What I’ve got from Weightlessness with Almog Loven
I have now had the privilege of attending two Weightlessness weekend programs with Almog Loven in London, 2018 and 2019. Both times, I organised/re-arranged work and international travel commitments so as to be able to attend. Both times it was more than worth it.
In 2018, I signed up for the course as soon as I saw the video which was posted with the announcement. (link at the foot of this post) I had a very strong sense that the program would be something I would enjoy and gain a lot from. My instinct was accurate. Nonetheless, I had not imagined just how nourishing and enriching the program would be.
What did I get from studying with Almog? Affirmation of:
- Be yourself, trust yourself, accept yourself, love yourself. There are infinite ways to do this, always available. You are enough already.
- Whatever you have to do, do it as far as possible in such a way that you allow every cell of your body, every pore of your skin, to smile.
- Meet what arises with a smile. You’ll be able to meet if more fully, more skilfully, and you’ll be able to navigate/inhabit the situation more joyfully.
- As a facilitator: once you’ve developed your toolkit and you know it works, once you’ve thoroughly tested it in the arena of your own life and teaching: then get out of the way and allow yourself to be a conduit for the tools to serve their greater purpose and help us access more of our underlying wholeness and joy.
Both occasions from the Weightlessness weekend, I feel like I received a huge dose of deep nourishment, so affirmative and resonant that it supports me to move more fluidly and efficiently in all the interactions of my life and in my relationship to myself and others months after the program.
Over the years, I have attended some great ‘movement’ programs with really solid, scalable methodology, with safe, inclusive instruction and a great ethos. Almog’s work stands out because it works at the level, I would say, of more of the whole human being. It really does invite us deeper into the recognition that we are enough, and that we have such depths of resources to help and support each other.
For me, this type of work is a way of waging peace. Inviting people to experience how we have such rich resources within is a way to dissolve some of our fears, to peel away some of the weight of our limiting conditionings.
From my perspective, the energy that Almog embodies and shares is a key element here. I would say that Almog is able to graciously offer this invitation because he clearly works from a place of lively presence. He is not forcing an agenda or a particular flow or structure to the sessions. Rather, I witnessed a skillful and courageous facilitator ready to meet the group as we are. From this place of honest presence, Almog invites us into the lived, visceral experience of our own ‘enoughness’. Without forcing anything, the work invites us to experience deeper layers and unfoldings of ‘weightlessness’. For example, at an immediate, physical level, we experience how we can allow functional, beautiful movement with minimum effort and maximum nourishment. At a more holistic level, we gain lived experiences of how we can give, receive, invite and allow support.
Both years, I was hugely impressed by how Almog guided us through the weekend, building a stronger and stronger container in which it was easy for us to dive deeper as a mutually supportive group.
The first year I learnt some new elements that continue to enrich my movement practice. The second year, the movement was not dissimilar, drawing from the same palette, though not the same. What was the same was the spirit of the work. I would describe it as the same river. It has just flown on, gathering greater, nourishing force.
There are some types of workshop programs that one can return to and feel like you didn’t get much compared to the first or last time. This can be the case when the teacher’s work is mainly about sharing nuts and bolts techniques.
However, when the work is about deeper principles which impact all aspects of our life, it can be the other way: each return is an opportunity for deepening. This was my experience my second time with Almog and Weightlessness. The first was easily one of my all-time favourite workshop experiences as a participant. The second one topped it.
I carry with gratitude the gifts that have come to me from my work with Almog. I hope to study with him again and wish that more and more people can experience his great work. To me, it feels like Almog’s work is part of a new paradigm, beyond compartmentalisations and narrow labels. This is not a dance workshop. This is not a movement training. For me, this is about how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the environment. To my mind, Weightlessness extends a beautiful and highly effective invitation: to skilfully peel away the burdens of our conditioned ideas so we can inhabit our here and now with deepening awareness of the true weight and real light of our conscious human presence.
Link to Weightlessness trailer video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K51B-Qwqg-o
I have now had the privilege of attending two Weightlessness weekend programs with Almog Loven in London, 2018 and 2019. Both times, I organised/re-arranged work and international travel commitments so as to be able to attend. Both times it was more than worth it.
In 2018, I signed up for the course as soon as I saw the video which was posted with the announcement. (link at the foot of this post) I had a very strong sense that the program would be something I would enjoy and gain a lot from. My instinct was accurate. Nonetheless, I had not imagined just how nourishing and enriching the program would be.
What did I get from studying with Almog? Affirmation of:
- Be yourself, trust yourself, accept yourself, love yourself. There are infinite ways to do this, always available. You are enough already.
- Whatever you have to do, do it as far as possible in such a way that you allow every cell of your body, every pore of your skin, to smile.
- Meet what arises with a smile. You’ll be able to meet if more fully, more skilfully, and you’ll be able to navigate/inhabit the situation more joyfully.
- As a facilitator: once you’ve developed your toolkit and you know it works, once you’ve thoroughly tested it in the arena of your own life and teaching: then get out of the way and allow yourself to be a conduit for the tools to serve their greater purpose and help us access more of our underlying wholeness and joy.
Both occasions from the Weightlessness weekend, I feel like I received a huge dose of deep nourishment, so affirmative and resonant that it supports me to move more fluidly and efficiently in all the interactions of my life and in my relationship to myself and others months after the program.
Over the years, I have attended some great ‘movement’ programs with really solid, scalable methodology, with safe, inclusive instruction and a great ethos. Almog’s work stands out because it works at the level, I would say, of more of the whole human being. It really does invite us deeper into the recognition that we are enough, and that we have such depths of resources to help and support each other.
For me, this type of work is a way of waging peace. Inviting people to experience how we have such rich resources within is a way to dissolve some of our fears, to peel away some of the weight of our limiting conditionings.
From my perspective, the energy that Almog embodies and shares is a key element here. I would say that Almog is able to graciously offer this invitation because he clearly works from a place of lively presence. He is not forcing an agenda or a particular flow or structure to the sessions. Rather, I witnessed a skillful and courageous facilitator ready to meet the group as we are. From this place of honest presence, Almog invites us into the lived, visceral experience of our own ‘enoughness’. Without forcing anything, the work invites us to experience deeper layers and unfoldings of ‘weightlessness’. For example, at an immediate, physical level, we experience how we can allow functional, beautiful movement with minimum effort and maximum nourishment. At a more holistic level, we gain lived experiences of how we can give, receive, invite and allow support.
Both years, I was hugely impressed by how Almog guided us through the weekend, building a stronger and stronger container in which it was easy for us to dive deeper as a mutually supportive group.
The first year I learnt some new elements that continue to enrich my movement practice. The second year, the movement was not dissimilar, drawing from the same palette, though not the same. What was the same was the spirit of the work. I would describe it as the same river. It has just flown on, gathering greater, nourishing force.
There are some types of workshop programs that one can return to and feel like you didn’t get much compared to the first or last time. This can be the case when the teacher’s work is mainly about sharing nuts and bolts techniques.
However, when the work is about deeper principles which impact all aspects of our life, it can be the other way: each return is an opportunity for deepening. This was my experience my second time with Almog and Weightlessness. The first was easily one of my all-time favourite workshop experiences as a participant. The second one topped it.
I carry with gratitude the gifts that have come to me from my work with Almog. I hope to study with him again and wish that more and more people can experience his great work. To me, it feels like Almog’s work is part of a new paradigm, beyond compartmentalisations and narrow labels. This is not a dance workshop. This is not a movement training. For me, this is about how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the environment. To my mind, Weightlessness extends a beautiful and highly effective invitation: to skilfully peel away the burdens of our conditioned ideas so we can inhabit our here and now with deepening awareness of the true weight and real light of our conscious human presence.
Link to Weightlessness trailer video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K51B-Qwqg-o
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