Flow is the feeling of being danced that comes with spontaneity, discovery and full-bodied creativity. In flow, deeper parts of the mind, body and heart speak as we become intimate with our present moment experience. Catharsis, freedom, pleasure and ease often follow flow as we relax our resistance.

This week, we tune into, align with, and move from our felt sense. The idea of the felt sense, as proposed by psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin, is a an internal, holistic awareness that includes everything you feel and know about a subject or situation at a particular time. Unlike an emotion which is easy to locate in the body, identify and describe, a felt sense is a total body experience that usually feels unclear, murky, or fuzzy. Unlike emotions that arise quickly, a felt sense takes a longer time to unfold.

The felt sense is a form of bodily intuition about a situation that, when accessed, provides deeper insights than just thinking or feeling alone; by learning to tap into it, one can achieve greater self-understanding, enhance emotional processing, improve problem-solving through intuition, strengthen the mind-body connection, better manage stress and self-soothe, and facilitate personal growth and healing.

By aligning with our felt sense with our dance practice and giving it shape and voice to express itself, we further increase our ability to understand ourselves and our relationship to the world within and around us.

Structure:

- 6:30 - 7:15 settle in and warm up wave
- 7:15 - 7:30 opening circle, demonstration and guided prompts
- 7:30-8:30(ish): main wave and closing circle

About the space: This is a space to feel and express what is truly alive in you through movement. A space to feel a wider sense of belonging and a space to nurture the different parts of yourself. A space that encourages connection and care whilst honouring your boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others. A space to increase your range of creative responses both on the dancefloor and in life. A space to explore your relationships within the wider web around you. Expressive sounding is welcome.

Things to know:
Doors open at 6:30 and close at 7:00. Please arrive as early as possible so you settle into the space and give yourself time to be still.Tickets are $20; crew spots are available in exchange for a free dance. Cash is the easiest option for on-the-night payments, or there will be a QR code with a link to tickets online. For inclusivity reasons, this is a top on space: if you are one to get hot, please bring a singlet or sports top.

About the facilitator:
Ryan is deeply passionate about creating spaces where people feel free to feel and express themselves. He believes that by learning to feel the world, we can then respond to the world with wisdom and compassion. Informed by the Open Floor dance curriculum, his psychotherapy studies and long-term meditation practice, Ryan invites a warm tenderness towards all parts of ourselves. With sensitivity to creating an integrated musical journey, Ryan’s cinematic-like playlists foster moments of intimacy to self, moments of play, moments of connection, moments of build, moments of release, moments of stillness and moments of transcendence.

Cover art by @elle_kt