ELT Workshop Schedule

Click links below to learn more and register:


SPRING 2017

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Communication and Voice May 5-7, 2017 | Berlin Module II studio


Creativity and Resilience May 12-14, 2017 | Bad Endbach Module IV retreat centre



FALL 2017

Communication and Voice Oct 6-8, 2017 | Los Angeles Module II studio


   


Terms & Conditions

Costs: 540€ per three-day module; 25€ discount for early registration, students/CLMA students: 245€, 1900€ for full workshop series (module I-IV), contact us to register for the package. Costs for room and board may vary.

Would you like to offer a self-organised training at your company or NGO (10 people or more)? Please contact us for availability.

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BODIES UP!

Embodied Leadership Training (ELT) invites leaders and aspiring leaders, coaches and individuals to learn the skills of embodiment as a way to increase self-knowledge, and build compassionate and effective relationships.

Why Embodied Leadership Training?
The pace of global change demands competency in a different way – developing Presence through Body Knowledge.

Presence helps us counteract our loss of personal connection and intimacy due to the pervasiveness of technology and social media.

ELT is a dynamic, bodily learning process to create new somatic imprints and patterns of behavior. In four modules we take time to slow down and consciously engage your body, mind and emotions to:

  • deepen embodied self-awareness,
  • increase communication skills,
  • stimulate creativity and
  • build compassionate and effective ways to approach conflict.

Trainings are in California and Germany. Please contact us if you would like more information.

ELT Modules: Each Embodied Leadership Training module is taught experientially in a movement studio. The four modules build sequentially. Module I – “Embodied Self-Awareness” - introduces a movement vocabulary, develops creative tools with imagination and movement, and presents theoretical models, such as “Somatic Experiencing” and the “SIBAM,” which form the foundation of the training. In Module II – “Communication and Voice” - we develop communication presence both in public speaking and during inter-personal interaction. Building awareness of personal impact, as both the recipient and the receiver, increases communication effectiveness, rapport and self-knowledge. In Module III – “Communicating under Conflict” - people are given tools to engage effectively in conflict both to deepen self- awareness and to strengthen personal and professional relationships. Participants use case studies from their lives for a “Compassionate Inquiry” into basic human needs and sensitivities. They practice conflict resolving tools drawn from “Non-Violent Communication,” ‘Issues Clearing”, and “Crucial Conversations”. Conflict generally involves a “My Part”, which takes courage to explore. Being curious about “My Part” is an important key to building personal leadership. Module IV - Creativity and Resilience - creates the space for improvisation, play and a heartfelt and daring look at our “Inner Critic.” Participants complete the training with increased somatic knowledge, deepened emotional intelligence, expanded professional tools and broadened personal awareness, which combines to strengthen their personal leadership. People with a background in Laban Movement Analysis, Dance/Movement Therapy, psychodrama or related personal development work may join individual modules with consent of instructors.

Body Knowledge: What is often called instinct, or “gut-sense” is inside each of us, however, we can be unconscious about this knowledge. The term Body Knowledge is discussed in the book, Beyond Words: Movement Observation and Analysis* and is linked to how we understand movement meaning. Judy Gantz has expanded the application of Body Knowledge, refining how people can learn to cultivate Body Knowledge to further Self-awareness. Gantz has four stages of psychophysical learning that deepen Embodiment. The four stages are: 1) awareness of the body, sensations, and perception focused on the subjective inner life to generate a “felt-sense;” 2) moving and observing movements using the principles and terminology of Laban Movement Analysis; 3) recognizing how another’s movement may trigger a response in the observer; 4) establishing a mode of inquiry based on kinesthetic empathy with another person who is moving.

* Moore, CL. &Yamamoto, K. (2012) Beyond words. Second Edition. NY: Routledge. Gantz, J. (2015) Cultivating body knowledge. Somatics Vol. XVII (3),12-16.
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HEART

Embodied Leadership Training (ELT) is not a traditional leadership development program. The HEART of our approach integrates body, mind and emotions.

We combine principles and best practices from Laban Movement Analysis, 5 Elements Qigong, Somatic Mindfulness and Jungian Archetypes.

Personal development work is guided using the Heifetz Needs Matrix, Issues Clearing, Non-Violent Communication and Voice Dialogue. Movement and breath support non-verbal communication and Presence. Somatic Experiencing principles build integration and balance.

5 Elements Qigong is a movement sequence based upon Taoist philosophy, Qigong and Chinese Medicine. As one moves the form, one not only gains physical fluidity but also greater inner peace, well-being, and mental and emotional balance and flexibility. The movement sequence stimulates all major meridians associated with the 5 elements and their related body organs, emotions and virtues1.

Each movement sequence of 5 Elements Qigong flows from one ‘element’ to the next according to the pattern outlined below:

ElementPrimary OrganDepleting EmotionsNoble Mind States
MetalLungsGrief/SadnessDignity/Integrity
FireHeartOver-excitementBalance/Harmony/Order
WoodLiverAngerKindness
WaterKidneyFear/TerrorWisdom
EarthSpleenWorryTrust

As one moves the form, attention is brought sequentially and simultaneously to the movement sequence associated with the element and its related body organ, emotion and virtue. Increased concentration, mental discipline and emotional fluidity can develop each person’s personal capacity not only to focus and train one’s mind and body but also to experience the fluidity of one’s emotions. We do this by bringing attention to the 5 modes of knowing – the SIBAM – as outlined by the trauma-healing pioneer of Somatic Experiencing (SE), Peter Levine (1997). The movement and meditative process can increase perception, integration and presence through “Somatic Mindfulness”2.

1 The form was taught to Heifetz by her master teacher, Tamir Aloni, a student of traditional Qigong masters.
2 Somatic Mindfulness is a gentle approach to body/mind integration that uses self-reflection of inner experiences from the body to develop conscious intent. Focus is placed on bringing forth an internal awareness, tracking bodily sensations back and forth from stillness to action. The term here is used as a process to integrate the five channels of experience – the SIBAM (see Peter Levine, 1999) .

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Laban Movement Analysis (also known as LMA) is a profound and comprehensive descriptive system of human movement that gives language, form and meaning to non-verbal experiences. When you speak to a group of people, how far is your energy projected and what impact does it have on your audience? How do you use your weight to add pressure or put forth a delicate point? When you enter a room, how is your personal sphere or space defined, enlarged or carried? When you engage someone in a discussion, do you treat him as an object or as a complex three-dimensional person? The Laban framework gives definition to the rhythm and drive (Effort) of motion and the shape, form and direction of your actions. All movement requires intention, initiation and phrasing. These create patterns that align to verbal language in different ways. The Body-Effort-Shape-Space quaternary interact dynamically. Learning to experience, observe and work with these principles expand personal expressive repertoire and professional capacity to perform in the world.

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Somatic Mindfulness is a gentle approach to body/mind integration that uses self-reflection of inner experiences from the body to develop conscious intent. Focus is placed on bringing forth an internal awareness, tracking bodily sensations back and forth from stillness to action. The term here is used as a process to integrate the five channels of experience - the SIBAM - defined by Peter Levine. The SIBAM is an acronym for the following words: Sensations - for example, tension, heat, relaxation; Images- from internal ones, ex., memories, dreams or metaphors to external ones, ex., an object in the room; Behavior/movement - for example, postures, facial expressions, speech; Affect – categorical emotions and the Felt Sense; Meaning/ideas- the beliefs, judgments, thoughts, analysis that are often expressed through words.

This subjective knowledge allows us to become inner directed and enhance self-regulation and inner balance. The term ‘soma’ comes from the Greek word for body. Thomas Hanna named the field of "somatics" in 1976 as the study of the Soma (body) viewed from a first-person perspective. Somatic Mindfulness brings attention to our own senses and feelings, building self-trust and facility in working with these inner experiences and supporting one’s capacity to become more aware and intentional.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a trauma healing method to relieve stored stress from the body, which was created by incomplete resolution of a flight or fight reaction to danger. Somatic Experience’s beauty and relevance in a non-therapeutic context, is the capacity to integrate core principles from SE that strengthen awareness of our bodies as a self-healing resource and thus enhance personal embodiment.

Our bodies are continuously sequencing from constricting our muscles for action to relaxing or expanding our muscles for rest and nourishment through the monitoring of our Autonomic Nervous System. This ongoing inner process can be tracked by attending to our Felt Sense.

Constricted tensions, locked in our musculature, can be slowly titrated out of our bodies by pendulating back and forth between what can be described as the trauma and healing vortices, enabling the discharge of this stored energy while grounding and orienting the person in the healing vortex through the SIBAM.

The method was inspired from Gendlin’s work on Focusing and developed by Dr. Peter Levine over his 45 years of therapeutic practice. Embodied Leadership Training pedagogy is structured around these principles.

Heifetz Needs Matrix

The Heifetz Needs Matrix has its origins in Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Human Needs,” first noted in his 1943 paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation”. Following Maslow, numerous theorists including John Burton, Paul Sites, Marshall Rosenberg and Manfred Max Neef have developed different Human Needs models to explain human behavior in general, and more specifically, the persistence of conflict in human life. The Human Needs Map developed by Deborah Heifetz focuses on eight needs, which become our human sensitivities that drive human vulnerability and conflict. The model also identifies four generalized Hungers that feed these needs: Survival, Love, Power and Meaning

The Map, designed as a total system of interacting and interdependent parts, creates a visual and conceptual model that suggests a fluid inter-relationship between our conflict-driving needs. As such, the dynamic connection creates a more complex synergy for creative problem-solving, which can lead to positive transformative outcomes. The model works with the principles that not only do specific unmet Human Needs produce conflict, but also that the unfolding conflict can fulfill a need, ex. participation in a violent street gang fulfills the need to belong. When one or more conflict-driving needs are unmet, people get triggered into a reaction or reactive pattern, which creates different degrees of interpersonal violence. Heifetz suggests through this model that emotions and emotion mapping add another layer of depth to conflict analysis. When factored in, emotions such as fear, sadness, anger and shame serve a crucial and revealing role by indirectly illuminating data about at-risk Needs and the related cultural and personal satisfiers that can fulfill them. Lastly, while Needs can be satisfied, Hungers tend to be generalized and insatiable, either by trauma or by other factors. The distinction between Hungers and Needs helps focus the inquiry on specific corrective actions. Leaders faced with conflict or resistance would be wise to ask: What unmet needs are driving conflict; what needs are served by being in conflict; what ‘hot’ emotions are sparked that reveal hidden or overt unmet needs; and where in the social or organizational structure are essential human needs being deprived or threatened?

STEPS

Four steps complete the ELT training. Four three-day workshops build a progression of modules. The training can be self-organized at your company or non-profit organization. Please contact us if you would like more information.

2017 Schedule of Modules:

Module I – Embodied Awareness

increases embodiment to discover a rich and largely unconscious source of self-knowledge. Leaders with strong embodied self-awareness engage in relationships with more finesse, aligning their words, feelings and actions. ELT is designed to connect body intelligence and emotional intelligence.

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Module II – Communication and Voice

builds Presence and skill to communicate engaging messages for connection and impact. How you move influences what you say. This workshop opens the feedback loop between your inner experiences and your movement, breath, voice and words, so that you can feel what you say with clarity and power.

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Module III – Communicating under Conflict

untangles the hidden value of conflict. How can you make conflict an opportunity to strengthen yourself and deepen relationships? Discover the role you play in conflict. Combining movement, voice dialogue and non-violent communication, learn and practice how to “bring peace into the room.”

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Module IV – Creativity and Resilience

stimulates your imagination, creativity and courage to face unknown outcomes. Leading change processes goes hand-in-hand with daring and innovation.
Strengthen how to think quickly on your feet, open out rather than close down under pressure, and build a feedback loop between thoughts and responses to support more competent risk-taking.

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Your take-away tools and personal learnings?

  • Understanding how your movement both defines and limits you
  • Somatic Mindfulness
  • More integrated movement expression.
  • Finding comfort in your body as a resource
  • Greater crisp and impactful messages
  • Insight into the art of building rapport and relationship
  • Listening so that others feel heard
  • Larger repertoire to handle conflict
  • Non-verbal and non-violent communication skills
  • Personal fluidity to face resistance
  • Developing creativity through movement improvisation

  • “The seminar is well paced, mindful and very enriching, a very professional and well-organised experience. Loved the diversity of the participants as well.”

    Nicole Cohen | Market Analyst

  • “The workshop can make a supernova in ones personal and professional life.”

    Sandra Adiarte | Body-Movement Therapist/Certified Movement Analyst

  • “The entire weekend was a safe space to make “mistakes” and find that they were really just LEARNING points!”

    Katarina Thome | Yoga teacher/Investor & Philanthropist

  • “I learned a lot about my personal relationship to my body, movement and how this is connected to my way of interacting with others.”

    Jane Schütz | Businesswoman

  • “ELT was an enlightening experience for me… You have the ability to point out doors that we only need to step through.”

    Ute Martina Witt | Alternative medical practitioner

MINDS

Embodied Leadership Training is the co-creation of Judy Gantz, M.A., CMA. and Deborah Heifetz, Ph.D., CMA.  Our synergistic approach is rooted in professional careers drawn from the fields of Dance, Anthropology, Peace & Conflict Studies, Laban Movement Analysis, Facilitation and Peace Activism.

Our work has taken us to university, business and international community settings. The goal: To train new leaders more capable of creating solutions to social problems by bridging body, mind and emotional intelligence as a fundamental resource.

Deborah Heifetz

Dr. Deborah Heifetz is a co-founder and co-director of BraveHearts International. She is a Mediator, certified Y.P.O. Forum Facilitator and Certified Movement Analyst (C.M.A.) who holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, an M.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Genetics.

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Judy Gantz

Judy Gantz is an international movement specialist, dancer, teacher and lecturer. She created the Center for Movement Education & Research, and has been leading the Laban movement training of dance/movement therapists in California for over 30 years.

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Dr. Deborah Heifetz is a co-founder and co-director of BraveHearts International. She is a Mediator, certified Y.P.O. Forum Facilitator and Certified Movement Analyst (C.M.A.) who holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, an M.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Genetics. Heifetz served as a special advisor to the Crisis Management Team of the Israeli Police, developed the concept “non-mediated peacekeeping’ from her ethnographic study of gender and Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation during the Oslo years (1994-2000) and has acted in Track II Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. She co-founded the peace-building and community development NGO – HiMaT – with projects in Pakistan and has been engaged in the international grassroots movement known as the Transition Network, where she co-founded the Israeli Hub and served as a mediator. Heifetz mentors social activists in community building to pro-actively work with conflict as an opportunity to deepen personal awareness and resilient social relationships.

Dr. Heifetz has been on faculty at Tel Aviv University where she integrated her diverse background and training in Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Laban Movement Analysis to educate graduate students of International Conflict Resolution and Mediation in Culture, Conflict and Community Development. Working in collaboration with Kibbutz Neot Semadar (Israel), she bridged academia and community development through deep personal learning. She practices a reflexive pedagogy, which incorporates over 13 years of daily Qigong and Tai Chi practice, and 20 years teaching experience on faculty at Haifa University’s dance/movement therapy program where she has woven cognitive, experiential and action learning with core principles of mindfulness practice, witnessing and social theory. Heifetz is Chevening Scholar (University of Manchester and Cambridge University) and brings over 30 years experience as a peace activist, social scientist and somatic educator working at the nexus of inner and outer peace.
Embodied Leadership Training integrates a lifetime of her work, study, practice and teaching. It is one step forward in building a peace culture, which drives her life work.

"Our difficult emotions create a trail that can lead us to our unmet needs. When we become aware, we can sense these emotions as sensations in our bodies: Our arms may start to tense like we’re going to fight….our feet or legs may be agitated to run….. we may feel pressure in our chest or frozen and stuck. These physical reactions are activations of our fight-flight-freeze response. Something, somewhere, somehow we perceive and therefore feel that we’re in danger…The same is true when we see someone angry, afraid and ashamed. We are also witnessing vulnerability - defending core needs expressed through their emotions and imbedded stories to be told. Understanding the relationship between stories, emotions and needs enables a Compassionate inquiry to uncover another person’s beliefs and fears – even when directed at us! Once we uncover these, we gain a thicker understanding, which strengthens the relationship and builds a culture of peace.”

Judy Gantz, MA, CMA, is the Director and Founder of the Center for Movement Education and Research (CMER), a 501c 3 non-profit organization (2003). From 2005-2016 Judy directed the CMER DMT Alternate Route Training program. She is an international movement specialist, dancer, teacher, with over 25 years in academic work. Judy was an Associate Adjunct Professor at UCLA in the department of World Arts & Cultures from 1982-2005. Her academic focus has been in Laban Movement Analysis, dance kinesiology and creative dance/movement education. Judy’s teaching in the United States includes the University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Dominican University, University of Washington, University of Illinois, Sonoma State University, and the University of Western Michigan. Internationally, she has taught Laban Movement Analysis at the University of Limerick, Ireland, Seoul Korea, Moscow Russia, and Embodied Leadership Training for Women in Cologne Germany.
Gantz has a broad perspective of the role of dance/movement in healing and education. Her article in the Somatic Journal, Cultivating Body Knowledge, received a first award placement by the Motus Humanus organization. Her passion for education includes being on the board of directors for Dovetail Learning, a social-emotional learning center impacting schools and communities.

Judy is a dancer who values creativity and expression; and she leads with clarity, empathy and the power to invoke personal exploration in others.

"I am interested in helping others discover the power and meaning that comes from living an embodied life. I firmly believe that conscious embodiment is the balance to 21st technology. Dance is a source for integrating social/cultural awareness and emotional intelligence when guided with somatic awareness. It is vital to our humanity that we connect to the wisdom within our conscious bodies and become literate in the psycho-physical aspects of movement".

Join

ELT Workshop Schedule 2016/2017

Click links below to learn more and register:

Intensive - Communication under Conflict Oct 28-30, 2016 | Berlin  three-day intensive workshop on communication and conflict



Module I - Embodied Awareness Oct 6-8, 2017 | Bad Endbach


Module II - Communication and Voice May 5-7, 2017 | Berlin


Module III - Conflict as Opportunity Oct 13-15, 2017 | Berlin


Module IV - Creativity and Resilience May 12-14, 2017 | Bad Endbach



Terms & Conditions

Costs: Individuals: 540€ per three-day module; 50€ discount for early registration (three months before course start date), 1900€ for full workshop series (module I-IV), contact us to register for the package. Students/CLMA students: 245€ per three-day module. Participants, whose costs are borne by for-profit organisations: 1,300€ per three-day module. Costs for room and board may vary.

Would you like to offer a self-organised training at your company or NGO (10 people or more)? Please contact us for availability.

  • “The warrior archetype was intriguing for me – it felt very present and familiar, to make conscious the role that men are expected to live in every day life.”

    André Pohl | Social Worker/Entrepreneur

  • “It is the combination of verbal coaching, role plays AND body work that ‘makes the difference’.”

    Claudia Heland | Journalist

  • “The archetypes will be very helpful to feel whole and confident.”

    Lea Ledwon | Peace and conflict management graduate

  • “Judith and Deborah are two experts in their work. They embody what they teach and are inspiring role models for female leaders and for me.”

    Gudrun Alles | Teacher and Researcher in African Dance

  • “I am deeply impressed by your teachings. You are wonderful teachers, visionaries and examples of how the body and movement are an integral part of our interactions…”

    Dr. Marita Schütz-Hartmann | Psychiatrist and specialist in psycho-somatic medicine and psychotherapy

  • “I rediscovered the part of myself that can speak in public and also became aware of what motivates me, and the role that motivation plays during interactions within a team.”

    Claudia Roth | Architect and Project Director