Authenticity and Us…
When Carolyn Street asked if I was interested in writing a piece for the book titled Authenticity and Us, I took pause because "authenticity" has always been a charged and contentious term for me. I am philosophically and soulfully rooted in entanglement, mystery, and change. What is authenticity within a framework guided by these moving principles? When I told Carolyn this, I realized my answer had to be yes. Yes I want to engage with Authenticity and Us. Yes I want not just to talk about, but to offer practices that initiate a sensate potency of authenticity within, and through, movement. As a somatic practitioner and coach, I know authenticity as a felt sense. As an Open Floor Movement Practice teacher, I know the dynamics of how authenticity shows up, or disappears, in relationship. In the chapter I wrote, I offer embodiment practices that support and deepen the places from which we allow ourselves to be seen, both by ourselves, and one another. Authenticity combines strength and vulnerability. It is the capacity to show up in and with our imperfections, with clarity, and with a willing curiosity to move with paradox and constant change.
Every single one of us is moving, whether on a micro or a macro scale. Bringing mindful awareness to the patterns that structure our movement, from walking to eating to dancing, is a radical and politically charged act. What happens when we invite awareness to our physical articulation? What unfolds when we give permission to expression? Join me in an adventure of playful curiosity and profound effect. There is no way you can do it wrong, because you are always already moving.
Moving: Unfolding Toward Authenticity
The chapter I offer combines discussion with somatic practices for unfolding toward a felt sense of authenticity. For me, it is primary to do this work in community, so the chapter addresses the four relational hungers (for solitude, partnership, belonging, and spirit) in relation to how embodiment practice supports and deepens the places from which we allow ourselves to be seen by both ourselves and one another.
You can find the book Authenticity and Us on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Authenticity-Us-Ways-Flourish-Authentic-ebook/dp/B09N9MSLM1
