"The major problems of the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way man thinks." – Gregory Bateson

“Ecstasy is the accurate term for the intensity of consciousness that occurs in the creative act.” -Rollo May

“To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of the mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body." – Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Master

Somatic Expression® Lab Series Online

	More Information: Calendar Individual Sessions Personalized Retreats

Weekend Program 2025

January 25 & 26, 2025

February 22 & 23, 2025

March 22 & 23, 2025

April 26 & 27, 2025

May 17 & 18, 2025

All Days: 9-Noon West Coast Time/Noon-3 East Coast Time/18:00-21:00 Europe Time

113 Hour PROGRAM: 30 Class Contact Hours + 80 Practice/Study Hours + 3 Individual Sessions + Video Recordings + All Class Materials

$750-1,400 Sliding Scale (According to Economic Means)

Group Size Limited - Register Early to Guarantee your Place

"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves."
- from "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver

Over the past 20 years, I have curated a template of simple, accessible, and effective somatic practices for tending and befriending the soma – our individual body of nature. These practices have arisen out of what I identified as the five somatic technologies indigenous to all bodies - breath, vocalization, contact, movement and stillness.

The investigation of these natural technologies offer us the ability to renovate, cultivate and refine our somatic foundations as a way to inhabit more fully our presence and power. Just like technologies invented by humans, these somatic technologies can extend and amplify our evolutionary capacities.

Each session, while related to the larger topic of movement, will have a distinct focus and a repertoire of specific practices. Source material includes:

- Alexander Technique
- Body-Mind Centering ℠
- Continuum
- Ecosomatics
- Feldenkrais
- Functional Movement
- Halprin Life/Art Process
- Structural Anatomy

In this online learning lab, we will primarily experience, explore and discuss these five somatic technologies, and then apply them to both our personal practice and our professional work as somatic movement educators, therapists, coaches and guides between meetings.

2024-25 Sequence

Breath - January 25 & 26

Movement & Stillness - February 22 & 23

Contact - March 22 & 23

Vocalization - April 26 & 27

Integration - May 17 & 18

All sessions are recorded for playback and download.

There are also three 60 minute individual consults with Jamie.The three individual sessions are focused on your particular needs in relationship to the material, and can be scheduled at any point in the series.

For continuity between sessions, prompts for follow-up embodied practice and reflective writing related to the covered material will be given as well as selected readings from Jamie's manuscript and from other somatic writers as well.

You are also encouraged to select an online lab partner for check-ins.

Please be prepared to dedicate 20 hours of practice & study between each monthly session.

Participants can augment this concentrated learning experience with simultaneous enrollment in the weekly Thinking Body, Sensing Mind series for ongoing continuity and integration.

To apply:

1) Send a statement of intention along with a brief summary of your experience in the somatic, expressive, therapeutic and/or contemplative arts to somaticxpress@proton.me

2) Pay What You Are Able Sliding Scale: $750-1,400

Make payment through Wise (naturebeingart@gmail.com), Venmo (@Jamie-McHugh) or with a check to: Jamie McHugh, 181 Wagon Wheel Dr, Kinderhook, NY 12106

Jamie McHugh

For more information about the five somatic technologies, view this video HERE