FULL BODIED STORIES

-body oriented story telling

FBS is a somatic practice based on John’s experiences over the past 30 years. It interweaves improvisational sound, movement, and personal story. It emphasizes creative expression, communication, and healing. FBS combines elements of dance, movement, theater, meditation, psychotherapy, and the expressive arts.

FBS facilitates coming home to your body and your senses. Using movement, sound and language, participants explore and share personal and cultural stories. The stories that emerge represent a full spectrum of experience: they can be tender or hilarious, inspiring or illuminating.

“You could ask me how I am, and I could talk for hours. But using one of John’s techniques, in 5 minutes a whole world of feelings and emotions opened up. Until now, I didn’t have a way to access this emotional landscape.”

Cecily Hutchison, Long Beach New York

One participant might express the frustration of teaching kids who could care less. Another might share about the death of his father. Others could be dealing with relationships, work issues, or aging. The sky’s the limit. The most important aspect of the work is to stay present in your body and let the story emerge. When we allow the story to emerge from our body’s awareness, rather than a random thought, the material has a deeper resonance.

Emphasis is placed on the organic unfolding of each participant’s personal stories. There’s no criticism; it’s all about your own personal unfolding. The power of being seen, of listening to one another, of supporting one another, are some of the fundamentals.

“John’s talent lies in being able to track the group and provide exercises that allow people to go deep and feel safe.”

Gale Penhall, Vancouver, B.C.

Benefits:

• Experience moving, sounding and speaking — with safety and sanctity
• Practice vital skills for self-care and stress management
• Develop expressiveness and artistry
• Be part of a respectful creative community
• Receive support for addressing personal hopes and needs
• Gain authenticity and authority
• Cultivate healthy body awareness and body image
• Discover somatic resources for navigating and healing from injury, loss, illness, trauma
• Cultivate helpful and appropriate intimacy and receptivity
• Time for spontaneity, inner life and soul repair
• Reclaim the body as central to your spiritual and meditative practices

Elements of Full Bodied Stories

The following elements of Body Oriented Story Telling support inner exploration, shared expression, and body and earth communion:

• Moving, Sounding & Speaking
• Witnessing
• Remembering
• Grounding
• Thanking

Moving, Sounding & Speaking

Participants practice coming home, listening and giving attention to their body; engaging with inner-directed movement, sound, and their own sensate experience and intelligence. Movement, speaking and embodied stories are woven into the stories, which explore and share real experience, sensation, thought, emotion, memory. Clear instruction and ground rules help maintain a safe and respectful creative environment.

“Moving, telling stories and making noise are powerful medicine. The playfulness and creativity of Body Tales makes them sweet medicine.”

— Damon Miller, M.D.

Witnessing

Witnessing is the practice of giving full attention and support to the person moving, sounding and speaking, while staying grounded and present. One person shares, while their partner witnesses them — seeing and listening in an attentive, non-judgmental way, without interruption or commentary. Partners exchange roles as mover and witness, and each person also has opportunities to be witnessed by the whole group.

Remembering

Partners help one another remember each BT piece by re-speaking specific words, phrases, and movement — without evaluation, interpretation or commentary. Like writing down dreams, this process supports reflection and integration, and helps lift the content, insights, personal values and resources from each piece into our conscious awareness and our community wisdom. This “remembering” gives the piece back to the mover, strengthens trust and confidence, and supports reflection and integration.

“I hear my unconscious talk, often the primitive, passionate, strong part of my unconscious.”

— Bobbi Ausubel, drama therapist, theater writer & director

Grounding

Participants receive frequent reminders to connect with the ground and the air, and with their body and breath. This helps maintain inner balance and capacity for healthy engagement, integration and good witnessing. Participants are encouraged to stay present and respectful to themselves and to the group; to notice and appreciate the support of belonging with the natural world; and to actively release energy and emotions that are no longer helpful.

Thanking

Guided thanking, blessing and conscious touch (touch is always optional) offer simple, effective and ritualized ways to respect and appreciate one another. In this way, we acknowledge each person’s contribution with gratitude and without interrupting her or his creative or healing process with advice, praise or criticism.

“Body Oriented Story Telling is a living, present, in-the-moment spiritual and physical practice that has a very sophisticated form to it. People learn how to care for and support one another and how to have empathy for each other.”

— Story Telling participant

It is our nature to be free—and to express that freedom spontaneously and without hesitation through song and dance, poetry and play. Moreover, we each have the ability to wake up to who we already know ourselves to be: people dedicated to a sane and just world made up of individuals who celebrate their common humanity and this planet of indescribable beauty through singing, dancing, playing, and caring for all sentient beings.

This improvisation workshop allows the creativity that resides within us to have a voice. “Everyone has a story to tell,” says John, “and stories reside as much in the body as in the mind. So we begin with movement—slow stretches to open the body. We open the voice with playful exercises. We meditate to calm the heart, dance to free the spirit, find a way to effortlessly compose with language. This journey leads to giving voice and physicality to the private characters and inner realities that live in the subconscious mind and the cells of our bodies.”

This workshop is like dreaming on your feet. Expect to surprise yourself and to become more playful and at ease before an audience. You might even find that the sense of well-being achieved during the workshop not only expands your creative abilities but also enhances your experience of daily life. And while it is not therapy, John’s work can be surprisingly, delightfully, holistically healing.

John William Johnson has a long and varied history in the story telling world. He was a member of Alec Rubin’s well known “Primal Theater” (John Lennon was a big fan) in New York City.

Moving to the West Coast, John’s creative world expanded into Afro Cuban dance, Contact Improvisation, Continuum, Modern and Post Modern Dance.

He did a lot of Ritual and Site Specific work.

Then he moved up to the NorthWest. Here he began more performance art, and practicing Butoh as a form of self expressionism.

He wrote, directed and starred in “Waking Up: Confessions of a Narcoleptic Episcopalian”.

“Waking Up is not only entertaining, it is enlightening. I not only learned about narcolepsy from the patient’s viewpoint. I learned about the strength and creativity of humans in the face of adversity. John’s account is an excellent teaching tool for healthcare providers, and those struggling to creatively embrace illness.”

At: Oasis Healing Arts, 537 SE Ash, #42B, Portland OR 97214

I told you I’d share some music. Here’s my favorite piece this week. Vinn played it last weekend. Enjoy.

Click here if you can’t see the embedded player above.

Come tonite to the Soul Motion class and you’ll hear it again.

Go to www.OasisHealingArts.info for details.

If you can’t make class, here’s an invitation:

Take some time to let yourself tune into the back side of your body. Laying down really helps.

Allow yourself to soften, and let Mother Earth hold you. Let gravity in. Surrender. Breathe. Allow yourself to feel supported. You don’t need to do anything.

When you are ready, come back to a vertical perspective. Sitting, standing, walking. Look around. Let your eyes relax, and imagine that they are receding into the back of your head. So you are moving into a much more peripheral perspective. You can see more. Allow the images and sensations to come in.

Then just follow your experience.

Let me know what happens for you.

Enjoy your day, and never stop moving!

If you‘d like some feedback about your site, come to Oasis on Tuesday, September 29 from 1:00PM to 2:00PM and get a FREE 15 minute web site review from an expert.

John W. Johnson has been successfully marketing online since 1999. He took a bankrupt organization and brought it to 7 figures in 6 years.

He normally charges $250 an hour for his consulting services.

Please email John  to reserve a slot for yourself. Send your name, phone number, and website address.

Only 4 sites will be guaranteed to be reviewed. But you can learn an immense amount just watching John go through the essentials for being successful online. Most of the principles will be applicable to your site.

Go to http://www.allabouthealthnetwork.com/ to see John’s family of websites.

Come experience the landscapes, platforms, and ritual that make Soul Motion such a “moving experience”. Taught by John W. Johnson, soul motion teacher and founder of the Oasis Healing Arts Center.

Thursdays, Sept. 17- Oct. 15

6:30pm- 8pm

Offerings of whatever kind.

If you’d like to continue these classes during November and possibly beyond, send us an email!

Breitenbush Hot Springs, Soul Motion Retreat

Oct. 29- Nov. 1, 2009, Detroit, Oregon 4 day retreat

This retreat is for a small group of people only and is a rare opportunity to spend time in close contact with John William Johnson, NCMT, MFCC, founder of Oasis Healing Arts Center and the All About Health Network. To see who John is, feel free to visit www.SoundAndMovementAsMedicine.com and www.SpaciousnessProject.com.

Watch the Video

“I have known and danced with John for over two decades. John is extremely talented in somatic education and possesses an eclectic approach to learning. You will be provided a secure space to explore and experiment with your soul and body in motion.” -vinn marti

This retreat is focused on allowing ourselves to be bathed in the love and light that is always available to us. In this magical setting, John will set the tone and hold the space for us to dive as deep as feels comfortable. We will use our bodies to move with and without music. To listen to our bodies and let the dance arise in its own spacious way. No need to perform, to prove anything, to “do” anything.

Each day there is a morning meeting, afternoon meeting, and evening meeting. Come and enjoy Breitenbush! It is a beautiful place to be! It is not far from Portland international airport, and it is easy to get to.

Breitenbush Hotsprings will provide a perfect setting for this retreat.

“Breitenbush Retreat and Conference Center is a worker-owned cooperative and intentional community on 154 acres of wildlife sanctuary in the Willamette National Forest of the Oregon Cascades. Our Mission is to provide a safe and potent environment where people can renew and evolve in ways they never imagined.”

Check out their website at www.breitenbush.com for more information and pictures of the grounds.

Check-in and Check-out times
This retreat will begin with check-in at 4:00 pm on Thursday, October 29th, and we will then gather for dinner at 6:00 pm. Please be sure to check-in by 5:30, so that we can all enjoy dinner together and be ready for our first scheduled meditation after dinner. Check-out time will be 1:00 pm on Sunday, Nov. 1st and everyone is welcome to enjoy the facilities until 3:00 pm.

Meals
Delicious organic vegetarian meals will be provided by the Breitenbush staff for all mealtimes within the scheduled retreat days. This includes Dinner on Thursday, and Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday. Please feel free to bring your own snacks and meal supplements as well. If you would like to eat meat, Breitenbush asks that you please bring your own dishes and utensils for this purpose, and consume these foods in your own room or tent.

Discount Available
We are offering a discount on retreats for anyone experiencing money issues. Just call John at 503-997-7584 and work it out with him. The important thing at this time on the planet is for us to be together and do the work. Thank you to all registrants for making this event possible!

Vinn Marti of Soul Motion will be teaching a Soul Motion workshop on September 12, 2009 at the Oasis Healing Arts Center. The event will last from 11:00AM to 3:00PM. Doors will open at 10:30AM.Come and join Vinn as we step away from the usual and together let’s create an Oasis of inquiry and invention through movement, stillness, music, and silence.

Designed by Vinn Martí, Soul Motion is a practice of paying attention and waking up, together, to the physical reality of a body in motion, and the spiritual reality of the Presence that moves us. It’s a dance at the crossroads of the vertical drop into self and the horizontal extension toward another. There are no steps to follow, just the whimsical path of endless self discovery – down from the mind’s conversations of past and future into the raw, messy and miraculous event of this body sweating, tensing, opening, living and dying: now. Soul Motion offers a key to spontaneous expression, a ticket to the Mystery, and release into freedom.

Registration is only $75 and space is limited to 50 participants. Don’t delay. Register now!

For more information, call (503)774-5151 or email info@oasishealingarts.info

Pictures from Vinn’s Last Soul Motion Event at the Oasis

Join Richard Haynes at the Oasis for an Ayurvedic Workshop. Richard is an Ayurvedic Consultant, with over 30 years experience teaching meditation and body-mind integration techniques. Richard began his search for health when he survived a small plane crash. In the accident, both lungs collapsed, leaving him always short of breath. His search led him to Ayurveda, Deepak Chopra, John Douillard and to India to study Ayurveda and breathing.

Ayurveda is the ancient science of self-healing originating in India over 5000 years ago

You’ll learn the Ayurvedic Secrets that can help you:

• Lose weight
• Overcome stress
• Strengthen immune system
• Improve Athlete Proformance

A donation of $20 is requested from all attendees.

Join Tammy For Yoga at the Oasis – Monday Nights

Every Monday at the Oasis, Join Tammy Holder in her Yoga class. It’s only $10 to drop in on a class. Plus, the Oasis is air-conditioned. Stay cool!

The Oasis Healing Arts Center is in the East Bank Lofts building. It is a live/work space 1 and 1/2 blocks east of Grand Ave. Ash St. is just 2 blocks South of Burnside. The Oasis Healing Arts Center is located on the fourth floor.

Tammy is a Yoga Instructor in the T. Krishnamacharya yoga tradition. She has been studying and practicing yoga since 1999 and teaching since 2003. She completed 450 hours of teacher training including an apprenticeship with Sarahjoy Marsh.

Tammy is currently in a second 500-hour Teacher training program with teachers Chase Bossart and Kate Holcombe of the Healing Yoga Foundation. Both her bodywork and yoga training emphasize honoring, respecting and meeting the unique needs and goals of each person.

She endeavors to create a comfortable atmosphere for students to explore, experiment, inquire and experience a state of Yoga and a qualitative change in the mind-body system. Tammy is delighted to share her joy and enthusiasm for yoga with people from all walks of life.

Then from 7:30PM to 9:00PM John Conley will lead Kirtan, with Danielle and her wonderful voice supporting our response.  Attendance is based on a sliding scale of $5-15.

email or call (503)774-5151 for more information!

More details below

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I will be hosting a kirtan at Oasis Healing Arts on Friday, July 10. John William Johnson is graciously hosting us at the Oasis Healing Arts Center.

I will be selling my new CD, “Bow to the Inner Heart,” which is also available online at CD Baby.

Chanting with John and Danielle is informal yet intense. John explains that chants can take us deep into our inner stillness. But he adds that laughter is the most fundamental chant of all. John and Danielle sing ancient Indian chants in Sanskrit, but are just as likely to sing rock tinged chants in English.

Danielle Koppel trained at the Winston Salem School of the Arts in Opera, Danielle frequently sings responses for the well known Kirtan singer, Dave Stringer.  Danielle is also an internationally known model. Her discussion of healthy body images and eating disorders, entitled “Beauty Knows No Pain,” has been well received throughout the county, particularly at colleges.

The Oasis Healing Arts Center Welcomes Deobrat Mishra

Deobrat Mishra has a prominent place among sitar artists. He has been sharing the magic, joy and love of Indian classical music for over fifteen years in India, Europe, Canada and the USA to critical and award winning acclaim.

“I spent time with Deobrat in 2006. It was an honor to see the children he has been working with for years. He has given children in Varanasi an opportunity to study music, with no regard to their caste or how much money they have. And in the process he’s given many of them a second home.” -John

On Tuesday, June 16, Deobrat and his father will be leading a Kirtan. This is an opportunity for you to experience the heart of kirtan; not the American version, but the form as it has existed in India for thousands of years.The event begins at 7:30PM. Cost is only $10 in advance and on a sliding scale of $15-$20 at the door.

Then from 7:30PM to 9:00PM John Conley will lead Kirtan, with Chelsea and her wonderful voice supporting our response. Just added: Tom Lange of Sonic Massage will invite us into healing with his didgeridoos.
Attendance is based on a sliding scale of $5-15.

More details

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My friend Chelsea Bennett and I will be hosting a kirtan at Oasis Healing Arts on Saturday, June 13th. John William Johnson is graciously hosting us at the Oasis Healing Arts Center.

I will be selling my new CD, “Bow to the Inner Heart,” which is also available online at CD Baby.

You may not know Chelsea. But I do. She has a beautiful voice and she loves to chant. She is kind, gentle, funny, and gorgeous. Actually she reminds me of me! Our friend, Lala Lenore, who I imagine is chanting in Mexico where she is studying weaving and sun bathing, introduced us formally. We had met at the Conduit, but I kept forgetting her name. Anyway, after Lenore introduced us, and I remembered her name, it was “chant” at first sight.

email or call (503)774-5151 for more information