A TWO-YEAR MOVEMENT-BASED JEWISH LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Embodying SpiritEn-spiriting Body

IS MOVEMENT YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE?Does your soul express itself most deeply and joyfully through dance and song?

Embodying Spirit, En-spiriting Body offers men and women, Jewish spiritual leaders and practitioners, as well as those interested in the Jewish path, the opportunity to delve deeply into multiple layers of Jewish tradition in a truly embodied way.

AWAKEN AND EXPANDIn the nurturing and focused setting of four residential retreats, you will discover yourself as part of an embodied spiritual community, excavating essential questions and sharing insights from a deeply human place.

Your work as a healer, therapist, spiritual leader, or teacher will be immeasurably enriched as you deepen your own spiritual practice and learn Jewish “embodiment facilitation” skills from the inside out.

Awaken and expand your experience of the body as vehicle of the soul and as an expression of the Divine. Our core practice is allowing the somatic self — that is, the felt body — to become the ground of prayer, learning, and teaching.

Embodying Prayer Retreat I: October 31 – November 6, 2016Experience whole-body davenning through each of the Four Worlds of Jewish prayer—Doing, Feeling, Understanding, and Being.

Embodying Torah Retreat II: May 15 – 21, 2017Develop an embodied approach to Torah study, as you delve into your own birth parasha and the Torah portion of the week, through Authentic Movement, deep body awareness, and improvisational and ecstatic dance.

Embodying Kabbalah Retreat III: November 6 – 12, 2017Discover the mystical Tree of Life within your own body-mind, as together we evolve movement practices to heal the painful splits in ourselves, the world, and the Divine.

The Sacred Dance Retreat IV: May 7 – 13, 2017 Integrate Worlds, Souls and Divinities through the creation of embodied “life spiral” rituals.

You’ll be lovingly cared for at Four Springs Retreat Center, nestled among oak, pine, and manzanita forest in Middletown, California, 75 miles north of San Francisco: www.foursprings.org.

For more information & to apply visit www.whollypresent.org or email rabbi.diane18@gmail.comE.S.E.B. is one of the Ruach Ha’Aretz programs of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal.

aleph.org/program/embodying-spirit-en-spiriting-body

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY ABOUT RABBI DIANE

“I felt that the heavens reached down to open a path of light and love to me, filling it with dancing soul sisters of deep intent and full hearts, all beckoning me onward on the journey that is mine. A life-giving feast for body, heart, mind and soul!”

– Evlyn Gould, Professor, University of Oregon, lay leader at Temple Beth Israel, Eugene

“This was very meaningful integration time... and an amazing journey. I utilized what I learned immediately, both personally and in all of the classes I teach — including b’nai mitzvah, pre-natal yoga, and Embodied Prayer yoga.”

– Mia Miriam Cohen, midwife, Jewish ritual leader and rabbinical student

“Diane’s way touches and opens my being to such great depths, to a place where I can truly access more of my essence and authentic self and, in turn, gain more access to our Torah and liturgy.... Information becoming wisdom, nourishing, challenging and illuminating deep places within me.”

– Alisa Fineman, Cantorial Soloist at Congregation Beth Israel, Carmel Valley, CA

Rabbi Diane Elliot, spiritual teacher, dancer, and somatic therapist, inspires her students to become clearer channels for Divine Light through awareness and movement practices, chant, and nuanced interpretations of Jewish sacred text. Rabbi Diane was ordained at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, in 2006, and before that worked for many years as an internationally known modern dance performer and choreographer, somatic therapist, and teacher of Body-Mind Centering®. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she is the founder of Wholly Present, a center for embodied spirituality and is active in ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. She maintains a spiritual direction practice, leads Jewish spiritual retreats, and is the author of numerous articles, essays, and poems. Her wise, loving presence creates a safe space to explore spirituality individually and in community.

Embodying SpiritEn-spiriting Body