Spiral Praxis - Institute for Bodymind Healing and Education

Beautiful new Brazilian documentary created by Graziela Andrade, a mother and dancer, who discovered how somatic bodymind intervention could help her child with cerebral palsy. This sensitive and intimate film was created to celebrate Spiral Praxis and its ability to connect to and heal children with disabilities ❤️

FIO VERMELHO (Legenda Português e Inglês) Ciências, arte e deficiência se afetam neste documentário que apresenta a trajetória e as descobertas de uma mãe em busca de experiências sensíveis, no conte...

Join SP founder Yuji Oka for an online adventure into the fascinating world of bodymind flow! Spiral Praxis is one of the most advanced bodymind systems in the world that can help eliminate pain, self-regulate thoughts and emotions, and create deep transformative forms of self-embodiment. This free-wheeling series of 90 minute explorations will be improvised around questions brought in by class participants. Join us and register at https://go.spiralpraxis.com/online-course 🌐

Join us for our Introduction to Spiral Praxis. Learn about the rich connections between the body, feelings, thoughts, and actions. A must for all bodymind practitioners and seekers interested in learning about the latest in somatic research. Sundays at 12:00pm-1:30pm EST — October 28th until Dec 9.

To register visit: https://go.spiralpraxis.com/online-course

This introductory online Spiral Praxis class will introduce people to the fundamentals of internal bodymind flow processes. Participants will learn about the rich connections between the body, feelings, thoughts and actions. Topics include flow patterning, learning reflexes, bodymind hierarchy and other fascinating internal flow techniques. This course is ideal for people who wish to understand how to deal with pain and injuries as well as to learn the more advanced areas of bodymind growth. A must for all bodymind practitioners and seekers interested in learning about the latest in somatic research.

https://linktr.ee/spiral.praxis (First Link)

This is an article that was published in the Brazilian newspaper, O TEMPO, that is based in the city of Bela Horizonte. It was published based on the experiences of Graziela Andrade and her daughter Helena who came to SMC a few weeks ago. We are excited that the media is beginning to show interest in our work as more people begin to experience the benefits of Spiral Praxis. Below is a translation of the news article.

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Life has these things, unexpected encounters, radical changes of plans. Twenty-five years ago, physicist Yuji Oka, a graduate from Cornell University, decided to enroll as a modern dance student at Ohio State University. There he met his partner Stephanie Gottlob, and together they began somatic work, a system of modern dance training that respects the natural flow and spontaneity of dance.

"My father, Takeshi Oka, is a well-known astrochemist who migrated to Canada in 1965. I studied physics to follow in his footsteps, but decided to switch to modern dance in my graduate studies. All my discoveries in somatics came as a result of this career change. The key differentiator in my work, the Adapted Spiral Praxis, is that it brings a scientific and artistic perspective to bodymind praxis", explains Yuji Oka.

The researcher notes that it is not a set of exercises or a dance. "The techniques involve pulses of consciousness that are like mini-meditations. They allow people to change their bodymind state and accelerate their learning."

Oka has used the technique to help children with special needs, cerebral palsy, and disabilities, as well as adults with chronic pain and injuries. "People also use these techniques to learn meditation and yoga, improve physical fitness, and dance in a powerfully new way," he says.

According to him, "the method is easy to do, but difficult to implement. "We take the person into a consciousness interval, a meditation on a specific corporal perception during a defined period. Then I alter this perception, modulating it in time and space”, he explains.

Oka gives a concrete example: "When I work with a child with a disability, I don't teach him a specific movement, as traditional physical therapists do. What I try to do is help them learn how to become aware of a movement experience and shape it continuously.

He adds, "When I have to help a child learn to stand, I have them explore different ways of getting to that posture, and each one will give them a new experience. The sum total of these experiences will be their learning. For children with disabilities, this form of holistic learning is often the only way to find insight into their own bodies."

The Spiral Movement Center's mission, the researcher emphasizes, "is to disseminate natural somatic and holistic techniques to people. We believe that all people have the innate ability to initiate and control their inner workings through simple awareness, and we maintain that the body-mind cannot harm itself except through external stress and difficulties," he teaches.

The instructor emphasizes that the methods used are strictly empirical. "They must be simple, communicable, replicable, and lead to consistent results. We don't feed any religious or cultural dogma, the bodymind realm is spiritual enough," he says.
Oka explains that the method is not a compilation of old techniques, "but a self-contained, coherent system that makes use of spiral dynamics to deal with all body-mind phenomena. We truly believe that we have discovered a radically new body-mind paradigm that is practical, profound, and will help many people learn to self-direct their inner workings."
The technique allows one to gradually notice increases in strength, ability, intellectual discrimination, meditative states, and energy flow. "This is the holistic concept that is learned with discipline. It is a state of being in flow where blocks are a negative concept, an absence, and not a positive force," Oka concludes.

The journalist Ana Elizabeth Diniz writes in this space on Tuesdays.
E-mail: [email protected]

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The Adapted Spiral Praxis method is not yet present in Brazil, but this is the purpose of Graziela Andrade, mother, teacher, and dance researcher at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. She has just returned from Canada with her daughter Helena, 4 years old, who has cerebral palsy.

"I want to train and work with the method here. It is an innovative and very intelligent technique because, like any somatic approach, it considers the body as a whole, without separating it from the mind. Oka demonstrated this expertise with Helena. According to her, he initiated an unprecedented fluidity of movement. It was as if the praxis 'won' the brain, provoking and opening other passages for movement, different from the usual ones. Together, Helena and I discovered a wonderful path for body exploration", says Graziela.

One of the merits of the method, says the mother, is that "the process also involves dance and movement as discovery and play. In this way, Oka accesses the desired points in a fun way."
Graziela reports that children with cerebral palsy have almost athlete-like agendas. "In my daughter's experience it is important that she is motivated cognitively and intellectually to participate in activities. Play is a gateway to movement from desire," she concludes. (AED)

Huzaifah is a boy who is trapped in his own body. Suffering from a rare genetic disorder, he was given a second chance in life through a radically new gene therapy where viruses with the correct genetic code were placed in his brain. This story is about his learning how to walk one year after his treatment.

Somatic intervention can be a wonderful way for children with disabilities to learn how re-discover their bodies. Based in experiential learning, Adapted Spiral Praxis has helped hundreds of children find their motor potential. The approach is highly individual and in this video, you can see how ASP founder Yuji Oka work his magic during Huzaifah's challenging intensive.

Huzaifah's Story: boy with rare disability (AADC) learns to walk in ten days Huzaifah’s story is a remarkable mix of medical science and holistic somatic intervention. This short film by ASP founder Yuji Oka shows how experiential lea...

Spiral Praxis - Institute for Bodymind Healing and Education updated their phone number.

What is the healing potential of bodymind education? Veronique and Lothar, two elderly individuals from France and Germany, suffer from degenerative muscular conditions arising from infections they experienced many years ago.

In January 2019, Yuji travelled to beautiful Étretat, on the Northern coast of France, to work with the two of them. This film documents their journey of rediscovering their bodies through the Spiral Praxis paradigm, exploring the power that this bodymind system has to initiate deep transformation and healing in even the most challenging of circumstances.

We hope this film inspires you to begin to unveil the vast capacity of your own body and mind. 🌀 🌊

The Life of the Sea Veronique and Lothar, both elderly people from France and Germany respectively, suffer from degenerative muscular conditions arising from infections they exp...

This is a short documentary that describes Steve's somatic healing processes undertaken at the Spiral Movement Center about a decade ago. Suffering from severe back pain, Steve quickly learns, during his five weeks of one-on-one sessions, that recovery can become personally directed through bodywork, simple awareness techniques, and alignment re-education.

In addition to healing and movement re-education for children with special needs and disabilities, Spiral Praxis also explores cutting-edge somatic perspectives in meditation, yoga, fitness, dance, emotional/cognitive exploration, creativity and much more. Get more info about the self-directed internal flow techniques of Spiral Praxis at https://www.spiralpraxis.com.

Steve's Journey Natural Somatic Healing This short video describes Steve's observations as he engages in somatic healing processes for the first time. Suffering from severe back pain, Steve quickl...

Join us for 10 days of immersive bodymind, dance, and nature! ☀️ Our 2021 Summer Intensive will be held at Fell’s Meadows, a lovely retreat facility an hour outside of Toronto. Nestled amidst 100 acres of seven ecosystems, participants will have the chance to roam forests, creeks, and wild fields as we immerse ourselves in the beauty of Spiral Praxis’s bodymind approach.

The theme of the summer intensive will be somatic dance. We will be exploring not only the movement of our body in space but also the holistic integration of our complete inner bodymind environment in nature. The bodymind activities will focus on nurturing creativity and adventurously exploring the outer limits of Spiral Praxis possibilities. With a day packed with morning and evening sessions, this intensive is truly only for passionate bodymind students and seekers!

The Spiral Praxis Summer Intensive will be held between September 13-23 in the township of Castletown, Ontario. Accommodation includes beds at the main farmhouse, as well as rustic cabins and tent areas. Delicious wholesome meals will be provided for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

For more information and to submit a letter of interest, visit: https://spiralpraxis.com/sp-summer-intensive-2021

The ISMETA Conference, Engaging Embodiment: Somatic Applications for Health, Education and Social Justice, begins March 3-7. Over 130 wonderful somatic presenters at this four day event. Spiral Praxis founder Yuji Oka will be presenting Thursday at 2:30pm EST 🙏

On Sunday, January 31st @ 2pm EST, the Spiral Movement Center will be offering its first Spiral Praxis online class. The online program will focus on learning movement from a holistic somatic perspective. Participants will learn simple cutting edge techniques to help them experience and quickly assimilate activities such as yoga, fitness, and dance. Join us for this exciting new offering and learn to connect to your body-mind in new and deeper ways.

To learn more, visit: https://spiralpraxis.com/spiral-praxis-online-course

Spiral Praxis Online Course — Spiral Praxis Spiral Praxis is a groundbreaking bodymind system that will empower you to overcome chronic injury, control your emotions, learn new skills, and reach the height of your creative potential. Simple, powerful, and transformative, Spiral Praxis is a modern approach to bodymind designed for our accelera...

Story of two persons, Lothar and Veronique, who suffer from mysterious autoimmune diseases which have ravaged their nervous systems. It demonstrates the great healing that is possible when we explore the ebb and flow of our inner life through a spiral bodymind process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV_LPmtZjM0&ab_channel=SpiralPraxis

The Life of the Sea Veronique and Lothar, both elderly people from France and Germany respectively, suffer from degenerative muscular conditions arising from infections they exp...

Welcome to our new Spiral Praxis page, where we will be posting about new areas of research, case studies, and explanatory videos about this powerful new somatic paradigm. 2020 is a special year for us, as we have moved into a new building in downtown Toronto, are training a new generation of Spiral Praxis practitioners, and are creating our first online courses (available in December 2020). Follow our new page to get the latest news from the Spiral Movement Center.