Movement Medicine®

“Movement” turns into “Medicine”

In Movement Medicine, everyone is considered a “dancer” by nature. By moving within simple guidance and music, thoughts, emotions, and imagination naturally reconnect with the body, allowing movement itself to become “medicine” — a source of healing and awareness.
Through the practice of Movement Medicine, experiences such as the following may arise:

• Releasing emotions that may have been held or suppressed
• Allowing unfinished experiences to come to resolution
• Deepening self-awareness and cultivating greater self-acceptance
• Supporting the courage to bring your intentions and visions into action

As research in anthropology shows, dance does not belong to any specific culture or era. It is one of the oldest and most universal forms of human expression. From hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural communities, dance has been at the core of survival, social bonding, healing, rites of passage, and prayer.

Moving together and sharing rhythm are believed to have strengthened social cohesion, encouraged cooperative behavior, and supported human evolution. Movement Medicine is an attempt to bring this evolutionary heritage of the “dancing human” back into a modern context. Dancing can be understood not only as a form of expression, but also as a way to awaken the resilience, creativity, and sense of connection that are inherent in human beings.

Movement Medicine from the perspectives of science and evolution

Recent neuroscience has shown that moving the body has a direct impact on emotional regulation, stress resilience, and self-awareness.
In particular, it has been found that rhythmic movement and improvised dance in response to music help regulate the autonomic nervous system and cultivate a sense of safety and connection.
Before thought, the body senses the environment, responds, and learns. Movement works faster than words and directly engages our nervous system.
Movement Medicine is a practical approach based on these innate neurophysiological mechanisms, integrating the body, emotions, imagination, and social connection as one system.

Video

Introduction to School of Movement Medicine

What You Will Experience

Working with the past as a resource

Through movement, you will revisit experiences from childhood through young adulthood, bringing awareness to unresolved emotions and transforming them into supportive resources for the present.

Mini Vision Quest

A dedicated time of stillness to reflect on your life as a whole and to sense the direction you wish to move toward.

Engaging with endings — befriending death

By turning toward the reality of endings, you are invited to connect with the finite nature of life and bring clarity to what truly matters.

Moving through the process together

Within the presence of a group, you will explore your past, present, and future, deepening awareness through shared experience and relationship.

Key Elements of This Retreat

Reclaiming authorship of your life

Reframing past experiences not as limitations, but as sources of strength that can shape your future.

A new perspective on relationships

Exploring connections with family and significant others, and discovering pathways toward greater balance and understanding.

Integrating experience into meaning

Bringing coherence to your life experiences and integrating them into your own understanding and learning.

A body-based approach

Engaging not only through thought, but through the body, allowing for changes that are grounded in direct experience.

This course is also an important step and a required condition for participation in the “Apprenticeship Program” scheduled to be held in Japan and China in 2027. It is a retreat where you can encounter the depth of Movement Medicine. It is also recommended for those who are not necessarily interested in the Apprenticeship.

What We Value in This Program

• Incorporating the practices and philosophy of movement medicine into daily life.
• Embracing your “whole self,” including body, emotions, thoughts, and spirit.
• Exploring your place in this world by gradually aligning your words and actions.
• Living more deeply by accepting yourself as you are, rather than trying to become a perfect person.
• Fostering a real community where you respect yourself, respect your peers, welcome differences, and support and learn from each other.
• Maintaining a sense of humor to reflect on yourself without becoming overly serious, and listening to what you truly cherish in this life.
• Having a perspective on the world we live in, and respecting the Earth not as a resource, but as an unique living organism.

Program Requirements

175 hours of conscious dance experience (*see below for online hours)

Of these, 100 hours must be in Movement Medicine. Within those 100 hours, at least 75 hours must be sessions with a qualified Movement Medicine accredited teacher.
In addition, up to 75 hours may include related conscious dance practices such as 5Rhythms, Open Floor, Soul Motion, Tamalpa Institute, Azul, and Amerta work by Suprapto Suryadarmo. Please keep a record of your participation hours!

Phoenix Rising / Phoenix Retreat

Must have been completed either online or in person.

Initiation – A Journey Through the 9 Cycles of Life

This is the program mentioned above. Please refer to it.

English

It does not need to be perfect. It is necessary for communication and understanding the lessons.

*About counting online hours (breakdown of the 175 hours)

• Up to 60 hours may be counted from participation in the online Study Hub offered by the Movement Medicine School.
• Up to 20 hours may be counted from online open classes.
• Up to 40 hours may be counted from small-group ongoing work or workshop-style sessions with a certified Movement Medicine teacher.