Scope of Practice

Somatic Movement Dance Therapies are uniquely crafted around the following approaches, principles, and therapeutic values: uksmdt.co.uk​​

• Experiential anatomy & physiology: The unique blending of objective knowledge (anatomy and physiology) with subjective experience (first-person sensory-perceptual awareness of the living body)
• The reduction of sympathetic arousal through parasympathetic release and ease (bringing the nervous system into balance)
• Connecting people with their sensory-motor loop, through slow-time afferent sensing and efferent motor expression
• The facilitation of interoceptive, proprioceptive, cardio-ceptive and gravi-ceptive movement awareness
• The reduction of exteroceptive overwhelm via interoceptive afferent sensing
• The application of somatic touch and bodywork (sometimes prior to moving and/or during movement)
• Offer processes that support the development of sensory-perceptual imaginative and expressive movement awareness 
• Support cardio-ception and breath awareness, in support of reducing sympathetic arousal, and integrating mind and body
• Facilitate breath awareness and cardio-ception, supporting the vagus nerve into a state of health   
• Apply somatic touch to release patterns of neuromuscular holding, balancing asymmetries, and easing stress and strain
• Apply experiential anatomy and physiology during movement; bringing consciousness to unconscious body processes and/or tissues that are beneath the threshold of consciousness
• Facilitate the release of tension in living tissues, via free-flowing movement patterns, underpinned by subjective/objective awareness of fluid the systems 
• Release stress and tension in living tissues through the experiential study of gravi-ception, soft-tissue rolling and fascial release
• Facilitate the experiential study of cardio-ceptive awareness and  breath awareness (exploring coherence and heart resonance) in dyadic and community work
• Facilitate the experiential study of the imagination as a teleological guide, supporting the psyche’s journey through life’s complexities, stresses and strains
• Facilitate the experiential study of the imagination and free improvisation, supporting fascial fluidity and skeletal-muscular dexterity. 
• Augment the fluid nature of the human organism; supporting the free-flow of fluids through tissues
• Facilitate experiential processes that support the fascia into a state of health, exploring bio-tensegrity
• Facilitate movement processes that explore ontogenetic and phylogenetic movement patterns 
• Facilitate somatic movement fundamentals:  gravity, weight, mass, space, breath, heart and movement fluidity
• Explore the relationship between sensation, emotion, movement, and the imagination
• Facilitate the experiential study of self-regulation and co-regulation (the experiential study of presence with Self and other in a safe environment)
• Explore the integration of mind, body and spirit, through breath awareness, and the oxygenation of living tissues through movement
• Explore the joy of movement and moving kinaesthetically  
• Explore the intelligence of the living body and source energy
• Facilitate the experiential study of consciousness, developed through sensory-perceptual movement awareness, breath awareness, and subjectively investigating the body-mind relationship 
• Facilitate somatic movement/dance meditations
•  Facilitate a balance between resting (afferent sensing) and action (efferent motor expression)
• Offer processes of digestion, reflection and integration after moving/dancing
• Facilitate the experiential study of presence with Self and other 

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