Member

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  MichaelZ Event Member
  

  MichaelZ

  Event Member

  As someone who was taught from an early age that the world was a dangerous place, I learned to stay small, obedient and dependent on the attention and approval of others to feel safe. Another brick in the wall: being the smallest (and “cutest”) kid in class. I came to distrust my masculinity, and hid out in my protected, predictable world of books and music.
  I’m so glad dance found me along the way! I discovered intentional practice tapping into body and soul, and have been fortunate to be guided by master teachers like Zuza Engler, Vincent Martinez-Grieco, Kathy Altman and Andrea Juhan. I began to feel that place of longing to be included, and appreciated. And when Vincent, designer of Soul Motion, in the beginning of a 5-day Soul Motion workshop at Esalen in 2005, slid over and whispered in my ear, “Hey, Mikey! Go heat up that corner of the room!” I felt what it’s like to be truly seen, appreciated and necessary.

  I entered the first formal teacher training for Soul Motion in 2007, was certified to teach the practice in 2010. I continue to learn Soul Motion’s lessons of attunement and generosity, and, in 2019, was in the first cohort to be certified to teach Foundations, Soul Motion’s core training. My stake, as revealed to me early on in my Soul Motion path: “to encourage students to discover and share their gifts with the world.”

  This also informs my work with people in non-ordinary states of consciousness: finding and guiding from my center as I keep clients safe to explore what emerges from theirs. I summon loving kindness as I accompany you on your journeys, and am honored and humbled to bring integrity, presence and care to all those I work and play with.

  As well as discovering my own inner worlds in Holotropic Breathwork and other advanced meditation settings, I’ve trained with the Hanuman cohort in 2023-24, to guide medicine sessions.