Dancing With Your Disowned Parts

About This Workshop:

Imagine entering another world, for a little while, in which all of the parts comprising your whole self are granted full permission to express themselves however they want – even those parts you fear, resent, shame, push away, and dislike. Imagine that this world is comprised of a community of fellow feelers and movers, all wanting to support themselves and each other through this process.

Imagine that, in this same world, your many complex and intense emotions are welcomed to move through your body in any way they need, no matter how it looks on the outside. Here, your body can act as both playground and cocoon, for these aspects of you that have been calling for your attention.

What would it be like to greet these parts and feelings with love and respect? What would it be like to believe that they are all appropriate reactions to the complexities of your life experience, and to simply being human? What would it be like to imagine that your psyche produces some of them out of a desire to protect you?

And, what if all parts of you could dance not just with each other, but also with the parts of others?

In this workshop, we will begin with an introduction to the concept of parts of the self, including related concepts such as the shadow. We will establish group agreements to promote safety, inclusion, and respect. We will then work with grounding practices and writing prompts, before moving into a full ecstatic dance wave, with a musical journey designed to give permission to that which we usually suppress. Following the dance, we will gather in supportive community to process the experience with curiosity and compassion.

For this workshop, the cost is $25.00/person (with sliding scale if needed), either by etransfer to: justine.dembo@mail.utoronto.ca, or with cash at the door.

Please contact me to register ahead, as we will have a limit of 25 participants.

You must arrive early (anytime after 12:30) as the door volunteer will come upstairs promptly at 1:00 pm, and the church doors will then be locked. The door volunteer will be available by phone for another 15 minutes if absolutely needed.

Some fruit will be available to snack on, but please bring more food if you need.

For all other information about location, guidelines, ecstatic dance, and what to bring, etc, see our “About” page.