Research

ADRI to host Mindful Movement workshops starting Jan. 17

ADRI Embedded Researcher Elisha Clark Halpin, associate professor and associate director for instruction, Penn State School of Theatre, leads a workshop. Credit: ADRIAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI) will host a series of Mindful Movement workshops led by ADRI Embedded Researcher Elisha Clark Halpin, associate professor and associate director for instruction, School of Theatre, at 5:30-6:45 p.m. on Jan. 17, Feb. 7, and March 14, in the ADRI (16 Borland).

This expressive improvisational movement practice is an opportunity to increase awareness and self-knowledge through a bodily practice. With the dual goals of physical embodiment and increased consciousness, the practice is a time to come as you are and move. There are no set steps or routines, or moves and sequences to learn. With a focus on breath, non-judgment, and release, this contemplative movement practice is a safe place for exploring the body, mind, and emotions. No dance or movement experience is necessary. Practice is suitable for all abilities. Participants should wear comfortable clothing and bring a notebook or journal. Attendance at all sessions is not required.

As an ADRI Embedded Researcher, Elisha Clark Halpin plans to research trauma and its effects on the body, brain, and lives of those who suffer from it, which will result in a therapeutic movement program of healing and management. Her project, “Releasing Trauma through Movement: A Somatic Approach to Embodied Therapies for Healing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” will benefit movement therapists, social workers, somatic psychologists, trauma workers, and the patients they treat.

Halpin will collaborate with the scientific communities at Penn State, including the Hershey Medical Center; Jamie Marich, a trauma specialist and creator of Dancing Mindfulness at Mindful Ohio Institute; Jennifer Stoskus, a doctor of physical therapy who specializes in brain injury and trauma at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation; and fellow School of Theatre faculty member Natalie Griffith Robichaux.

ADRI provides support for high-impact arts and design research projects. Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at the Arts & Design Research Incubator, 16 Borland, University Park.

All events are free and open to the public, but some do require registration, as space is limited. For more information, visit the ADRI website: http://adri.psu.edu.

Connect with ADRI at www.facebook.com/PennStateADRI.

Elisha Clark Halpin and a workshop participant. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated January 17, 2017

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