Meet Ashleigh Shepherd
Somatic Specialist & Open Floor Movement Teacher
Ashleigh Shepherd (she/her) is a lifetime student of the body, breath, and all things wild.
She currently lives in Santa Fe, NM and spends her time primarily as a teacher of young children at a nature-based preschool. The children teach her daily about love, curiosity, presence, how life moves, the changing waves we are made of, and the gorgeous particularity of the soul. The freshness of encounter in the world of early childhood and the world of wild kin deeply inspires Ashleigh’s work as a movement teacher.
Children remind us daily that Nature made us to move and to play; that movement itself is the medium for all foundational learning; that the brain and nervous system are formed through the breathing, moving, relating, experimenting body; that emotional and relational intelligence expand through choreographies of play; that belonging is a somatic experience, not a concept; that we are deeply woven in an interspecies web and are lonely to remember the ecology of being: that we too are Nature, as the plants, animals, rivers, earthworms and mycelial webs are Nature, bound together as kin.
Why Open Floor Movement?
It can help with
Authentic Movement
Engage in authentic movement practices to nurture self-expression and inner wisdom. Feel. Open. Sensitize. Connect. Allow. Follow. Encounter. Get Curious. Make Space. Remember. Resource. Create. Transform. Improvise. Inhabit. Deepen.
Emotional Release
Discover the liberating potential of releasing stored emotions through movement and expression.
Body Awareness
Enhance your awareness of bodily sensations and develop a deeper connection with your physical self.
Community Connection
Experience the joy and creativity of working relationally and uncovering together more adaptive, regenerative, and soulful ways of relating with others. Community is a verb, an action, something we make, something we practice.
Mind-Body Integration
Explore the power of integrating mind and body to enhance overall well-being.
Movement as Meditation
Embark on a transformative exploration of self through movement, dance, and creative process techniques.
Shared Stories
My Offerings
Join me for Open Floor Movement classes to cultivate a deeper sense of connection with the living, breathing body that houses your soul. Whether you find great pleasure in moving the body or are terrified to move, you are welcome to this experience of connecting to the natural intelligence we are made of and braving what might be shaken awake when the body is set in motion.
The only requirements for this practice are a body, breath, curiosity, and a longing to feel alive.
There is no right or wrong way to move. This is not a professional dance class. On the Open Floor, rather than learning how to dance through predetermined choreographies, we use dance in order to learn; we put our questions in motion and uncover the inner choreographies that want to be made visible, however strange and beautiful, and hopefully we ignite new neural pathways and creative possibilities along the way. Classes focus on learning to find support and connection through the body, on cultivating vitality and sensitivity through moving inquiry, on awakening the senses and creative instinct, on growing our capacity for soulfulness in relationship with ourselves, each other, and the wider world. Often, classes will include some form of writing practice as part of the inquiry process. All classes are suited for beginners and experienced movers unless otherwise noted. Chairs will be provided for those folks who need to dance with support.
We are excavating the mind, the heart, the cells, the vast networks of histories and experiences that make us. The hope is to risk opening to our vast soulful potential and creativity; to risk opening our hearts and staying sensitized in a world that so often teaches us to shut down and put up barriers or cling to dogmas. The practice is to resource ourselves in such a way as to make possible a depth of encounter with whatever is right here. To move and include it all and shake loose what interferes with our capacity to love.
Get in Touch
I am happy to offer Private Movement Sessions for folks interested in working more specifically with their individual movement inquiries and needs. For such sessions, I ask that we connect for a phone consultation first so that we can begin to imagine how to inhabit the specific troubles, themes, questions, stagnancies, inquiries, longings through movement and breath. These sessions can take place outdoors in a natural setting without musical accompaniment; or sessions can be held indoors in a space that allows music to be part of the catalyzing chorus. Sessions will likely include some sort of writing or art-making process as part of the inquiry.