My Story
Seónagh Kummer, Ph.D.
The link between stress and burnout is prominent in society. Many of us turn inward to find deeper meaning amidst the inhumanity of war and other crises. While most of us suffer, there is a way out—and it begins through skillful movement inquiry. While the trauma industry booms with training and new books, our bodies already know and remember the importance of attuning to the earth’s deeper rhythms.
Communities that gather around shared values help us, but a community that gathers to practice movement mindfully is extremely valuable as a portal to our spiritual growth. I am building a movement with movement. I teach mindful movement classes for every body, integrating a somatic awareness of fascia, fascia focused movement, organs, bones, fluids, and the nervous system. As we limber up, groove, and pivot, we learn how to intentionally move with different qualities such as fascia glide and plasticity, which can change our nervous system responses, aiding feelings of peace. This practice helps us connect to one another as we cultivate the courage to share our authentic selves and gifts with the world, and we can learn both to know what we stand for and how to express it in our own way.
The classes are designed for both experienced and inexperienced movers, and might help reset physical/emotional patterns. The flight, fight, freeze or collapse responses show up as physical/emotional holding patterns, which can be exacerbated further by stresses affecting our environments. I carefully design movement sequences to release common holding patterns, ground us in our senses, and this helps to alleviate our inner chaos when we feel threats to our survival and emotions run high. Through this practice we also learn to connect to earth rhythms.
Many cultures have long held dance and music as central to spiritual and wellness and live in a way deeply connected to the rhythms of the earth, attunement with the seasons, and cultivate highly developed leaders to benefit shared collective wellness and growth. What I found most touching about my time studying my ancestral culture, doing my PhD research about African (Kenya Luo) dance, or when I had special opportunities to grow in deep ceremony, was how central movement and music are as communal and individual wellness practices. People move their bodies to release bound or frenetic energies, regulate their nervous systems, and heal together as a community.
I have watched negative energies rooted in the body be released through skilled touch and movement, and this deep understanding of the body and skilled somatic touch centered healing is where my field of dance somatics finds resonance. Consumerism, the momentum of technology, and the violence of prevailing values have caused many of us to live in a way that takes us away from our ancestral awareness of how to attune to these rhythms. My coaching practices draw from this ancestral wisdom, using movement and dance to connect to earth rhythms, and I explore body-centered inquiry and bodywork. In this way I help us move away from tightness, shallow breathing, restriction of motion, or the feelings of being lost, numb and disassociated.
Mission Statement
Seónagh’s mission is to empower people to rise to their most compassionate selves through the liberation of dance, and to use dance and its effects as a means to cultivate global community dialogue. As co-founder of Dharma In Motion, an organization that empowers women and their communities using dance to raise funds, and as Creative Advisor for the International Gandhian Institute for Nonviolence and Peace – everything Seónagh delivers the message of service as a way of life, and comes in focused making things better and easier in the world.
“Seonagh is an accomplished professional and friend whom I had the pleasure of knowing since the Summer of 2020 in several capacities. Seonagh has many qualities: intellectual brilliance, passion, care, empathy, creativity, and openness. There is one aspect, however, that rises above the rest, which is her sense of social responsibility and awareness about the community where she creates, works and lives. “
“Seónagh is a dedicated somatics coach who helped me personally to find faith in my artistic voice, and provided a safe space for me to grow. Her depth and breadth are driven by wisdom and reason. She inspires me to do good for my community. She constantly seeks new ways to be fruitful, make changes, and always expresses a message of love.”
“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful… This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking”
“Seónagh Kummer was an emotional tour de force, eloquently rendered movement”
“Working with Seónagh has been a transformative experience. As a result of our work together, I’ve been able to more effectively tap into my body’s power, and remain connected to my body’s needs as well as its strength. Seónagh has an incredible ability to sense exactly how to help — her approach is a rare combination of both genuinely nurturing, and truly educational. I can’t recommend her highly enough!”
“I was having a really difficult time during a traumatic event in my life that activated my Complex PTSD. Seónagh offered me a short Somatic Coaching session over the phone. She gave me a simple practice to do on my own using the natal position. Within 24 hours I felt a significant shift in my experience. I was able to respond instead of react to the people involved in the devastating situation.”
em·bod·ied
embodied
Feeling at home in your body. … an ability to be in your body in the present moment, to know and to feel its sensations (emotional and physical).
Knowing how to respond with wisdom…to know a safe and healthy expression of your needs, desires, fears, anger, joys, hopes, and wants.
Life is for living. It’s time to get you out of your own way, and move.
Seónagh leads lots of different dance workshops, retreats and educational events. Check the workshop page for online events and live workshops, or book a free consultation.
