Introduction to Access-Centered Movement

[Description of Image above: mountains with evergreens at night, Northern lights with many visible stars above. White writing says: introduction to Access-Centered Movement]

Access Info:

• Wheelchair Accessible.
• No Scent Campus. (This is a Fragrance-Free class. Please come unscented to protect those of us with environmental/chemical sensitivities what.) Soap in the bathroom is fragrance free.
• Non-fluorescent lighting.
• Please give us 72 hours notice if you would like an ASL interpreter.
• We will take breaks and everyone is encouraged to take care of their body as needed.
• Please let us know if you have other access needs or questions

Facebook Event

Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) Fitness Studio is in the Ed Roberts Campus, which is directly above Ashby BART Station.

About the Workshop:

In this workshop, we will offer an introduction to Access–Centered Movement® in preparation for our Access–Centered Movement® Teacher Training (a certification program). We will explore how people who teach movement/bodymind practices (yoga, dance, martial arts, meditation/mindfulness etc) can make their classes more accessible to a wide array of bodies and minds. We will examine Access-Centered and invitational language, access-centered movement and variations, as well as opening a dialogue around cultural humility when engaging with different bodies and minds. Jess and India will provide an overview of the Disability Justice framework and how to apply this framework to teaching movement. The workshop will include interactive lectures, demonstrations, some space for participants to practice with each other, and time for questions and answers.

This workshop will be a prerequisite for the Access–Centered Movement® Teacher Training which we will schedule once we have enough interest. We will offer a few more introductory workshops in case folks are not able to attend this one.

This workshop will be sliding scale with scholarship options, we humbly ask that you offer as much as you are able to sustainably, knowing that we are low income disabled teachers and that this is our life’s work.
Sliding scale $40-$150+ (no one turned away for lack of funds). We highly encourage people who have financial access to pay as much as they can (perhaps more than $150) to help fund folks who do not have access.

We would like people to register and pay for the event in advance so that we know that we will have enough attendees.
Please submit your pre-payments to @lovingtheskin .

FB message us or email us at the email below if you need to pay another way.
No refunds except for health/disability related reasons.

If you cannot pay until the day of for financial reasons, please email us so we know you are serious about attending and we can reserve a spot for you.

We need 6 people registered and paid by May 1, 2019 to run the training.

Please email us if you have any issues – accesscenteredmovement@gmail.com

About the Teachers:

India Harville is an African American queer disabled femme teacher, somatic bodyworker, dancer/dance instructor, performance artist, social justice activist, and educator dedicated to facilitating people in personal and collective growth and transformation. India has been a student of movement for over twenty years. Due to chronic illness/disabilities, India had to create her own modifcations to attend many movement classes that were not accessible. She then went on to become and instructor of different mixed abilities dance styles including DanceAbility and American DanceWheels Wheelchair Dance. India dances with the Interdisciplinary Inclusive Ensemble at Cal State Hayward, a mixed abilities dance company, Sins Invalid, and creates her own works. India adopted a radical disability politic in 2011 after hearing Mia Mingus speak and has been a student of disability justice since that time. She is grateful to all of her teachers, both living and ancestral, whose work is the foundation of all she does.

Jess is a white/Jewish queer disabled femme teacher, healer, and social justice activist. She began practicing yoga 17 years ago in an attempt to manage the physical and emotional pain resulting from various disabilities and traumas. She found, however, that most yoga classes she attended were not accessible for her needs. Jess continued to practice yoga on her own and explored various spiritual, psychological, and physical tools for healing personal and sociological trauma. She created Access-Centered Movement by combining trauma informed language, Disability Justice (a movement started by disabled queer people of color), and her lived experience as a sick and disabled queer. Jess is deeply grateful to the ancestors of these spiritual traditions.