Imagine young women with breast cancer finding calm and joy and sense of community through a collective experience of dance. Imagine a group of obstetrics residents walking very slowly in the hospital, cultivating body awareness and patience. Imagine newborn babies teaching medical students empathic touch and humility. Imagine doctors doing a one-minute meditation after rounds—focusing on the sensations in their own bodies before examining their patients. Imagine caregivers learning how to synchronize their breathing with loved ones in pain. Imagine a surgical team and a patient dancing together moments before surgery. This is Embodied Medicine.
Founded in 2014, Foundation for Embodied Medicine brings the healing power of body awareness, conscious movement, and embodied presence to patients, caregivers, and medical providers. Through movement and other exercises in body awareness, Embodied Medicine taps into the wisdom of the body to help participants explore, express, and transform their inner landscape. The Embodied Medicine philosophy recognizes the multidimensional nature of healing for patients, caregivers, and medical providers. This healing includes not only the physical, which dominates the current biomedical paradigm, but also the psycho-emotional and spiritual growth that is possible when one feels safe and adequately resourced to explore opportunities for deep transformation and liberation from suffering.
