Continuum: The Art of Breathing
With Megan Bathory-Peeler, Elaine Colandrea and co-faculty.
June 30 – July 5, 2024
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Rhinebeck, NY
Registration opens soon!
Reclaim the pleasure of breathing. Breathing is central to being at ease in relationship with our bodies, our Selves, and the world around us. Continuum gives us elegantly simple, practical, and relevant tools that engage the transformative nature of breathing while exploring fluid movement.
All breath-stopping patterns – screen apnea, news apnea, sleep apnea, and so on – are eventually paralyzing. Continuum dissolves internal restrictions providing ease and comfort in our bodies with cleansing movement practices. Conscious breathing restores equilibrium, without having to understand or fix what is wrong.
Collective engagement grows while practicing and exploring in our workshop sessions together. Our creative exchanges will generate benefits that extend far beyond the workshop. This retreat is for anyone who wishes to sustain themselves from a fluid state of wholeness, well-being, spontaneity, and joy.
Workshop Co-organizers:
Elaine Colandrea explores how the somatic arts shape consciousness, inform and inspire the creative process, and foster connections with nature to organically create a more humane world. Continuum teacher and Artistic Director of Watermark Arts, dancer/choreographer, somatic educator and massage therapist, Elaine has been steeped in the practices of Continuum for over 30 years. With Rori Smith, Elaine co-authored The Elemental Body: A Movement Guide to Kinship with Ourselves and the Natural World, Epigraph, 2022.
Megan Bathory-Peeler is an expert somanaut, fully engaged in a moving inquiry of what it takes to thrive as a human in the 21st century. Megan’s unique Somanautiko approach produces collaborative play, supporting people of all ages to reclaim the power of their own creativity and trust the innate wisdom of their bodies. Somanautiko synergizes three decades of Megan’s professional interdisciplinary study and practice as a Certified Somatic Therapist/Educator, Continuum teacher, bodyworker, choreographer, performance artist, activist, and mother.
Co-Faculty List:
Robin Becker
Ellen Cohen
Melanie Gambino
Bonnie Gintis
Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell
Linda Rabin
Robin Becker, MA, RSME, RSMT, is an internationally recognized teacher, dancer, choreographer, and founder of Robin Becker Dance. Her teaching weaves together her lifelong experience in dance; 30+ year study of Continuum with Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper; 40+ years of experience in meditation and contemplative healing practices; and 20 years of study with Gary David in Epistemics and Affect Script Theory. Robin was selected by Emilie Conrad to be an authorized Continuum teacher in 2001. Chapters from her master’s thesis, Continuum: The Alchemy of Movement, have been published in two anthologies on somatic movement practices. She currently teaches at Hofstra University and leads Continuum workshops nationally and internationally. Robin also works with private clients both online and in person.
Ellen Cohen has been investigating the mind-body-spirit connection her whole life. Body Synergy, her healing practice near Philadelphia, interweaves myo-fascial work, massage therapy, Gestalt therapy, as well as Continuum. Her life-long journey in improvisational dance has been informed by her respect for the sacredness of the moment and the wisdom that can emerge from the unconscious. Her passion is to welcome what is present for each student and synthesize that with the rich, vast possibilities of Continuum. There is always movement, even in “stillness.” The music of the spheres is ongoing, even in “silence.”
Melanie Gambino is a Continuum Teacher, with over 30 years experience in the practice and inquiry of Continuum. As an ISMETA member and former Board Member Melanie holds a MSMT/E & RSDE as well as BFA, BA and MA degrees. Melanie is also a member of WMA and CTA. Continuum is the basis of her work and life. A dancer/performer from age three, Melanie combines the performing arts with the healing arts and education. She served for almost two decades as Resident Choreographer/Director of Dance, Yoga, Somatic Health and Wellness, Movement, Mindfulness & Meditation in the Performing Arts Department at The Harvey School. Melanie teaches Continuum on the faculty at SUNY Purchase College, Conservatory of Dance.
Bonnie Gintis, DO, is an Osteopathic Physician, Continuum teacher, mindfulness-based stress reduction instructor, author, and podcast host. She synthesized her approach to transformative self-care through 20 years of study and teaching with Emilie Conrad, 30 years of osteopathic practice, and 50 years of meditation. She retired from private practice in 2009 and now devotes herself to teaching, writing, and exploring new ways to foster health and well-being. Author of Engaging The Movement Of Life: Exploring Health And Embodiment Through Osteopathy And Continuum, Bonnie is a graduate of New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and has taught osteopathic principles and practice, as well as Continuum worldwide.
Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell is a seasoned somatic movement educator and expressive arts therapist who guides clients into the rich resources residing in their BodyMindSpirits. In addition to being a member of the Continuum Teachers Association and Tamalpa Institute’s faculty, Elisabeth also serves as the Co-Chair of ISMETA’s Research and Publications Committee as well as its Diversity, Equity and Justice Committee. She is currently a doctoral student at the University of Utah as well, investigating the impact of interoceptive (somatic) awareness practices on anxiety in midlife women.
Linda Rabin, C.M., is a pioneer of contemporary dance in Canada with over 50 years of experience as dancer, teacher, choreographer and somatic movement educator. As a Continuum teacher based in Montreal, she helps artists and individuals from all backgrounds realize their personal and creative processes both onstage and in their daily lives. She leads workshops across Canada and internationally, sharing her lifelong passion: exploring movement as art and creative research, as a transformational and healing process, and as the fundamental expression of Life.