Conscious Moving came into being as a result of longings for expansion. Staying in the field of psychotherapy was starting to feel confining and I felt the need to stretch out into two new directions. The first was to see the work I was doing (and had been doing for over four decades) as applicable to other disciplines – other ways of moving in the world besides those labeled ‘healing’ and ‘therapy’. Moving consciously as a deliberate practice seems so suffused within so many human endeavors – from Tai Chi and Yoga to experiential education to art making and contemplative traditions, to name only a few. I had been personally immersed in all these other disciplines for many years, but had never expanded into including them in my sense of life as a more unified system. That compartmentalization began to feel antithetical to what I know conscious moving to be.

 

The other expansion was generational – I wanted to do something that would empower my longtime students to take our work into their own directions, and support them, going forward, to have the widest reach they can. Perhaps being in my seventh decade has helped me realize that this work will live on in them and the people they work with, and that the best way I could help pass on the DNA of conscious moving was to invite them to participate in this act of reproduction and evolution – writing a book. Legacy coalesces from community!

 

Life moves instinctively and deliberately and playfully. When we dance with these movements all around us and within us, we feel more connected, more whole, and more empowered. From there, we are better equipped to celebrate life’s pleasures, to contribute to the lessening of its sufferings, and to move it forward into greater awakenings.

 

I hope this book will move you in whatever directions bring you and all of us more fully into life.