Sacred Body Language
with Stephanie Parker & Amanda Jude

CANCELLED

Join us for Sacred Body Language, an afternoon mini-retreat where we heal our relationship with our bodies through movement and words. Offered with love by Empathic Leadership Coach Amanda Jude (she/her) and Nia Dance Instructor Stephanie Parker (she/her). Open to folks at all levels of mindfulness, dance, or yoga practice, this guided communal healing experience integrates techniques from Non-Violent Communication and Nia Dance. You can learn more about these concepts below. Beginners or folks returning to their practice are especially encouraged to join! Plenty of breaks and modification options will be offered throughout the day.

• Welcome & Guided Moving Meditation (30 minutes)

• Intro & Facilitated Discussion on Non-Violent Communication (1 hour) 

• Nia Healing Dance, Stretching, and Restorative Rest (90 mins) 

• Reflections & Closing (30 minutes)

(breaks offered throughout the retreat)

Non-violent communication or “NVC” is a term coined by psychologist Marshall Rosenberg (he/him), describing a set of tools that can help us shift away from shaming and blaming language, and towards a language of empathy and naming our needs. The framework has been enhanced by the decolonization efforts of BIPOC practitioners including Meenadchi (they/them), who both Amanda and Stephanie take inspiration from in their work. In our current structure, it’s harder to listen to our bodies or honor our needs (for instance, needing rest but not being able to take time off of work or having adequate childcare support to take time for self). In the Sacred Body Language retreat, we will explore the question of how we can learn to allow the needs to surface without judgment? How can we honor the needs if they aren’t able to get met? What does honoring that do for us?

NIA (Neuromuscular Integrative Action) is a holistic movement practice that combines modern somatic science and ancient healing traditions like tai chi, yoga, and African dance. Each session introduces gentle follow-along choreography designed to promote body awareness, self-love, emotional processing, and creative exploration. 

The cueing invitations in Nia promote a non-violent approach to the body by offering low-stakes choices for varying expressions, and creating space to listen to the body’s response. The “body awareness walk” in Nia is one example – you walk around and name any bodily sensations out loud without story or judgment, thanking your body for communicating them to you no matter what they are. “Floorplay,” which is intentional, intuitive movement while in full contact with the earth, is another example of Nia practice that helps us find explore new sensations while listening for our body’s requests. The variety of expressions in a given movement is designed to take the force and pressure to perform out of the equation, inviting participants to choose “their body’s way” for how to dance and experience the felt sense of honoring their own body’s needs. 

Stephanie Parker (she/her) is a Black intuitive somatic healer, licensed Nia movement instructor, and anti-oppression facilitator based in Oakland, California. She creates safe, affirming, sacred, decolonial spaces, guiding in a nonhierarchical way that allows collective wisdom to emerge from the group. Stephanie is initiated in Afro-Cuban spiritual practice, and weaves sacred ritual into all of her offerings. She was called to the path of ancestral healing by her own body’s divine act of refusal in the form of severe upper body nerve pain, a condition that led her to step away from her movement organizing and career in tech. Stephanie’s search for relief led her to Bethamie Wyatt’s Nia Dance class, where she experienced the physical release of trapped emotions, loving intergenerational community, and the embodied sensation of feeling both freedom and safety at the same time. It was this spirit-led encounter that served as a catalyst for her decision to walk in her purpose as a healer. You can learn more about Stephanie and her offerings on her website and follow her on Instagram at @catchlight27.

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