Who?
Mari Winkelman, Somatic Movement practitioner and therapist.

Why?
“I began working life in publishing and conference organising in London before I awoke to my soul urging me to connect more deeply into my humanity. I volunteered for Samaritans and worked as a young persons substance misuse support worker before qualifying as a counsellor. I eventually undertook an MA in Dance and Somatic Wellbeing.
I cannot not practice, this is a way of life for me! I practice creating time and space for my bodymind to communicate; for example, as I walk from A to B, as I work on the computer, as I eat and drink, as I offer my sessions and as I interact with other people. It’s my calling to keep showing up, offering a space for myself and others to experience this innate and life-supporting relationship.”

What?
“For a Western industrialised culture with constant body-objectification on most channels, somatic movement is a radical and very healing practice.
My work is informed by experiential anatomy (that is, feeling and moving from guided awareness of the anatomical systems and structures) which takes us into the mind of the body. I use guided meditation techniques with breath to evoke the inner witness in each person, before setting a course into a particular aspect of bodymind, for instance, the bone tissues and structures, and interweave notions of grounding, containment, form, and invite awareness of sensations and shapes. I always invite people to go with their flow, to take my suggestions if they feel right, and to stay with and develop their own experience as they feel invited to by their body, just as it is.”

Where and When?
Mari teaches an intro to Somatic Movement at Stroud Yoga Space on Wednesdays at 1pm and Fridays at 5pm. For those with some experience of Somatic Movement (or similar) she hold a session called finding Home in your Body on Fridays at 6.15pm. — with Mari Winkelman.