Greetings!

Sharing Dance with your Child - Netherlands 2012

Parents with Toddlers making music in movement together

KMP Massage Demo Online - Feedback

Recently, I gave a Free KMP Massage Demo live online over the Webinar. Here are the feedback from all the three participants.

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 "This demo on KMP massage was informative as it gave a vocabulary of terms to specific movement patterns.  The instructor would demonstrate the movement, and we would follow.  It was clear to see her movements in the camera.  She would demonstrate specific hands up close and whole body movements further away.  The instructor answered questions participants had.  The start of the meeting was unorganized as participants struggled with technical challenges.  I would recommend logging in at least 15 minutes prior to the start time of the course, to make sure these technical difficulties are already dealt with.  The instructor was knowledgeable on the topic and gave clear explanations and demonstrations of each movement pattern.  Input about the use of these patterns on children with autism was great!  Would love more of this!"

~ Laura Lynne Simonson

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Dear Liz, it was eye-opening for me to join in the KMP massage demo. Even though, it was done online, your instructions were clear and having a partner to practise on, was very good as we could see and feel the effects of each rhythm. For me, the KMP massage was eye-opening because I did not know there were so many different ways we could use our hands or fingers or even wrists and each rhythm could give such a different feel when applied on another's back.

Henry and I have enjoyed learning about the different KMP rhythms and we have also used the techniques taught during the demo on each other and also on our 21 month old daughter.

Thank you for availing yourself to teach us. God bless, Karen and Henry and little Joan :)

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"This is the first time i'm doing training on-line and i must say that i was able to learn easily, although at first i thought it might be a bit difficult learning movements on-line!  Elizabeth was very clear and answered my queries clearly.  Thanks a heap!"  ~ A.K., Therapist

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EM is offering KMP online course on Tension-Flow Rhythm Part One on 24 November and 12 December. Check it out on our website www.embodied-movement.com and for registration click on Contact Us Tab. 

KMP Workshop - 'Moving the Rhythm' is based on the Tension-Flow Rhythm and has been run twice in Singapore. In March 2013, a re-run of the workshop will be held.  Part Two on Tension-Flow Attributes will be held after Part One in another visit. 

Like to Stay Tune to our updates on EM workshops?  
Join our mailing list now! Visit our website and Contact Us. 

To view feedback from our participants, check them out in our blog. 

 

Words

Words shared by participants during the workshop ' Looking into the Lens, Into the Inner World.'

Testimony - Women's Group Retreat

 Women's Group Retreat - Womanhood - 3 Rs

*Rediscover, Revitalise, Reconnect - Our Womenhood*

* This is a small group where women from all walks of life came together in Singapore, giving oneself the time & space, a 'me' time for self. Having worked with women's groups in my internship and motivated from my own personal journey, I feel it is essential to give support to women. Thus, I initiated this group retreat in my visit to Singapore in October 2012. It is a confidential group and no photos and video were taken during the process. I am thankful that the women are willing to share their journey in my blog. Here they are:-

* To request to facilitate women's group internationally, visit www.embodied-movement.com to view our services and click on Contact Us tab.

 

Sharing from C:

a mother juggling a full time job and two active children with very different personalities, life is a constant blur of meeting work deadlines, managing the children's routines and keeping the house in order. Time sometimes goes by so quickly, I am always surprised to find that another year has gone by. When  I decided to attend the women's retreat, I did not know quite what to expect, other than that it would comprise of some movement and art-related activities. What happened during the retreat however, surprised me as I encountered emotions I never thought would need releasing. We were introduced to transactional analysis theory, and learnt how each of us operate at different ego-states. While I had encountered the model in the course of my work, I never had a chance to apply it to my personal life until now. When we were given time to reflect on what the "child" in us used to be like and how we could represent her, a flood of emotions came over me. At that moment, I realised that amidst the busyness of work and family, the "little girl" aspect of myself was desperately calling out to be cared for too. The tears that followed was a fantastic form of release and it came partly due to the pent-up frustrations at the frantic pace of life, but mostly because I was also grieving for the "little child" in me that had been neglected for so long. I don't usually express strong emotions outside of my family, and the fact that I did so freely during the workshop is testament to the ease I felt under Elizabeth's reassuring guidance during the session. Her unhurried facilitation and encouragement to let go and give myself time to recover helped me to feel much calmer and more recharged at the end of the retreat. More importantly, I am now more conscious of the need to give myself time and space to nurture the inner self. As life gets back on schedule and work and family demands grow, it's going to be difficult at times to remember to practise self-care, but I'm glad I got started and intend to remind myself to do so. 

Sharing from TT:
 "A momentary time travel to my childhood - a forgotten part of myself - a carefree, innocent and joyful little girl with full and free self-expressions and nary a care what others think! A sweet and liberating experience."

Sharing Movement

Our Body

Embodied Moments Exploration

Embodied Movement presents:-

The meaning of Embodiment in 'Embodied Moments Exploration'

~ A gallery walk through the various creative arts:-

• Presentation of art pieces by Daryl
• Live flute music by Joyce
• Dance/movement performance by Elizabeth.

Participants will journey in the moment, being guided through in reflection of the series of creative arts. 

The journey will be based on the concepts of Embodied Movement:- 

(1) Openness (2) Presence (3) Process (4) Transformation
based on the authentic movement and dance/movement therapy.

This is an event held in conjunction with the raising funds to build a playground for the needy children in Nepal.

Sebastian Liew (and Wee Kuang) who initiated the social work project will be sharing with you a little presentation about the children.

Followed by the 'Embodied Moments Exploration' by Elizabeth, founder of Embodied Movement, a dance/movement therapist and educator.

7 Oct, Sunday, 3 to 5pm 

52BTemple Street S(058597) 
Next to Lucky Chinatown's Mcdonald's 
Behind Chinatown MRT station (Exit A)

Entrance fee of $10.

All proceeds (and all entrance fee) collected will be donated to the cause. Welcome to donate generously.

Limited only to 20 participants as the space is small.

Please email Elizabeth @dancetherapy.kmp@gmail.com for  registration form.

Visit www.embodied-movement.com for Singapore October workshops and programmes for parents and children, children, adults and professionals. Limited space and all registration will close on 25th August for administrative purposes.

Sharing Dance with your Child

Thank you to all my friends who have been supporting my work as a dance movement therapist and educator. 

A friend who attended my ‘Sharing Dance with your Child’ last year, recently sent me her sharing on her blog and has given me permission to share with you.

The nature of our work as therapists, we are abide by ethical code, we never disclose information about our clients we worked with in the therapy settings unless they personally give us permission to do so. Most of the time, our work can still be new and unknown with the fact it is confidential. However, this form of therapy has already been around since the 1960s.

Even in my workshops/sessions (non-therapy), I always respect my participants and will ask permission for photo-taking and testimony to be put up on my blog. No doubt, it is non-therapy, it is to respect each individual’s privacy.

Even I run workshops/sessions which are non-therapy, the approaches I adopt are based from the training in dance therapy I had, integrating my skills as a teacher in combination with other studies. Namely, the approaches I use which can also be read in my website, ‘Embodied Movement’, such as attunement, containing and holding environment, boundary, working at where the participants are at, reading nonverbal cues, being seen, taking into account the emotional and relational aspects.

Hereby, I explain how I actually run a session based on the principles, approaches and concepts of dance movement therapy and it is non-therapy. I share in the next issue on the difference between a non-therapy and a therapy session.

Every parent and child is different. Every child is also in different phase and developmental milestone. In the first session, it is natural that some children are more prone to observing, waiting, scanning about the environment and people especially it is new. Giving time and space for both parent and child to adjust and feel at ease is essential. Sometimes a child may take a longer time to ‘warm-up’. 

As a facilitator of the session especially for the first session, nonverbal cues of each individual will provide me information of where they will be at, at the moment. If I feel that the child needs more time, I will always verbalise to the parent that some children will prefer to observe and watch first and take time to warm-up. They can join later when the child is ready. The approach is to hold and contain the space, to make it safe for both the parent and child and the acceptance of the uniqueness of each parent and child.(Sharing of one approaches)

My friend, the mum, she herself has made a conscious choice and is aware of what is likely to happen. What is beautiful to read is that she constantly reflects and she has deliberately giving permission to herself and her child that it is all right to be shy. She has contained and set boundary for her child with the conscious decision of staying and by being encouraging and supportive towards her child’s feelings. When I read it, I was very touched and almost to tears -  it is an honest, authentic account of the journey between mother and child.  
  
As a therapist or facilitator, no matter how small the significant process took place, when I witness it, in  my heart, I know it is the beginning journey of further deepening of mother-child bonding relationship.

With the trained eye of observing nonverbal cues, I was able to witness what was going on and am honoured to have witnessed the beautiful process between my friend and her child in the 'Sharing Dance with your Child' session.

Blog - i was (still am) a shy little person

(My sharing is unedited and it is based on personal reflection.)

Check our programmes for Singapore & Netherlands on our website.

Witnessing the movement between mum & child

To share more photos here with you what actually took place later at the end (permission given by mother to share) and the blog of the account of the journey in the session that day.

Clarity in the Body gives Clarity in the Mind

What does clarity mean?

How does clarity in the body be possible to give clarity in the mind?

Witnessing, observing, studying and reflection both in personal life and work, has revealed the meaning of clarity. To feel, see and experience the clarity in the body provides a clarity in the mind.

Studying and exploring developmental work such as the tension- flow rhythms in Kesternberg Movement profile (KMP), sense and perception (S&P), basic neurological patterning(BNP), primitive reflexes, righting reactions, equilibrium responses (RRR) and ontogentic incorporating with authentic movement, movement analysis and dance movement therapy, the more clarity I develop in my body, the more clarity I sense in my mind.

In my work, witnessing and observing the fragmentation of the body and in movement, the state of mind is often in confusion and the feeling is being fragmented. The sense of wholeness is not integrated and resulted in a split of body parts and disconnected body. It can leave one feeling ‘a sense of loss’.

I often witness and observe when there is a clarity in the body, the integration of the wholeness of the body and mind gradually takes place and the sense of clarity comes alive in body and mind. This occurrence is evident in my own personal life and with the clients I have worked and worked with.

Now what is this clarity then?

I will use my personal journey to illustrate it.

An approach of authentic movement is to develop the listening ‘eyes’, I would also add, listening ‘senses’.  To be in the role of a witness and mover, I learn the art of staying neutral, being objective, carrying a non-judgemental attitude and to be in the presence with self, feelings, body, images, sensations, and to be led by what my body is going to speak, giving me information of the here & now, allowing the unconscious materials to arise into the conscious level. The more I practise it, the more clarity I come to understand self.  Each carries such clear information as I explore and being with it. I like this term, ‘befriend’ which my supervisor shared.

Understanding my own movement preferences and repertoire in Laban and KMP, the clarity of what I like and not, what I do, what I find difficult and/or easy, how I move and relate to self, provide me clarity to who I am and in relation to others and the world. It is a moment of acceptance and acknowledging where I am at, past and present.

My understanding of my movement patterns have enabled me to discover and deepen the knowledge of self. With that, in creative ways, I also explored other movements which I maybe unfamiliar with, revisit areas where my body like to take me, and movements perhaps I have never been to. The process is a creative process and allowing my body to create, improvise and play.

I do struggle with areas which are difficult and taking time to find a way with the support of therapy, facilitators and supervisors during these 6 years of journey. Slowly I find this clarity  more and more in my body especially in the recent studies in RRR & Ontogentic, I feel it deep within my core being and interestingly, I feel the clarity in my mind in return.

With the sense of clarity in my body has given my mind the clarity in the process. The view of self becomes clearer.  Before that, I was confused and overloaded with too much in my head for many years.

Movement has open up my body and thus reintegrating and rewiring my mind in the process.

Clarity in the body has given clarity in the mind.

In the next sharing, I will share about polarities and modulation in our body.

Interview - Next Magazine Jan 2012 Singapore

Sharing with you my interview - 

Next Magazine (Health Magazine) Singapore

*Check our workshops/services 
at our website now!*

Journal of a Dance Therapist

This painting is done by Daryl Toy.

 

Waking up,

to the sound of silence.

Listening - 
birds chirping 
in the air.

The song of birds

resonates my soul.

Sensing the inner peace

abides deep within.

Listening -

stillness,

moments of silence.

As each breath

flowing through,

a tingling of warmness.

My heart sings a song of gladness,

as my heartbeat echoes -

I am fully alive!

~ Elizabeth Rutten-Ng

Project Leaf To Life Nepal Updates

Dear Friends,

Sebastian Liew has posted updates about the trip to Nepal.

All the contribution collected from the Introduction to Dance Therapy in Singapore 2011 were donated to this cause.

Thank you for your kind contribution and for sharing your love.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Photo taken by my sister, Siew Cheng, who is one of the volunteers. Copyright.

Project leaf to life is a humanitarian project that is entirely supported and self-funded by a team of like-minded volunteers who wish to help support needy children in Nepal. Our last trip was in December 2011. 

Friendship, perpetual joyful spirit of the children and the hospitality of the people in Nepal have been deeply moving. 

        

We are looking for volunteer teachers who can station in Shanti Rani school to teach English for a period of 3 to 6 months. 

 

Our next trip will be in the 1st week of September 2012.   

Kindly forward this attachment to your friends and to all who had donated their resources or contributed in one way or another to this project.    

If you would like to help or learn more about the Project, contact us or call our project coordinator
Mr Ann Wee Kuang at +65- 90214113 

Your kind contribution is deeply appreciated.   

NAMASTE, Thank you very much for your support and contribution.    

Click to find out more and watch our beautiful video and power point presentation created by our volunteers.

Visit the website, Project leaf to life .

  

PEACE

Sebastian Liew, ND, MNHAA
(Australia registered)
Medical Herbalist, Naturopath

195, Pearl's Hill Terrace, #02-09
Tel: 65-65389978, Singapore  168976
www.slnaturopath.com 

Join our natural medicine community 
http://www.leaftolife.com/Leaftolife-Diary

Art to Movement 2

My client, who has journeyed his process in therapy since 2010, has given me permission to share one of his art piece work in one of the sessions in 2011. He has also shared one art piece earlier. You can view the other art piece by clicking this.

Kororo こころ

A Reflection of my Heart... and the Treasure it holds with humility but in Strength and Grace from Above!

"Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is within you.’ " - Luke 17:20-21

For the first time, I begin to realise the Truth of what Jesus said, and i am thankful and truly rejoice in this Enlightenment!

For the first time, the Temple Veils, that hid the Holy of Holies lying deep within my heart, is rent apart!

The storm is calming down, the skies begin to clear, rain is reduced to a light drizzle, forming various precious crystals, reflecting the Rainbow of God's Promise of a New Day!

Indeed, deep within the cave of my heart, as manifested in this drawing, God is there with me!

Look! Hear! Smell! Taste! Touch! Sense! Feel! Remember...

He is with me all along in my dark times of depression and anger; when i cry, He cries along with me, when i rage on, He thunders along too, to the point that ironically i get scared by what i perceived to be His Uproar against poor ol' me, when in reality it is His Still Small Voice!

"Be Still, and Know that I AM God..." - Psalm 46:10

Indeed, the Psalmist sings most truly: even if i were to make my bed in Sheol, You are there!

When i need to be refreshed, He nudges me to take a plunge into His River and let me float, dive deep into His Living Waters, in which He propels me to emerge and spring forth, filling me with His Ruach of Life, and basking me with His Sunlight!

Always the Good Shepherd, He carries me into the cooling shade of His Tree of Life to rest with Him.

In His Spirit, He soars along with me as i run freely barefooted through His Open Fields of Gold.

Under His Wings, as He embraces me with His Arms, my head on His Bosom, He grants me the Beatific Vision, and reveals to me a Whole New World, nay, a Whole New Cosmos He makes ready for His Beloved Ones, especially for His Little Ones, in which we find our Real Home - in His Heart!

Amen!

Can you Feel His Love tonight, nay, at all times?