Dancing Mindfulness
Following a packed few days in NYC I travelled onwards to Warren, Ohio for a visit based around the Institute for Creative Mindfulness, created by trauma specialist Jamie Marich. I had a bust few days and had the opportunity to talk with both Jamie Marich and her colleague Ramona Skriiko about their practice and different approaches to working creatively with experiences of trauma.
Ramona was kind enough to spend a day with me sharing insight into her work, which incorporates expressive arts therapy and somatic experiencing. Ramona also shared with me techniques for visual journaling, a creative tool which can be used individually or in a group with other to help express, explore and process emotions in a creative and containing way:
The final part of my trip to Ohio was learning how to facilitate Dancing Mindfulness, an arts and mindfulness approach developed by Jamie Marich. Dancing Mindfulness is an activity that can be enjoyed by anyone, with particular benefits for those affected by trauma. It is a flexible model which can be adapted for different populations and contexts. Jamie explained that she feels a key element of any form of trauma-informed activities is that there must always be a modification available for any activity or approach that is being offered.
The facilitator training was delivered at a local yoga studio. The process was intense, we were all in the studio for around 12 hours each day and much time was spent dancing! The dancing was interspersed with lectures and lab sessions where everyone was able to practice elements of Dancing Mindfulness facilitation. The training culminated in co-facilitating a Dancing Mindfulness community class which was open to members of the public. This was pretty daunting but an essential component of becoming a Certified Dancing Mindfulness Facilitator, and it ended up being very useful to swiftly put the skills learnt to the test.
I can see lots of potential benefits of Dancing Mindfulness and I am excited to think about how to use this approach to support people affected by trauma in the UK. Dancing Mindfulness does not require people to sit still for long periods of time or focus specifically on trying to feel calm, which can often be very difficult for people affected by trauma. Through my own work as a clinician I have frequently worked with people who report that they struggle with relaxation-based techniques. One of the aspects of Dancing Mindfuless that I particularly liked was how much it encourages you to accept whatever it is you are doing and feeling without any negative judgement. The dancing aspect provides the potential for somatic processing of emotions, whilst also providing the opportunity to attune with others and potentially have fun.
The end of my visit to Ohio culminated in the certification ceremony at the end of the training. This felt like a great sense of achievement and it was lovely to mark the end of the training with the other participants.
Ramona was kind enough to spend a day with me sharing insight into her work, which incorporates expressive arts therapy and somatic experiencing. Ramona also shared with me techniques for visual journaling, a creative tool which can be used individually or in a group with other to help express, explore and process emotions in a creative and containing way:
The final part of my trip to Ohio was learning how to facilitate Dancing Mindfulness, an arts and mindfulness approach developed by Jamie Marich. Dancing Mindfulness is an activity that can be enjoyed by anyone, with particular benefits for those affected by trauma. It is a flexible model which can be adapted for different populations and contexts. Jamie explained that she feels a key element of any form of trauma-informed activities is that there must always be a modification available for any activity or approach that is being offered.
The facilitator training was delivered at a local yoga studio. The process was intense, we were all in the studio for around 12 hours each day and much time was spent dancing! The dancing was interspersed with lectures and lab sessions where everyone was able to practice elements of Dancing Mindfulness facilitation. The training culminated in co-facilitating a Dancing Mindfulness community class which was open to members of the public. This was pretty daunting but an essential component of becoming a Certified Dancing Mindfulness Facilitator, and it ended up being very useful to swiftly put the skills learnt to the test.
I can see lots of potential benefits of Dancing Mindfulness and I am excited to think about how to use this approach to support people affected by trauma in the UK. Dancing Mindfulness does not require people to sit still for long periods of time or focus specifically on trying to feel calm, which can often be very difficult for people affected by trauma. Through my own work as a clinician I have frequently worked with people who report that they struggle with relaxation-based techniques. One of the aspects of Dancing Mindfuless that I particularly liked was how much it encourages you to accept whatever it is you are doing and feeling without any negative judgement. The dancing aspect provides the potential for somatic processing of emotions, whilst also providing the opportunity to attune with others and potentially have fun.
The end of my visit to Ohio culminated in the certification ceremony at the end of the training. This felt like a great sense of achievement and it was lovely to mark the end of the training with the other participants.
