Three months have passed and I am now on my way west to east to further east via Maui, Massachusetts and Vienna.

The first stop was Maui. Complete. Beautiful, high energy with lots of flow and ease and grace. I am feeling well from my time on this enchanting island in the middle of the pacific ocean. Far out and away from any large land mass, the Hawaiian islands feel like an othered place. A place of difference if you are from the main land and a place of total harmony. A place where one can see the ripple effect of an action immediatly across the island, like a desert sandstorm it takes only one small thing to happen to shift the balance. All are effected/affected, like a one big empathetic wave.

Next come Massachusetts in July. Earthdance for a week of … Read More »

Somatic Generosity: Cultivating empathy in the classroom and beyond
Deirdre Morris , MFA

As an educator, I often observe students struggling with new concepts and issues of heritage
and identity. The process of understanding the somatic heritage we carry, socially and
culturally, through embodied practices, offers students alternative pathways to knowledge –
embodied knowledge, traditional knowledge, relational knowledge. In presenting an
experiential learning model, students can experience in a direct way their growing awareness
and knowledge.
The intention of Somatic Generosity is to create an opening for explorations of vulnerability,
empathetic listening and subjective awareness. These are the skills needed to understand how
to be generous and how effective generosity as a place of operation can be in settings within
and outside of the academy.
Why generosity? What does generosity have to offer in a pedagogical setting? From my
experiences teaching over the past 20 years, I’ve discovered that students want to learn … Read More »