offerings
2025 & 2026 workshops & events
heart of courage
december 4-8, an online immersion with michael and susan harper
“it takes courage to open the heart and learn what anguish it has and what remedies can be found within it.” – michael meade
in this 5-day online retreat, we participate in a multi-faceted movement range where we dance wildly and tenderly, fiercely and freely, deepen through ritual, and explore intrinsic movement. we use the movement practices of soul motion, open floor and continuum inquiry.
in these polarized and fractured times, we are called to imagine more courageously. we will build resources and awaken courage to simmer in the tension, in the paradox of awe and what is awful. in times of trouble, we learn to listen to the deeper imagination until hidden insights emerge.
susan and michael, midwives of movement and ritual, will invite you to listen and linger on the potent cusp of your soul’s journey. in this pregnant pause no-thing needs to happen and every-thing is possible.
immersion & emerging
january 21-25, lethe hof, germany an in-person immersion with michael and edgar spieker. For Foundations participants, Embodied Leadership, Embody & Explore and Teacher Training graduates.
there is a beautiful dance each day when the fading of the night sky surrenders to the emergence of the morning light .that moment where darkness becomes daylight is a reservoir filled with infinite potential and possibilities. it is in the dark where our dreams first begin to take shape and it is during the day that those dreams can be expanded and expressed out into the world. in Immersion, we will dive into and submerge ourselves in the rich, dark and fertile soil of the practices of a soul in motion. we will stretch our roots underground, allowing our souls to be nourished in the dark and cultivate what wants to develop and unfold. we will marinate and saturate our bodies through resting, grounding and finding support through movement and the embrace and holding of the community. in Emerging, we will take the resources of our strengthened roots into the light. we will practice being visible in the world, taking the gifts that we have cultivated and sharing them passionately and with purpose. we will release old structures that have limited our growth and find a space within ourselves for something new to take form. we will practice extending our reach beyond the horizon while being centered in our own truth. if you are ready to fully trust the life you are creating, then perhaps it is time for the Immersion of your seed and the Emerging of what is ready to bloom.
traveling and unraveling
January 30- Feb 1,2026 & April 17-19, 2026, AN ONLINE WORKSHOP IN TWO PARTS - WITH VIRTUAL WEAVING AND WANDERING CIRCLES IN-BETWEEN with michael and camilla steen larsen
do you remember the first time you successfully tied a knot and were celebrated for that monumental achievement? the physical embodiment of YES! vibrating and circulating throughout your body. oh how simple life was then. then, the knots became more complicated; perhaps the first time you experienced feeling ‘not worthy’, and your heart became a taut and tangled ball. the feeling of being ‘not enough’ , when the harsh seeds of doubt were stitched into your tender heart by the criticism of your first art teacher, and another knot leeched itself onto your soul. not lovable, not seeable, not valuable, each cord coiling, pulling and creating more and more tension lodged within the body, using our movement practice we will travel along our lifelines which may have become snared in old belief systems. we will lean into, learn from and re-lease what’s binding us through storytelling and writing, unraveling the strands that have become gnarled and twisted. through ritual and witnessing let’s remember and recreate a new quilt, woven from the unloved and unleashed parts of who we are. let’s gently tease and ease the threads that have tried to hold us together, but may have been holding us back. we will call in generosity, grace and spaciousness to be our allies as we venture into uncomfortable territory, in hopes of embodying the next chapter of our unfolding story.
in solidarity and hope
february 6-8, freiburg, germany an in-person workshop with michael
in times of stress and strife, chaos and cacophony, we often become ungrounded and unable to align with our own center. this loss of embodiment heightens feelings of separation, which causes alienation, animosity and antagonism. this empty place is a breeding ground for despair and a sense that our lives are without possibilities: to become completely disheartened. this is an invitation to stand together, to move together and to pray together through the somatic practices of soul motion. let’s explore and expand acts of solidarity through movement and stillness, sound and silence, ease and effort, allowing and resisting. let’s enrich and enliven our fields of hope through poetry, art, ritual, storytelling and our shared collective dreams. let’s join the great weaving through the connective tissue of our humanness. let’s put our voices together as a resilient body choir and sing the chorus that “hope blooms when crisis looms”.
threshold of belonging
FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 1, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA AN IN-PERSON WORKSHOP WITH MICHAEL AND ZUZA ENGLER
our lives move between hope and despair, fear and courage, control and surrender, doubt and faith, holding on and letting go. when we move together in a divided world, we learn that the threshold between opposites is the space where transformation happens. rather than trying to resolve the polarities we live with, we dance together at the edge of what's known, where opposites are transformed through movement and ritual into creative possibilities. we travel the territory between isolation and connection, resistance and acceptance, strength and vulnerability, tenderness and power – and what seems like limited choice opens into infinite possibility. this weekend is an invitation to step out of our solitary entanglements into something bigger: not just our shared humanity, but the Source of all, the vast field of presence, awareness, and possibility. one weekend. two teachers. no full stop.
coming home
march 22-24, rockport, maine, an in-person workshop with michael
what if HOME was not a destination or a place, but rather a quality of being and a presence to the vitality living in each moment. to be at HOME in the intimacy and solitude of being alone is to openly receive and release the simplicity of each breath, to honor our wounds and celebrate our gifts. to be at HOME in the connection and communion with another is to be rooted in our own beating heart, while risking to share our heart with another. to be at HOME in the community and belonging of others is to be willing to take a stand and claim our place, while at the same time making space for the diversity and beauty of others. to be at HOME in the infinite mystery of spirit is to surrender to the teachings of faith, trust, curiosity and wonder to guide us in our every day dance of life. in this workshop, using the platforms and landscapes of Soul Motion we will seek comfort and solace in returning again and again to our own bodies, breath, hearts and rhythms. we will risk moving out to our growing edge while being grounded with our heels firmly rooted in each step and our hearts openly reaching toward the next horizon. through movement and pause, silence and sound, witnessing and being seen, we will dance our dreams and sing through our souls. the journey has begun, the long walk of COMING HOME.
weaving: the art of connection
march 27-29, burlington, vermont, an in-person workshop with michael
the fabric of our humanity is being stretched beyond the breaking point. the threads of our humanness have grown taut and tense as othering becomes the most fluent language spoken in the world. the current climate saturating every nation almost insists that we distrust, disparage and disrespect one another. what can we do to stitch the fibers of generosity and kindness back into the one human story? we will begin the weaving by moving our own bodies, inviting our breath to sing to any parts within us that feel forgotten or forbidden. we will create pathways for greater intimacy through the weaving of our shared values and vulnerability, richer connection to each other through the weaving of our shared shapes and stories, a deeper sense of belonging through the weaving of our shared wounds and wonder, accessibility to spirit through the weaving of our shared dances of hope and despair, loss and life, faith and doubt, grief and love. let’s assemble to dance and design a rich tapestry, woven together from all the qualities of your human experiences, to reinforce and reaffirm our art and heart of connection.
confluence: moving together
april 9-14, oldenburg, germany, an in-person convergence with WITH MICHAEL MOLIN-SKELTON, WINKY WHEELER, DOREEN TÖNJES & EDGAR SPIEKER
something alchemical happens when divergent streams come together to create something larger than their individual limited storylines. something magical occurs when unfamiliar colors merge together to become something new, that could not have existed if they had remained separate. something transformational is in the making, when opposing ideas can widen their stance, so two conflicting points of view can rise together to build a foundation for new heights. something exquisite emerges, when contrasting bodies in motion can occupy common ground, bringing balance and understanding into an often fragmented and disconnected world. the current global climate is calling together our diverse human experiences, to encourage us in recovering the forgotten ways of moving in communion and community. in this Soul Motion Confluence, like individual tributaries flowing into the vast ocean, you will be invited to bring your personal wounds and wonders into our shared movement space, so we can continue to be more accepting and welcoming of the ways we are different. this rare event is facilitated by four distinctive Soul Motion teachers; doreen tönjes, edgar spieker, winky wheeler, and michael molin-skelton, who will be briging their unique voices into a collaborative chorus. You will bring your unique pieces of the puzzle, to enrich and enhance the movement mandala that has waited quietly within each of us to be explored and expressed. join us in weaving this extraordinary patchwork quilt, by threading your seeds of ordinary beauty; a convergence of hope and despair, faith and doubt, cruelty and kindness, grace and grief, through our souls in motion practice.
RE: retreat
april 26 - may 2, corfu, greece, an in-person retreat with michael and DOREEN TÖNJES
one of the most powerful things about a practice is we get to return and relearn the ways in which we meet the mystery of each moment. through movement we practice rediscovering and reconnecting to the strengths and struggles of our bodies, with movement we practice receiving and releasing the wonders and woes of our hearts, as movement we practice recreating and reimagining the liberation and limitations of our minds, and our practice on the dance floor prepares us to reclaim and resource our whole self, as we move with responsibility and resilience onto the world floor of our every day lives. and perhaps one of the most essential elements for each of us to reflect upon in our time together on corfu is that this is a retreat. you will be given every opportunity to take time out of time. again and again, you will be invited to listen to the ways that you can relax, renew, restore, refill, refresh, and when you forget there will be a reminder….repeat. you can resist or we can simply choose to rest in RE:
Grow
may 8-10, edinburgh, scotland, an in-person workshop with michael
in life we are faced with many obstacles and opportunities that can be catalysts on this heart-breaking and heart-opening path of being human; beauty and terror, grief and grace, hope and despair, belonging and banishment. can each of these circumstances be compost for the fuel that enables our growth? do you and i have a choice in how we meet each moment, receiving and releasing the wonders and wounds of our dancing journey? to receive is to grow our capacity to acknowledge and express the gifts you have been given, to yourself and to the world. to release is to grow our capacity to be with and embrace the wounds you have suffered, for yourself and for the world. may everything we encounter be a gateway to how you and i choose to cultivate; we can grow numb or grow aliveness, grow division or connection, grow presence or aloofness, grow compassion or apathy, grow kindness or cruelty. using the practice of soul motion as our ground, let’s repair our roots through the rituals of movement and pause, extend our reach through witnessing and being seen, rest in repose through sound and silence, including the excluded parts of ourselves and this community that comes together to GROW.
foundations & trainings
the journey of becoming a Soul Motion Teacher has no beginning and no end. it is sculpted by the experiences of our past and envisioned by our imaginings of our future, each encouraging us to be present inside the Now of what is unfolding. if your gifts are ripe and ready to be shared with others, then the Soul Motion Teacher Training path may be calling you. if you are ready to answer that calling, follow the breadcrumbs below.
soul motion: foundations
September 23-27, 2026 with Doreen Tönjes and Michael
foundations are the first and most important part of any building. when something stands on good ground, it enables unimagined possibilities to build on it. It is similar with us: the clarity about where we stand as human beings opens up the inner spaces we need for our growth. the "foundations" are the first part of the soul motion training. they allow us to learn in detail the cornerstones on which our dance meditation method is built. the "foundations" are open to both experienced soul motion dancers and absolute beginners. this module is part of the soul motion teacher training and not a regular workshop.
soul motion mastery 2026: new training
1. Module: october 2-9, 2026. 2. Module: January 10-17, 2027. 3. Module: April 25-May 2, 2027. plus online offering between the modules with Doreen Tönjes, Edgar Spieker, Michael Molin Skelton, Winky Wheeler
become a courageous creator of your own Life and learn how to bring your passion into the World this training offers you: an intensive immersion into dance a deepened relationship with your own body inner growth through new experiences the development of skills that are helpful both in private life and in professional settings e.g.: stress reduction, improved self-care and self-awareness, deeper access to your own creativity and intuition, improvisational skills to better navigate life's uncertainties a comprehensive education to become a soul motion seacher knowledge of practical aspects of teaching, such as technical questions, legal considerations, and organizational matters an intensive exploration of music and silence experiences in meditation and mindfulness training becoming part of a vibrant, creative, and warm-hearted community of soul motion teachers