In this experiential movement workshop we will look at the nine fixations as they manifest within the body, and techniques for releasing fixations and contacting the essence state of balance, ease, and freedom. Through gentle, relaxing and enjoyable sensing and movement practices, we will learn to sense our own subtle muscle habits, wake up our mind’s vast control of our physiological states, and move safely beyond existing limitations.

Wilhelm Reich elaborated on “body armoring” as the habitual unconscious holding patterns manifested within the musculoskeletal system of the body. Thomas Hanna used the term “sensory-motor amnesia” to describe the neurological basis of “stuck” places within the body as combinations of over- and under-developed neuron pathways within the voluntary nervous system. Both of these concepts describe the physical manifestations of fixations — habits which originate as the organism’s best effort to survive and function, but which ultimately limit our expressive possibilities.

By becoming aware of the somatic aspects of our fixations and exploring the undefended self beneath them, we liberate new possibilities for a relaxed, fully responsive self to emerge. Participants will come away with increased somatic awareness and tools and practices for centering, rebalancing, and exploring our expansive potential through the body.

Karin Scholz Grace, M.S. is a certified Hanna Somatic therapist and Somatic Yoga teacher working with individual clients and groups to restore balance of the body, mind, and spirit. Karin is also certified as an Enneagram teacher in the Narrative tradition and as a teacher of Radical Collaboration. Trained in dance, yoga, psychology, anatomy, and neurophysiology, Karin holds an MS from Stanford University.