BodySoul Work

08/05/2026

Live stream is available!

08/05/2026

We need human bodies to be truly intelligent in all the ways that intelligence matters. 

08/01/2026

Thanks to Whidbey Children's Theater, who tagged me here when my new door signs were delivered erroneously to their building. 

It's been a full year now since I was dislocated from my beloved studio of over a decade by my landlord Goosefoot Community Fund to make room for their own offices....it was a challenging departure. 

How does one find a non-traditional psychotherapy space that can support movement and the expressive arts while fostering the beauty required for bodysoul healing? I looked at a lot of potential spaces and none were in the least bit suitable. 

Feeling so discouraged and nearly at the end of my hope, I walked through the South Whidbey Community Center (SWCC) with Gail Lavassar to look at an empty classroom for rent. It was large enough for movement and had a lot of space for art, but the floor was covered by decades-old carpet and, as anyone who has done movement work with me knows, we are on the floor often laying with our faces pressed into it. My old studio, the one I had to give up, had a beautiful cork floor installed over concrete, and it was warm and inviting to lay on. How could I ever replace that? 

As Gail and I walked the classroom together, suddenly came the sound that returned hope to my heart: a tiny creaking sound from underneath the carpet. I knew that sound well from decades of dancing on hardwood floors--signaling there was indeed a wood floor under that old carpet, probably close to 100 years old!! If I could take up the carpet and refinish the floor, this classroom could make a proper studio!! Gail thought it could be possible. SWCC said yes and welcomed me with open arms ... and I set out upon a new journey. 

Three months (and $20,000) later, voila!--we had created a beautiful new studio with space for expressive art therapy, Jungian psychotherapy, women's frame drum classes, Authentic Movement groups, sandplay therapy, Touch Drawing, Soul Collage, whirling classes, Laban/Bartenieff work, and more.

The floor?  It is now a beautiful, soft, warm, 90 year-old expertly refinished Douglas Fir (thank you Dixon Hardwoods) and there has been many a bare foot and many a soft cheek laid upon it already. 

Hats off to my skillful, creative contractors, Brian McCleary and Cooper Gillen, and many, many others.

07/05/2026

"Moving in synchrony leads to cooperative behaviour and feelings of social closeness, and dance (involving synchronisation to others and music) may cause social bonding, possibly as a consequence of released endorphins.

This study uses an experimental paradigm to determine which aspects of synchrony in dance are associated with changes in pain threshold (a proxy for endorphin release) and social bonding between strangers.

Those who danced in synchrony experienced elevated pain thresholds, whereas those in the partial and asynchrony conditions experienced no analgesic effects.

Similarly, those in the synchrony condition reported being more socially bonded, although they did not perform more cooperatively in an economic game.

This experiment suggests that dance encourages social bonding amongst co-actors by stimulating the production of endorphins, but may not make people more altruistic. We conclude that dance may have been an important human behaviour evolved to encourage social closeness between strangers."

Tarr B, Launay J, Dunbar RI. Silent disco: dancing in synchrony leads to elevated pain thresholds and social closeness. Evol Hum Behav. 2016 Sep;37(5):343-349. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.02.004. Epub 2016 Feb 24. PMID: 27540276; PMCID: PMC4985033.

Image: Tell Halaf, Iraq, ca, 5000-4000 BCE (Garfinkel)

04/28/2026

Locals and world-wide lovers of depth psychology, the Seattle Jung Society just launched its YouTube channel and there are lots of great talks posted from their archive!!!

The Seattle Jung Society was formed in 1973, and is open to anyone interested in learning about Jungian thought. This channel features what will become an archive of scores of onsite presentations by the country's leading Jungian analysts and authors from the early 2000's to more recent years. Most....

04/12/2026

We are hosting a special "whirl-wind" event with Ross Chapin on Thursday, April 23rd from 7-9 PM at bodysoulwork studio. Ross will be sharing his life-long movement practice of WHIRLING.

Many of us whirled as children, and we may find ourselves whirling now on the dance floor, in ecstatic dance, in rituals, in Authentic Movement, and in play.

Ross will share his atunement to and love for this centuries/millennias old practice, helping us to find our own groove.

Please contact me here if you would like to attend by commenting "whirl" and I will DM you more info.

03/23/2026

A new book by Professor Helen Payne about using Authentic Movement (AM) in various forms and contexts, spanning over three decades of Dr. Payne's practice and featuring a collection of her major works. She is well-known in England teaching at the University of Hertfordshire. She writes about the ground form, group formats, AM and clinical supervision, the Discipline of AM, body as container and expresser, bodies becoming conscious, the psycho-neurology of embodiment, AM and nature connectedness, relational psychotherapy and AM, and interoception, anxiety, and training in AM.

Routledge, 2026.

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03/08/2026

I'm proud to be a part of this stream of dance/movement therapy, a profession that was started by women and continues to be peopled mostly by women.

We were 50 years ahead of the somatic revolution in mental health treatment...ahead of the body bros who act like they invented the idea of bringing the body into psychotherapy (you know who they are).

For women healers, creators, inventors, and especially women who dance to heal themselves and the world: we see you! 

02/01/2026

For psychotherapists in the Seattle area: I am offering an in-person monthly series of 5 gatherings to learn about and experience Authentic Movement through a Jungian lens. The series will begin mid-February, meeting on Sundays and continuing through June. Our first gathering is February 15. Interview is required if you haven't experienced Authentic Movement with me. Space is limited. Please DM me for further details.

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01/11/2026

YOU are invited to an in-person frame drum workshop for beginners in the Layne Redmond style of women's sacred frame drumming. Drums provided for the first 10 people to sign up.

We'll learn about the sacred history of women's frame drumming, learn the basic strokes, learn how to find rhythm in our bodies, learn to hold the drum, play the basic strokes connected with the elements, sing, learn some rhythms to play at home, and join together in a group with chant and song with the drum...and more!

Visit www.framedrumsisters.com for more info and to sign up.

We meet on 1-4 PM Saturday, JANUARY 25, 2026.