often primitive practices whose equalizing purpose was neither conscious nor clear. -Moshe Feldenkrais

Somatic education is unique because it is rooted in subjective experience. Its goal is not to equalize behavior of many individuals, but rather self-educate a person to his or her own individual patterns and promote effective change through enhanced self awareness.

During the initial research process that brought this website to life, we found a full spectrum of strategies in higher dance education to integrate the somatic approach. While this spectrum ranged from no course offerings to entire programs based in somatic intention, we noticed that integrating somatic language in classes seemed to constitute “middle-ground.” Language frames the perspective students will take in, so it is important to be mindful of the words chosen to communicate concepts and their value. With the right words, likely anything could be taught and understood from a somatic perspective.

Open the image below to see where your program lies on our spectrum of somatic education!

We value a gathering together of teaching tools to implement in classes grounded in a somatic approach. Much of the information on this website, such as awareness practices or results of research could be used as educational tools in a classroom setting. As we collect curricula, syllabi, awareness practices, texts, project ideas, etc., to aid in teaching from a somatic perspective, we share them here in hopes that the inner wisdom of the body will enable students to listen to their hearts, follow their gut instincts, live passionately, and create a world of awareness and connection.

Would you like to share an educational tool with our community?  Send it to us via e-mail at simplysomatic@gmail.com!