Are you a Somatonaut?

Somatonauts are an eclectic, curious group.

Many of us start our embodied journeys through movement training, (circus, dance, martial arts, sports…), others through contemplation (still or moving meditation, somatics…), and still others through work or play (manual labor, medical or bodywork practice, outdoors adventuring…). It begins with the delight of being alive and in motion, the body a place of excitement, of power, of potential. That in itself can be enough reason to dig deeper. 

Often, the need to investigate comes when a difficulty arises.

We experience injury, illness, limitation, pain, any of many kinds of trauma, and they change what we are able to do and how it feels to do it. Somatonauts turn this difficulty into inquiry, finding out about how we’re doing what we’re doing now, and if there might be other ways we haven’t tried yet. We play with many kinds of movement practice and training. We investigate various therapies. We invest in practical self-learning. We experiment and improvise. We get to know our habits and learn to adjust them. In seeking strategies to work with our physical challenges, we discover pathways in to movement, sensation, and awareness that we could never have imagined. Pain shifts. Ranges of motion grow and shrink. Strength and mobility spread and flow into one another. New and easier patterns of movement and thought arise in place of restrictions. And once we get a taste of that heady, open, easeful responsiveness, it’s impossible to go back.

We must find out more.

 

I started Somatonaut LLC to begin creating places for Somatonauts like me to follow their curiosity and see where it takes them. To build movement spaces where we can share tools and strategies with others seeking ease, create bodywork experiences where we can re-discover ourselves again and again, and host learning spaces to introduce new folks to the wonders of the physical landscape. So, fellow Somatonaut, whoever and wherever you are, however you arrived and for whatever reasons, welcome.

I’m delighted you’re here, and I can’t wait to dive in to your questions with you!

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Hi, I’m Miles.


I’m a genderqueer movement educator, bodyworker, somatic practitioner, and dancer. My name is the best pronoun to use for me, though they/them or any other non-binary pronouns will work in a grammatical pinch. I’m a Somatonaut, endlessly investigating my experiences in my own body, seeking new movement adventures, and discovering pathways into ease. I’ve transformed my relationship with pain, built strength and mobility out of injury and trauma, and found internal support to overcome bodily fear and confusion through touch, movement, and somatics. I’m always researching, exploring, and studying to expand my physical and sensory toolboxes so I have plenty of strategies to share. My work is all about supporting folks to mend and deepen their relationships with their bodies through therapeutic bodywork, movement training, and practical body education.

Relevant study (so far!)

  • Currently studying Body-Mind Centering® in pursuit of Somatic Movement Educator and Infant Developmental Movement Educator qualifications. *

  • Graduate of New Mexico School of Natural Therapeutics, LMT - 9292, Natural Therapeutics Specialist, focus myofascial release, Polarity therapy.

  • Core Synchronism 1

  • B.S. Hampshire College/Five College Dance Department, focus: Dance Education and Experiential Anatomy

  • 200hr trained yoga teacher

  • Brain Compatible Dance training

  • T.A. for Andrea Olson’s experiential anatomy course at Mt. Holyoke, Spring 2015.

  • Mettler Creative Dance teacher training

  • Teaching dance to students of all ages since 2010

  • Life-long dance practice focused in social dance, improvisation, contemporary/modern

* Body Mind Centering® is a registered service mark and BMC℠ is a service mark of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission