Soul Motion (Martí)

1. Introduction

Version followed: Soul Motion as its founder describes it in a Kripalu interview and a 2015 La Nación feature (four landscapes, plus the "Everyday Dance" he adds), with the class music and landscape names as a current Soul Motion teacher publishes them, and the teacher-training route as the Soul Motion Institute (Germany) publishes it for its 2022–2023 cohort. Landscape names vary between sources ("Dance of Connection" vs "Dance Communion"); both are given. [source: Kripalu Q&A; La Nación 2015; consciousdancer.com Body Prayer page; Soul Motion Institute training page]

What it is. Soul Motion is a facilitator-led, non-choreographed conscious dance practice created by Vinn Arjuna Martí, who now goes by Vincent Martínez-Grieco. A photographer's profile of him states the two names belong to one person, and a 2025 UK workshop listing advertises him teaching Soul Motion under the newer name. He is from the Bronx and has lived in Portland, Oregon since 1974. Sources describe Soul Motion as drawing on his classical and modern dance training, meditation and yoga, and New Thought Christianity. He says the name comes from something his mother called after him as a child, "Keep your soul in motion!" He describes Soul Motion as three things together: a movement practice, a philosophy of life, and a teaching method for a dance technique. [source: Kripalu Q&A; Jens Wazel profile; La Nación 2015; Devon School of Soul Motion 2025 listing; Peninsula Daily News 2010] The founding date is not stated in primary sources. One community wiki dates it to the late 1990s or early 2000s [uncertain].

Core idea of change, as the practice states it. Movement is improvised but not formless. It follows defined "working platforms" and "points of view", and moves through a sequence of relational "landscapes": self, partner, group, and what the practice calls the infinite or the mystery. The idea is that close attention to sensation, breath and relationship while moving builds presence and connection, and that this carries over into how people meet others in daily life. Martí says that daily-life carry-over is where the real work happens. [source: Kripalu Q&A; La Nación 2015] The practice is framed spiritually as "prayer in motion". These concepts are attributed to the practice in section 3 and are not stated here as fact.

What it is not. Soul Motion is not dance/movement therapy. The American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) defines dance/movement therapy (DMT) as "the psychotherapeutic use of movement". DMT requires a master's degree, supervised fieldwork and an internship. Its credentials are R-DMT (entry level) and BC-DMT (advanced, needed for private practice and supervision), both awarded through the Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board. DMT practitioners make treatment plans and keep clinical records in clinical settings. [source: ADTA FAQ] In the UK, Dance Movement Psychotherapy is overseen by the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy (ADMP UK). ADMP keeps professional registers of clinicians and supervisors, and it is an organisational member of a UKCP college. [source: ADMP About] A Soul Motion teacher's authorisation is a dance-facilitation credential from the practice's own training bodies. It is not a clinical or health-professional registration. Registered dance/movement therapy is covered in Domain VIII.

Who may facilitate it. Teaching under the Soul Motion name requires completing an authorised Soul Motion teacher training. The name is marked as a trademark: ® on a 2026 Esalen listing and ™ on a 2013 therapists' CPD listing. [source: Esalen 2026 listing; LA-CAMFT 2013 event; Soul Motion Institute training page] A psychotherapist who completes the training may lead Soul Motion classes. Even then, they lead them as a dance teacher, not as psychotherapy. A psychotherapist without the training should not call any movement work they offer "Soul Motion". They work alongside an authorised teacher, as section 4 sets out. [synthesis]

Evidence status. Independent outcome research or systematic reviews of Soul Motion are not documented in the sources listed below [uncertain]. Benefit claims in promotional and press material include relaxing, empowering, healing, freeing people from guilt and shame, and stress reduction. These claims are attributed to those sources and have not been tested. [source: La Nación 2015; Esalen 2026 listing]

2. Framework

Format. Classes are for groups. No dance experience is needed, and sources stress it is not about skill or performance. [source: La Nación 2015; LA-CAMFT 2013] Formats in published sources:

Weekly drop-in classes, e.g. a Sunday-morning "Body Prayer" class open to beginners and long-time dancers. [source: consciousdancer.com]
Single sessions of about two hours, as reported in 2015. [source: La Nación 2015]
Introductory "Foundations" workshops. The Soul Motion Institute requires one before teacher training. [source: Soul Motion Institute] A 2026 Australian Foundations listing describes a four-day immersion that introduces the practice's movement tools and "somatic languaging", the relational landscapes (alone, with another, community, and the "infinite" carried into everyday life) and its three named rhythms, open to beginners with no dance experience. [source: Foundations 2026 listing (In Body Movement)]
Multi-day residential workshops. One example is a 2026 week at Esalen that adds art-making, ritual, rest, Gestalt-Practice-based inquiry and outdoor sitting and walking meditation, with work alone, in pairs and trios, and as a whole group. This is one teacher pair's variant, not the core class. [source: Esalen 2026 listing]
A 2013 two-hour experiential CPD session for marriage and family therapists and clinical social workers in Los Angeles, led by a certified Soul Motion teacher. [source: LA-CAMFT 2013]

Class arc: the landscapes. Martí says each class is co-created by facilitator and dancers, so no two are the same. The landscapes give the order, though. The four landscapes and the fifth carry-over stage he describes are:

Stage	Names in sources	Goal as described	Typical activity
1	Dance Intimate / Danza íntima (solo)	Arriving in the body; moving attention from the "control tower" of the mind to the body's centre	Guided imagery and breath awareness, often starting seated or lying; returning to breath when thoughts intrude
2	Dance of Connection / Dance Communion / Danza comunión (duet)	Dialogue with a partner while staying aware of oneself	Partner dancing "up close" or across the room
3	Dance Community / Danza comunitaria (ensemble)	Sensing the whole room and the space between people	Group improvisation; community without crowding together
4	Dance Infinite / Danza infinita ("prayer space")	What the practice calls connection with a higher power or "the mystery"	Often guided meditation, readings or movement exercises on shared unity
5	Everyday Dance	Bringing the "dance attitude" into daily encounters	Outside the room

[source: Kripalu Q&A; La Nación 2015; consciousdancer.com; Foundations 2026 listing] One teacher asks participants to visit all four landscapes, not only their favourite, and to include witnessing others from stillness. [source: consciousdancer.com]

Music. One teacher describes the music as eclectic: classical, experimental, sacred chant, world beat, rock, opera remixes, jazz and electronica. It does not follow a single build-and-release energy wave (the contrast is with 5Rhythms). Instead it alternates in-and-out sequences to cultivate presence, with frequent slow and silent passages. [source: consciousdancer.com]

Criteria for moving between stages. No criteria are published. The facilitator decides when to move on [uncertain]. Training content includes "reading group dynamics" and class structures. That suggests teachers judge readiness from the group's state, not from a fixed clock. [source: Soul Motion Institute; inference marked: synthesis]

Teacher-training route (credential). As published by the Soul Motion Institute (Doreen Tönjes and Edgar Spieker, Germany) for 2022–2023:

Entry requirements. Minimum age 25. 155 "credits" of Soul Motion experience with an authorised teacher, of which up to 50 can come from other dance, meditation or bodywork methods. The Foundations workshop. Dance, meditation and teaching experience are desirable but not required.
Modules 1 and 2, "Embodied Leadership". Two residential weeks covering the core elements through body-based work, mindfulness, presence, voice and breath work, imagery, and dance technique (alignment, body connections, movement qualities). Between the modules runs a mentored personal project. Completing both gives the title "Embodied Leadership Graduate", which explicitly does not permit teaching under the Soul Motion name.
Modules 3 and 4, "Apprenticeship". Two residential weeks on teaching method: reading group dynamics, intervention methods, class structures, verbal guidance versus guidance through body presence, separating perception from interpretation, and working with music. Participants teach small groups with feedback. They then teach a set number of hours at home, documented and discussed with a mentor and online. Completing these gives the title "Authorised Soul Motion Teacher (SMI)" at a graduation, plus membership of the global teacher community.
Cost and language. Published cost was €3,200 per two-module block, with lodging extra. Teaching was bilingual German/English.

[source: Soul Motion Institute training page] One UK participant describes another route: a training starting September 2023, about 23 sessions of 3.5 hours held fortnightly, with 150 hours of Soul Motion dancing required for certification. Its organiser and credential title are not named [uncertain]. [source: Gulara Vincent blog] The soulmotion.com site lists a "Graduates – License Renewal" page, which suggests teacher licences are renewed periodically; the terms are not given in the sources here [uncertain]. An earlier format is on record: in 2010 a regional newspaper reported a seven-day first module of a year-long Soul Motion leader training in Port Townsend, Washington, after which trainees would return to teach public classes. [source: Peninsula Daily News 2010]

3. Guiding principles

From the practice's own statements, with practical meaning for a psychotherapist referring to or attending classes:

Non-choreographed but structured. Movement follows working platforms and points of view, not set steps. Practical meaning: clients choose how they move, but the facilitator frames each phase, so it is less open-ended than freeform ecstatic dance. [source: Kripalu Q&A]
Pause-presence (pausa-presencia). Stopping to stay with uncertainty, returning to the feet and breath, and noticing that information arrives through the senses. Practical meaning: pausing and stillness are part of the practice, so a client may always stop. [source: La Nación 2015]
Eco-inspiration (ecoinspiración). One both inspires and is inspired by others, always sending and receiving signals. Practical meaning: a relational, mirroring focus; clients with social anxiety or boundary difficulties may find this phase demanding. [source: La Nación 2015]
Orbital orientation (orientación orbital). Perceiving oneself as part of a circle that includes partners, family and ancestors. Practical meaning: ancestral or family material may come up; prepare clients with family trauma or bereavement. [source: La Nación 2015; practical meaning is synthesis] The same three appear as Pause Presence, Orbit Orientation and Echo Inspiration in a 2026 Foundations listing, which calls them "universal rhythms" and names the practice's "platforms" separately. Whether they are the complete list is [uncertain]. [source: Foundations 2026 listing]
Co-creation. Facilitator and dancers shape each class together. Practical meaning: no two classes match, so a client cannot know in advance exactly what will be asked. [source: Kripalu Q&A]
Visit every landscape. Participants are encouraged to move through solo, duet, group and "infinite" phases, including witnessing in stillness. Practical meaning: discuss in advance how the client will handle partner and group phases, including choosing to stay solo or sit out. [source: consciousdancer.com; synthesis]
"Safely uncomfortable". One teacher frames growth as sometimes needing risk, exploring "the edge of possibility". Practical meaning: useful for some clients, but for trauma survivors "edge" invitations need an explicit right to step back. [source: consciousdancer.com; synthesis]
Separating perception from interpretation. A named training topic. Practical meaning: facilitators are taught to describe what they see rather than read meaning into a dancer's movement. This fits well with therapeutic integration. [source: Soul Motion Institute]
Everyday Dance. The practice's value is said to show in daily encounters. Practical meaning: in therapy, integration means asking what changed in how the client meets people, not only what happened in class. [source: Kripalu Q&A; synthesis]
Not about skill or performance; finding one's own voice. [source: LA-CAMFT 2013] Practical meaning: supports clients with body-image or perfectionism concerns, though being watched can still trigger them.

Spiritual concepts, attributed to the practice and not stated as fact. Martí describes his first dance class as a "praying field" of stillness within movement. He frames the practice as including "divine dialogue" and describes prayer as an active process of body, mind and heart. In his account it means recognising a power and presence moving within and around the dancer, cutting through "the illusion of separation", and pointing toward "the one dance and living the one life". [source: Kripalu Q&A] The fourth landscape is described as dialogue with a "higher power" or "the mystery". [source: La Nación 2015] One teacher pair's language includes the "great Mystery" and a "deathless presence". [source: Esalen 2026 listing] A teacher interviewed in 2015 speaks of keeping one's "energetic channel" open. That is her framing as reported, not an established mechanism. [source: La Nación 2015] Background in New Thought Christianity is reported. [source: Jens Wazel profile] Some individual teachers list shamanism, tantra or energy healing in their own backgrounds. That is the individual teacher's offering, not core Soul Motion. [source: LA-CAMFT 2013] Clients with firm religious commitments, or no religious commitments, should know about this framing before attending. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

Part A covers the elements of a Soul Motion class as published. Lead them under the Soul Motion name only if you are an authorised Soul Motion teacher. Otherwise, use Part A to understand what your client will meet in class and to prepare and integrate it. Part B covers the psychotherapist's own work around the class. Published detail on how each landscape is guided is thin. Steps in Part A are described qualitatively from the sources, and facilitation detail beyond them is marked. No exercise intensities or durations are given as instructions. The two-hour class length is a published fact, not a prescription. Example language throughout is illustrative wording, not wording used by the founder or schools.

Part A: The class as published

A1. Dance Intimate (solo landscape: arriving in the body)

Purpose / when. Opens every class. It moves attention from thinking to bodily sensation and the body's centre, and establishes self-contact before relating to others. [source: Kripalu Q&A; La Nación 2015]
Steps (as described). (1) Dancers often begin seated or lying down. (2) The facilitator guides attention with imagery and breath awareness: noticing the breath, not controlling or holding it. (3) When thoughts intrude, dancers come back to the breath and the feet (pause-presence). (4) Movement grows gradually from small internal movement into solo dance to music. [source: La Nación 2015; Kripalu Q&A] The pacing and imagery content are chosen by the facilitator and not published [uncertain].
Example language (illustrative). "Let your attention drop from your head down into your chest and belly. Notice your breathing as it is; there's nothing to change. If you get caught in thought, come back to your feet."
Watch for. Breath-focus can raise anxiety or panic in some clients. Eyes-closed or lying-down positions can trigger dissociation or flashbacks in trauma survivors. Clients may push into intense movement too early. Working: the client reports more sensation, a calmer start, and an ability to return to breath. [synthesis]

A2. Dance of Connection / Dance Communion (duet landscape)

Purpose / when. Second phase. Dancing in dialogue with a partner while staying aware of oneself, the "eco-inspiration" platform of sending and receiving. [source: Kripalu Q&A; La Nación 2015]
Steps (as described). (1) Dancers find a partner, either up close or across the room. (2) They move in response to each other: mirroring, contrasting, leading and following, while keeping their own centre. (3) They part and return to solo or move to group work. [source: Kripalu Q&A; La Nación 2015] Whether and how physical contact is used is not published [uncertain]. Treat contact as possible.
Touch and consent. Any contact must be agreed explicitly before and during the dance. Anyone can decline a partner, choose a distance partnership, or stop at any moment, and touch is never sexual. Body-psychotherapy codes describe touch consent as ongoing and revocable. The USABP code gives clients the right to refuse or end touch at any time, and says genital or sexual touch is always inappropriate. [source: USABP Code of Ethics] For a teacher, this means offering distance options and a clear sign for "no contact". [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "Find someone to dance with. You can be close or across the room; staying at a distance is a full choice. If you'd rather not have contact, a hand on your own heart tells your partner that."
Watch for. Feeling unable to say no to a partner (fawning). Freezing when someone gets close. Romantic or sexual projection onto partners. Rejection when not chosen. Working: the client keeps their own centre while responding, and can say or signal "no". [synthesis]

A3. Dance Community (ensemble landscape)

Purpose / when. Third phase. Sensing the whole room and the space between people, "orbital orientation", community without crowding together. [source: La Nación 2015; Kripalu Q&A]
Steps (as described). (1) Attention widens from the partner to the whole room. (2) Dancers move in relation to the group, sensing distances, shared rhythms and empty space. (3) The phase can include witnessing: some dancers in stillness while others move. [source: La Nación 2015; consciousdancer.com]
Example language (illustrative). "Let your awareness spread to the whole room. Notice who's near and who's far, and the space between. You don't need to be in the middle to be part of it."
Watch for. Social anxiety. Feeling excluded or overwhelmed. Old group or family roles replaying, such as caretaker or outsider. Being watched can trigger body-image distress. Group energy can push some people past their limits. Working: the client can stay at the edge or join by choice, and notices their own group patterns. [synthesis]

A4. Dance Infinite ("prayer space")

Purpose / when. Closing phase. The practice describes it as dialogue with a higher power or "the mystery" and a sense of shared unity. It is described as the most complex landscape. [source: La Nación 2015; Kripalu Q&A; consciousdancer.com]
Steps (as described). Often guided meditation, readings, or movement on shared unity, then stillness. [source: Kripalu Q&A] No ceremonial procedure is published, and none is given here.
Example language (illustrative, for the therapist preparing a client). "The last part of class is framed spiritually, as prayer or connection with something larger. You're free to treat it as quiet rest, or to sit it out."
Watch for. Clashes with the client's own faith or lack of faith. Spiritual bypassing. In clients prone to mania or psychosis, unity and "mystery" experiences may feed grandiose or reference ideas. Working: calm, settled closure; the client leaves grounded. [synthesis]

A5. Everyday Dance (carry-over)

Purpose / when. After class. Bringing the "dance attitude" of presence, listening and responsiveness into ordinary encounters. Martí calls this where the real work happens. [source: Kripalu Q&A; La Nación 2015]
Steps. No procedure is published [uncertain]. In therapy, it fits as between-session noticing. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "This week, notice one moment where you paused before responding to someone, the way you pause on the floor."
Watch for. Using "presence" to avoid problems that need practical action. Working: the client reports concrete changes in how they relate to others. [synthesis]

A6. Pause, stillness and witnessing

Purpose / when. Runs through every phase, based on the pause-presence platform. Stillness and witnessing count as part of the dance. [source: La Nación 2015; consciousdancer.com]
Steps. The facilitator invites pauses. Dancers stop, feel feet and breath, and notice their senses. Some may witness others from stillness. [source: La Nación 2015; consciousdancer.com]
Example language (illustrative). "Stopping is part of the dance. Any time, you can pause, feel your feet, and watch."
Watch for. Stillness can be the safest choice for an overwhelmed client. Make sure they know it is fully legitimate. [synthesis]

A7. Music sequencing

Purpose / when. Supports the arc. Music is eclectic and alternates outward and inward pieces rather than building one large energy wave, with slow and silent passages. [source: consciousdancer.com] "Working with music" is a training topic. [source: Soul Motion Institute]
Steps. Chosen by the teacher. Not proceduralised here.
Example language (illustrative, therapist debriefing). "Was there a piece of music that stayed with you, or one you wanted to get away from?" [synthesis]
Watch for. Specific music or sacred chant can trigger memories or feel culturally or religiously charged. Volume can affect sensory-sensitive clients. [synthesis]

A8. Facilitator guidance skills (as named in teacher training)

Purpose. How authorised teachers steer a class: reading group dynamics, intervention methods, verbal guidance versus guidance through their own body presence, and separating perception from interpretation. [source: Soul Motion Institute]
Steps. Taught in the apprenticeship modules. Not published in procedural detail [uncertain].
Example language (illustrative). Descriptive rather than interpretive: "I see a lot of stillness in the room right now", not "you're all holding back".
Watch for (as a referrer). A teacher who reads a dancer's inner state aloud, or pushes catharsis, is going beyond the published training emphasis. [synthesis]

A9. Workshop extensions (teacher-specific)

Purpose / when. Some residential workshops add art-making, ritual, rest, Gestalt-Practice-based inquiry, sharing in pairs and trios, and outdoor sitting and walking meditation. [source: Esalen 2026 listing] These belong to the individual teachers, not to core Soul Motion. Ritual content is not proceduralised here.
Steps. Run by the individual teachers; not published in procedural detail [uncertain]. Therapist: before a residential workshop, ask the client what the ritual and sharing elements involve, and plan aftercare. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "What do you know about the ritual and sharing parts of the week, and what would you rather keep for our sessions?" [synthesis]
Watch for. Verbal sharing circles can drift into group-therapy-like disclosure without clinical containment. Ask the client what the sharing structure was. [synthesis]

Physical safety (all Part A elements). No Soul Motion-specific medical screening guidance was found in published sources [uncertain]. General safe-dance principles from the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) apply to dance leaders. These are: warm-up and cool-down principles, good hydration and nutrition, a balance of activity and rest, awareness of alignment differences such as hypermobility, knowing how to manage an injury in session, and adapting to each dancer. [source: IADMS blog] Before referral, suggest the client checks with their doctor if they have cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, recent injury or surgery, pregnancy, epilepsy, significant balance or falls risk, or joint hypermobility. Clients should also know they can modify, slow down or rest at any time. [synthesis] Falls and collisions are possible in group improvisation with eyes closed or lowered. [synthesis]

Part B: The psychotherapist's role

Published Soul Motion sources do not describe a clinical protocol. A 2013 therapists' CPD event asked how movement could "help further facilitate our clients' healing" but gave no procedure. [source: LA-CAMFT 2013] Part B is therefore synthesis, anchored where possible in professional codes. [synthesis]

B1. Deciding whether to suggest Soul Motion

Purpose / when. For clients who could benefit from embodied, relational, non-performance movement in a group: disconnection from the body, isolation, rigidity, relational patterns that show up physically. Also for clients who ask about it. [synthesis]
Steps. (1) Explore what the client hopes for. (2) Explain that it is a dance practice with a spiritual framing, not therapy, and that teachers are dance facilitators, not clinicians (section 1). (3) Screen mental health: active PTSD with dissociation, current or recent psychosis or mania, an active eating disorder, severe body-image distress, high suicide risk, or recent sexual trauma. These suggest waiting or extra preparation. (4) Screen physical health and suggest medical clearance where relevant (see Physical safety above). (5) Check the client's religious stance against the "prayer" framing. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "It's a guided improvised dance class, not therapy. Parts of it are framed as prayer or connection with mystery, and some parts involve dancing with a partner. Let's think about whether it fits you right now."
Watch for. Clients wanting the class to replace therapy. Idealising the teacher. Seeking catharsis as a goal. Working: an informed, unpressured decision. [synthesis]

B2. Preparing the client

Purpose / when. Before the first class, especially for trauma survivors. One participant reports long-held trauma, grief and rage surfacing in regular practice, to the point of leaving class to walk and cry. [source: Gulara Vincent blog]
Steps. (1) Walk through the arc: solo, partner, group, closing (section 2). (2) Agree grounding strategies: feet, eyes open, the wall, sitting out, leaving the room. (3) Rehearse saying no to a partner or to contact. (4) Plan for strong emotion during or after class, including who to contact and a follow-up session. (5) Suggest telling the teacher in advance about relevant limits, without needing to disclose history. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "If you feel yourself leaving your body or getting flooded, what's your first move? Eyes open, feet down, step to the edge. Stepping out is always allowed."
Watch for. The client agreeing to everything to please you. Underestimating partner or closeness phases. Working: the client can state their plan and their "no". [synthesis]

B3. A touch and contact agreement

Purpose / when. Whenever partner phases might involve contact. Explicit consent before and during. The right to opt out of contact at any point. Never sexual touch. [source: USABP Code of Ethics; EABP Ethics Guidelines; synthesis]
Steps. (1) Clarify what kinds of contact, if any, the client is willing to try, and that this can change from moment to moment. (2) Agree how they will signal it: words, stepping back, hands up, distance dancing. (3) Explain that unwanted contact or sexualised behaviour from a partner or facilitator is never part of the practice and can be reported. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "Your 'yes' to contact is only for that moment. You can take it back mid-dance without explaining."
Watch for. Freezing, or going along with contact. Afterwards, shame or self-blame about contact. Working: the client keeps their limits and reports doing so. [synthesis]

B4. Choosing and working with a teacher

Purpose / when. Before referral.
Steps. (1) Check that the teacher is authorised to teach Soul Motion. The training route distinguishes "Embodied Leadership Graduate", which may not teach under the name, from "Authorised Soul Motion Teacher". [source: Soul Motion Institute] (2) Ask how they handle contact, opting out and strong emotion, and whether they have any first-aid or mental-health training. (3) With written client consent, agree how and when you may share information. (4) Remember that the teacher's own other offerings (energy healing, shamanic work and so on) are separate from Soul Motion. [source: LA-CAMFT 2013; synthesis] Referral and cooperation with other professionals are supported by professional codes: UKCP item 24, BPS 3.2(iv), APA 3.09, and AAMFT 1.10. [source: UKCP 2019, BPS 2009 and AAMFT 2015 codes; APA Ethics Code]
Example language (illustrative, to a teacher). "My client is interested in your class. With their consent, I'd like to know how you handle partner contact and people who need to step out."
Watch for. A teacher who claims to treat trauma or mental illness, or who discourages clients from continuing therapy. [synthesis]

B5. Integration in sessions

Purpose / when. After classes. To link body experience with the client's therapy goals, in line with the practice's own "Everyday Dance" emphasis. [source: Kripalu Q&A; synthesis]
Steps. (1) Ask for a factual account first: what happened in each landscape. Separate what they noticed from what they made of it, which mirrors the training emphasis on perception versus interpretation. [source: Soul Motion Institute; synthesis] (2) Explore which landscape was easiest or hardest and the links to relational patterns. (3) Work with any emotion that came up using your own model. (4) Identify carry-over into daily life. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "Before we look at what it meant, tell me what you noticed in your body in the partner part." / "Which part of class felt most like your life outside it?"
Watch for. Spiritual experiences used to bypass grief or anger. Over-interpreting single sessions. Working: clearer links between body experience and relational change. [synthesis]

B6. Boundaries and dual relationships

Purpose / when. When the therapist also dances, teaches, or attends the same community.
Steps. (1) Avoid attending the same classes as your clients where you can. If it happens, agree in advance how you will handle it. (2) Do not teach Soul Motion to your own psychotherapy clients, and do not combine a class with psychotherapy sessions. (3) Talk it through in supervision. Codes require avoiding harmful dual relationships: BACP 2018 para 33(b); UKCP item 8; APA 3.05. They also require practising within competence: UKCP item 23 and APA 2.01. [source: BACP 2018 and UKCP 2019 codes; APA Ethics Code] The EABP guidelines ask therapists to consider and discuss with the client any parallel services they receive. [source: EABP Ethics Guidelines; synthesis]
Example language (illustrative). "I also dance in this community. If we end up in the same class, we can agree now how we'll handle that, or I can help you find another one."
Watch for. Clients seeing you as a fellow dancer. Partner phases with your own client. These need to be avoided. [synthesis]

B7. Recognising and passing on harms

Purpose / when. Throughout.
Steps. (1) Ask regularly about pressure to share, to touch or be touched, to stay when wanting to leave, to buy more workshops or trainings, or to stop therapy. (2) Ask about sexual or romantic approaches by facilitators. Codes are unanimous that sexual contact with clients is prohibited. [source: UKCP item 4; BACP 2018 para 34; APA 10.05; USABP] (3) Help the client document concerns and raise them with the teacher's training body. Where a crime is involved, support reporting to the police. (4) Follow your own safeguarding duties. [synthesis] Public reports of misconduct specific to Soul Motion are not documented in the sources listed below [uncertain]. No individuals are named here.
Example language (illustrative). "Did anything happen in class that you didn't feel free to say no to?"
Watch for. Shame and minimising. Loyalty to the community that makes it hard to complain. [synthesis]

5. Handling problems

Published Soul Motion sources do not address problem handling. One teacher's "safely uncomfortable" framing and one participant's account of trauma surfacing are the only relevant statements. [source: consciousdancer.com; Gulara Vincent blog] Everything below is [synthesis] unless tagged otherwise.

Overwhelm or flooding during class (grief, rage, panic, as one participant reports). [source: Gulara Vincent blog] Response: before class, agree that pausing, opening the eyes, going to the edge, or leaving are part of the practice (pause-presence). After class, use a scheduled session to stabilise before exploring content. If overwhelm recurs, suggest a pause from classes or a gentler, solo-weighted way of attending.
Dissociation in the inward phases (Dance Intimate, Dance Infinite). Response: eyes open, standing, moving the feet, and orienting to the room. Practise these in session first. Delay attendance for clients with frequent dissociation until stabilisation work is done.
Difficulty in partner work (freezing, fawning, unwanted contact). Response: review the contact agreement (B3). Rehearse refusals in session. Choose distance partnering. If contact happened without consent, treat it as a boundary violation, not a personal failing, and support the client to raise it (B7).
Exclusion or rejection in group phases. Response: explore old group roles. Normalise staying at the edge or witnessing. Reframe the practice's "community without crowding" idea as permission to keep distance. [source: La Nación 2015; synthesis]
Body-image or eating-disorder triggers. Being watched, comparing bodies, mirrors and exertion can all trigger these. Response: screen first (B1). For clients with an active eating disorder, coordinate with their treating team before attending. Watch for exercise used to compensate. Stop if dance becomes compulsive.
Spiritual friction or spiritual bypassing. Response: make clear that the "prayer" and "mystery" language belongs to the practice. The client can treat that phase as rest. Gently name bypassing when unity language replaces working through grief or anger.
Mania or psychosis risk. Intense unity experiences, sleep disruption after evening classes, and spiritual meaning-making can be risky for these clients. Response: avoid recommending classes during active or emerging episodes. Watch for reduced sleep, grandiosity and ideas of reference after classes, and involve the psychiatric team.
Non-attendance or dropping out. Response: explore without pressure. It may reflect self-protection rather than avoidance. The class is optional, and therapy goals do not depend on it.
Idealising the teacher or community, or moving towards becoming a teacher. Response: explore what the client is seeking. Note that the training has substantial cost, time and credit prerequisites. [source: Soul Motion Institute] Watch for pressure to keep buying workshops.
Rupture with the therapist. For example, the client feels the dance community understands them better, or feels you are dismissing their spiritual experience. Response: acknowledge the value of their experience. Repair openly, and stay curious rather than dismissive.
Injury or physical strain. Response: encourage rest and modification, and medical review for pain, dizziness, chest symptoms or falls. These are general safe-dance principles: rest balance, injury management, and adaptation to each dancer. [source: IADMS blog]
Therapist's own involvement in the community. Response: supervision and clear dual-relationship agreements (B6).

Sources

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