Embodied Love: An exploration in psychology and movement

Course Description

Summary

Join us in experimentation, research, data analysis, self-reflexivity, and play! This is a laboratory for participants of any discipline who are interested in exploring the fluidity of mind, body, consciousness, and action. A dreamlike space where you will learn to think, feel, and practice radical self-love despite uncertainty. “The search for love continues even in the face of great odds,” said bell hooks. What is love? Where does it come from? Do we have love in us from birth? How do we learn to love? Who do we love? Is love limited?  What happens when we don’t have love? Is love a panacea to social ills? Is love apolitical? In this class, we will focus on reading hooks’s “all about love,” along with other texts from the contemporary psychology literature on love, relationships, sexual empowerment, desire, trust, and community that are in conversation with bell hooks. In addition to reading and analyzing texts about love, we will look into manifestations of words and thoughts in the body, study embodiment through rigorous movement practice, partnered work, breath work, and sound scores. We will explore the ability to trust, take risks, and respect while being vulnerable, striking mind and heart at the same time, using the power of love as a transformative force for changing the present.