Instagram story viewer> @somaticdanceinternational> Tagged

somaticdanceinternational

@somaticdanceinternational

1.2K

followers

151

following

Somatic Dance Teacher Trainings
🌿NZ
🌜 BALI
Find out more 👇🏼

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

SOIL to SKY ✨our bodies hold a whole world within them.
The stories we carry, the ways we protect ourselves, the longing for connection. And the capacity to feel something shift.

This Sunday the 18th, we’re exploring the body as a meeting place between earth and sky. Rooted below, open above, with the heart at the centre of what moves through us and ripples outward.

A dance with space for everything we’re arriving with. For tenderness, curiosity, connection and a little more wonder 🤍

Sunday 18 October · 11am–1pm
Te Atamira · Frankton · Queenstown

Soundscape: DJai Ma
Facilitation: Sarsha Hope

Tickets via the link in bio 🤍

Somatic Sundays · Dance Tribe Queenstown

23

3

We’re not moving away from ecstatic dance nor are we trying to put movement into another box. We’re simply bringing more intention to the somatic exploration that’s always been woven into our dance journeys.

For those who danced with us back in the church days, you’ll recognise the essence. Epic musical journeys, guided exploration, freedom of expression and all the beautiful layers that unfold on the dance floor.

Ecstatic dance can be deeply somatic, and somatic dance can be wildly ecstatic. They don’t need to be separate. 🤍

We’re excited to bring this next chapter to life with you!

Somatic Sundays | Dance Tribe Queenstown
Every second Sunday at Te Atamira, Frankton.

Sunday 18th October
Soundcape: DJai Ma
Facilitator: Sarsha Hope

See you on the dance floor! 🌀

24

1

Almost to the day 5 years ago, I arrived on this incredible land in Taranaki, to begin my first Somatic Dance Level 1 training

Let's just say I was totally fresh to the world of Somatic Dance.

I didn't even know if I wanted to facilitate dance floors...

I just knew there was something calling me here and I'd learned over the years prior not to deny this feeling, this pull, this deep yes

So here I was doing something that just a few years prior would have seemed impossible and definitely "not for me"...
Dancing SOBER for 10 days with a group of people I didn't yet know.

This training 5 years ago was an opening, it was just the beginning of something I couldn't quite explain but that again I was called to follow.

And so I returned, year after year, as an assistant, as a student again and again, deepening, listening, trusting and allowing myself to be guided by something deeper than my logical mind could comprehend.

Often it didn't make logical, practical or financial sense.

And yet I found myself feeling the pull and finding a way to be in these dance containers.

What has unfolded in my life in just 5 years is wild...
Facilitating retreats,
Leading somatic dances at festivals,
Traveling to Bali,
Guiding hundreds of people through online and in-person Somatic journeys,

And more than all of this, feeling deeply connected to myself and to Life,

So that I can keep saying yes to this pull, this yes that comes from a deeper place than my mind can comprehend.

In 2 weeks I'll return here, to this incredible land in Taranaki as part of the team leading the NZ Level 1 Somatic Dance Training.

This was absolutely NOT the plan 5 years ago 🫣🤣
It reminds me of the power of this work, when we surrender to a deeper current, trust our bodies and keep following the threads, we never know where it is going to lead...

Or just how good it can get 😉💃🏼✨

And in this threshold that I find myself in, I can't help thinking that
This is just the beginning... 🪶❤️‍🔥

I wonder what you are feeling the pull towards that may not currently make logical sense?
What might be possible if you allowed yourself to courageously say yes to the unknown?

Continued 👇🏼

24

4

While @somaticdanceinternational is a deep dive into embodiment and a training to learn to facilitate & DJ conscious dance floors,

I would say from my personal experience and from those that I've witnessed go through this training that it is ultimately a journey that deepens the trust in our intuition and ability to live from Soul rather than the layers of conditioning we may not even know we are carrying.

Coming home to the body through Somatic Dance is a pathway to liberation,

To deeper self trust,

And more authentic expression,

And the capacity to follow this inner truth and knowing, even if it doesn't make logical sense, or fit the expectations of others or society.

We need more humans that are in touch with this part of themselves.

We need more leaders that are embodied.

And it starts with us, in our own lives.

This is why our Level 1 Somatic Dance Training is a personal journey first.

Coming Home to Your Body, in order to hold spaces for others to do the same.

Our NZ Level 1 training begins in just over 2 weeks and we have a few final spaces available.

If you feel the call to this way of being with yourself and in the world, we welcome you to join us!

Oct 26th - Nov 5th, Taranaki NZ

Comment SOMA or see the link in my bio to to find out more.

Words in the video by @iamlilieve at Somatic Dance Level 1 Bali, 2 years ago 🙏🏼

12

3

Do you desire to FEEL more? Like REALLY feel more. We know the world needs more fully alive, fully feeling contributing human beings right now.

Feeling through every single cell and fibre of your body - from your little hairs to your bones and organs, to your eyeballs and senses. From what you can see and what you can’t.

Do you desire to be seen and heard? To evolve and develop your own unique sound and voice, to give rise to the music inside you and offer it out. To speak truth to yourself and to the others around you, and to give them the opportunity to hear and see your magic?

To go deep into personal body, collective body, social body, prayer body, dark and light body, and to come right into contact with your emotional world in the most expansive, subtlest and poetic of ways.

To create with your wholeness, with all of your power in a constant spiralling dance of change and magnetism.

The world of somatic dance, free form movement, and epic sound scapes can provide just the space for you to drop into this depth, presence and joy.

If these words draw you in, intrigue you, inspire curiosity, this is your invitation. This is your calling into the space of Level One Somatic Dance Training.

We begin in just over three weeks. Sarah Campus, Sarah Menlove, Natasha Mason, and our epic team are so excited to begin this journey at our stunning Taranaki venue.
Drawn to know more? ⭐️
Head to the link in my bio for the full event details and to find out more about Level One Somatic Dance Training.
#somaticdanceinternational #somaticdance ##conciousdance #taranaki

14

2

Come dance with us AND be part of the crew 💛

We’re looking for volunteers to help with setup, welcoming dancers and packing down, in exchange for a free dance ticket. Pre- and post-dance fun with the crew included ✨

No need to commit every time 👯‍♀️ we’ll work around your availability.

Somatic Dance returns every second Sunday from 18 October 🌿 Send me a message if you’re keen! X

29

7

I didn’t get to the second part of this dance by bypassing the first.

I got there by moving with…
the contraction
the overwhelm
the resistance
the fear of not belonging

But there’s something really important I want to name…

I wouldn’t have been able to go there without being in a space with experienced facilitators who knew how to hold what was coming up - a space I felt safe in.

Safety is not a nice-to-have when we’re moving into uncomfortable emotional territory.

It’s the prerequisite for allowing us to explore what feels difficult and choose if we can move WITH it.

This is a big part of what I help women resource and develop…

Learning to recognise:
When can I stay?
When do I need support?
Is it possible to move with what’s here?
And what becomes available when I do?

Because nervous system flexibility isn’t about being calm all the time.

It’s about having more capacity to meet what’s alive (and when there’s enough felt safety and resourcing), to move with it rather than away from it.

That’s where emotional alchemy happens.

Not because we turn discomfort into something positive.

But because we allow ourselves to feel what’s here, and discover what’s available to us on the other side...
More connection
More play
More joy
More freedom

I don’t just hold space.

I hold spaces I’ve walked through.

This is the “work” we do inside of The Homecoming - our 14-week online transformative embodiment journey for women ready to return to their aliveness.

No more bypassing.
No more running…
Finally finding freedom.

We begin 20 October.

Early Bird specials end soon…if you’re curious, comment ME or send me a DM and I’ll flick you some info ✨

📸 footage filmed during the @somaticdanceinternational level 2 training in Bali

Dancing with the beautiful @_ladyfem_ , guided by @sarshahope and DJ daddied by @stephenblase

#embodiment #somaticdance #homecoming #dance #emotions

58

6

I thought it was time to reintroduce myself here, on this weird and wonderful platform we call social media.

My full name is Sarsha Marie Hope.

And yes, before you ask, Hope is my actual maiden name, proudly inherited from my Grandad, who was one of the most wonderful humans I have ever known.

I am a mother of three incredible grown-up humans.

They are my children and also some of my best friends. At 19, 22 and 26, they still want to spend a ridiculous amount of time with me, and I feel incredibly grateful for that.

I am the founder of Somatic Dance International, a school that teaches people how to lead others back into their soma, their bodies, how to DJ and create sonic soundscapes that support conscious dance floors, and how to hold all of this through a trauma-aware lens.

Over the years I have supported hundreds of humans to learn how to skilfully hold space and facilitate somatic dance floors.

It began in a small church hall in Queenstown with six people on my dance floor.

Today there are regular somatic dances in more than 15 locations across Aotearoa New Zealand and in more than a dozen locations around the globe.

Sometimes I look at that and think, how the fuck did that happen?

I am in awe of how this medicine of Somatic Dance has grown and spread, and incredibly grateful for the epic humans who make up this community.

I am also a self-professed feminist.

No, that does not mean I hate men.

I love men. A LOT. 😂

But from a young age I had a burning curiosity about gender roles and why penis owners seemed to have more rights, authority and opportunities than vagina owners in so much of the world.

That curiosity has sent me on a lifelong research project into what it means to be a woman.

Into patriarchy.
Power.
Gender.
Religion.
The body.
Sexuality.
Shame.
The Goddess.

Continued in comments ↓

120

30

What really happens behind the scenes of a somatic dance floor is so much more than what people often think. Our DJs and facilitators are highly skilled and trained.

Somatic dance international is the #1 dance, Somatic’s and Dj training in the world. With decades of experience in our faculty we have been offering our trainings now for a number of years and have somatic dance floors in over 20 different locations across the globe.

Applications for our Bali level 1 and 2 trainings are opening soon and our level 1 New Zealand training begins in just under a month.

All information is on our website link is in bio or DM - DANCE and I will send you the link to find out more.

#somaticdance #embodiment #bali #nervoussystemregulation

61

14

SOMATIC INQUIRY IN PERSON CLASSES - NEW TERM BEGINS 14 OCTOBER
For almost two years, I’ve had the honour of holding Somatic Inquiry for women.
And what I love most is witnessing women keep saying yes.
Yes to themselves.
Yes to self-care.
Yes to listening to the wisdom of their bodies.
Yes to connection and community.
Some women come for a term. Others return again and again. And over time, something really beautiful happens.
Friendships form. Women share, laugh, move, listen and witness one another in all the different ways we arrive.
There is a beautiful kind of support that grows here - not from a place of needing to fix or change something that is broken.
Because we are not broken.
It is simply the support of being alongside one another. Of being seen and heard. Of leaning in when it feels right, and knowing you don’t have to do everything alone.
I’ve witnessed so much softening and de-armouring. Women becoming more at home in their bodies and more connected to themselves and each other.
This is the magic that happens when women gather. And it makes my heart sing.
Our next six-week term begins 14th October.
💃 Wednesdays, 9:15 am - 11am
💃 Kaitake Community Sports Hub
💃 Somatic Dance + intuitive movement
💃 Breath, meditation + deep listening
💃Closed six-week group
No choreography. No dance experience needed. No right or wrong way to move.
Just an invitation to come as you are and listen.
If you feel the pull, perhaps this is your invitation to say yes.
Bookings via the link in my bio.
Leah x

8

2

In May 2023 I stepped into my first Somatic Dance teacher training, simply desiring an opportunity to dance for 11 days. I didn’t see myself going onto facilitate, create spaces or become a DJ!

Life had put me precisely where I was meant to be 😅 (and had other plans for what happened next… 😂)

😍 I’ve done a few trainings in my life - and what unfolds in the Somatic Dance containers is something incredibly special.

I’ve felt my own life change, and witnessed others too - growing into themselves more fully, voices changing, faces opening up, a vibrancy and a willingness to meet life, oh and this community knows how to take up space on a dance floor!!! My body instantly recognises those who have done the training even if I haven’t met them before - there’s a freedom, an openness, a wildness that echos out 🌟

One of the most magical things about assisting in these spaces is seeing how unique each being is, how regardless of what self-doubting thoughts they have (hello, yes, I have those too! We all have our version of them!); there’s always something incredible about who they are and what they have to offer 🌸

None of us are the same
We’re not meant to be the same!
We all move differently
Speak differently
Hold a unique perspective
Carry wisdom which only your Individual constellation of cells knows

And in this training, it creates the space for you to explore yourself, your body, and your unique gifts that life wants to express through you 🌱

On 26th October we gather in Taranaki under the gaze of the majestic Maunga to embark on this adventure 🏔️ I’ll be there assisting!

🔗 in bio

Or comment SOMA and I’ll send you a message!

Lesssssgoooooo 👯‍♀️

You only have this one wild life, what are you going to do with it? 🌿🌟💚

#somaticdance #teachertraining #consciousmovement #dance #embodiment

25

14

You've been asking and now its here!

What if Somatic Inquiry could happen wherever you are?

• Same six-week format
• Same Somatic Dance exploration
• Different theme each week
• Closed women's group
• Live on Zoom
• WhatsApp Community group
• No dance experience required

Its been a long time coming I know....but this tech resistant woman is now ready to bring Somatic Inquiry to more women in a whole new way!

I'm really looking forward to opening up the doors to women who may not be able to join me in person.

When: Wednesdays 7pm - 9pm
14th October - 18th November

From my heart to yours
Leah 💖

Ps I am still offering Somatic Inquiry in person classes too!

Enrolments for both classes are now open. Link in bio

9

1