SODA

SODA mission

SODA - Somatic Dialogues Academy - is a community of somatic professionals with a common platform to promote the importance of bodily experience and the conscious presence in moving. We believe that experiencing being in the body is a fundamental human right and need. A good lifelong connection with the body contributes to improving our quality of life, and to the unfolding of our personal gifts and participation in the community.

The years of the pandemic have highlighted at a societal level that lack of physical contact, lack of direct live encounters, together with the narrowing of sensory channels in online spaces might cause serious physical and mental difficulties and deficits. This can obviously undermine the natural functioning both in relating to ourselves and to others. Along the lines of this collective experience there has been a worldwide revival of interest in somatic work.

In Hungary, many professionals are interested and inspired to cultivate body awareness, and more and more people work with somatic methods. However, there has been missing a comprehensive, systematic training that would represent the decades-long development of somatic movement education methods and provide a solid professional foundation or “pillars of profession”. The aim of SODA is to place Hungary on the map of international somatic movement education and, in addition to making the achievements of somatic schools available to professionals, to contribute to strengthening the community culture in Hungary that is centering around wellbeing and wholeness of the individual. We consider representing and transmitting also the ethical principles as essential issues of body awareness work, such as the ethics of touch.

Dialogue is an essential foundation for SODA: in addition to dialogue between somatic schools, we consider to maintain a continuous dialogue between trainees and trainers; dialogue between people with movement and other professional backgrounds; professional dialogue between Hungarian and foreign actors; dialogue between people with different talents and interests coming from within somatic culture or outside of it.

SODA's objectives and programme are essentially aligned with the professional guidelines and standards of ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association).