Movement meditation: A creative movement approach

Through the alchemical process of embodied presence, inner life and outer expression align, allowing authentic movement to unfold. As we let go into the flow state, joy, beauty, ease and vitality can all be discovered.

About the practice

This meditation series will focus on embodied movement as a pathway to presence. Through mindful engagement with the body and breath, we will develop trustin embodied wisdom, allowing our intuition to activate and inspire movement. No ‘set’ movements will be taught - instead simple, physical instructions enhanced by music will invite participants to move their bodies intuitively and creatively. By placing our attention on the body and breath, the mind-stream slows and Being integrates with Doing. Through the alchemical process of embodied presence, inner life and outer expression align, allowing authentic movement to unfold. As we let go into the flow state, joy, beauty, ease and vitality can all be discovered.

What can attendees expect?

This series requires no formal movement training - only curiosity in the sensing, feeling, moving body. These guided movement meditations will lead practitioners into an exploration of embodied presence through simple physical practices, enhanced by music - with both inviting an authentic movement response. These practices aim to integrate mind, body and heart, bringing calm, grounded presence into daily life.

During each themed session, there will be two guided movement explorations, with journalling in between. Journalling will be used to describe feelings, sensations and thoughts arising from the movement, encouraging integration of body and mind.

At the end of each session, there will be time to discuss our experience, ask questions, and deepen our understanding. The key focus will be on guided movement meditations exploring Alchemy techniques, allowing the practitioner to experience embodied presence from a creative perspective.

About the teacher

Anne O'Keeffe

Anne O’Keeffe is a dance and movement teacher, director, choreographer and performer with a Bachelor of Education (Dance, Drama, Literature - Rusden, 1983); a Graduate Diploma of Choreography (Victorian College of Arts, The University of Melbourne, 1997) and a Master of Choreography (VCA, 2009). Anne has been teaching in the Arts for 40 years, informed by her work as a dancer, actor, choreographer, director, writer and singer.

In 2001, she began the Alchemy Dance classes with a strong intention to create a conscious, compassionate community - united by a shared interest in mindful, creative movement. Her Masters thesis: The Art of Presence: Contemplation, Communing and Creativity further deepened her commitment to ongoing pedagogical and practical research into embodiment, authenticity and creativity.

Anne seeks to inspire integration and transformation through conscious embodiment. Her work engages the heart and enriches the spirit in a joyful celebration of the moving moment.

Further resources

  • Alchemy classes and other resources
  • Radical Wholeness: The Embodied Present and the Ordinary Grace of Being - Philip Shepherd
  • The Spell of the Sensuous - David Abram
  • Free Play: Improvisation in Art and Life - Stephen Nachmanovich
  • Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi