ABOUT
Being/Body Somatic Arts is a somatic healing and movement wellness space in Burlington, Vermont, along the Winooski River, unceded land of the Abenaki indigenous people.
Being/Body Somatic Arts was conceived by Liesje Smith, who has been offering skillful Somatic Education since 2004. We welcome the community to engage in Personal Holistic Rolfing® Structural & Functional Integration & other Somatic Therapeutic Sessions, classes, group gatherings and events that highlight movement, embodied practice, and collaborative arts.
We offer:
somatic structural alignment
movement education
professional training
somatic classes
community events
studio rentals
Whether through touch or movement or expression and community, somatic healing and wellbeing are processes that encourage learning and sharing. Within the body and body to body, communication towards harmonizing, release and repatterning, makes healing even more available.
The studio we call home is dedicated to being warm and simple, an open space with high ceilings and natural light. It has an effective presence on its own and it’s there to receive folks as they come. If you know what I mean, there can be something sensorial about a space which communicates wellness. The space is 600 square feet, ready for movement, performance, and therapeutic sessions.
If you find that your interests are in alignment with the mission of BBSA then inquire further about rentals and collaboration. We very much look forward to hearing from you!
About Liesje
Liesje (lee-sha) they/them
I believe that lasting transformation for each other and ourselves happens easily and effectively through somatic, creative, inquisitive, and expressive ways. It’s essential for real change.
Advanced Rolfer™, Rolf Movement & Somatic Movement Educator, Dancer, Performer, and Producer of Events.
“Your use of the term ‘being met’ gives me the idea that this somatic work is unwinding through an exploration resonates with me very deeply. I want to meet myself and give myself permission to be and also to express.”-D
The Rolfing/Somatic Movement & Bodywork that I’m offer involves helping people ground into their experience of their senses and their movement, and from receiving hats on intervention that begins to break inhibiting patterns. My work is for people who want to be better for themselves in a gentle and effective way and who desire to grow through many phases of life with a full awareness of their bodies in space and on ground.
These experiences become integrated and empower your way through life, as they offer you greater, lasting and profound change. It’s the holistic advantage.
I create a consistent container for a sense of safety that is critical for the therapeutic process.
I’m not a psychotherapist, more I’m a body therapist. I’m a somatic therapist, which means, I address the living body that makes up a lot of who we are.
I’ve specialized in helping people resolve trauma that has impressed upon our selves and our culture in dysfunctional ways through the process of Brainspotting, which involves unlocking the tension in the eyes, which allows the brain to process unfinished difficult events.
This is great time and a great opportunity to figure out ways to help ourself and I’m delighted to be your guide, should you choose to work with me.
Through my experiences of improvisational movement and somatic bodywork, I have tremendous faith and personal involvement in the process of personal embodiment, the group healing process through dance improvisation and contact improvisation. I feel inspired to share these teachings with my local community in a grass roots kind of way; now that I’ve planted myself as the initiator of Being/Body Somatic Arts, a beautiful and inviting studio space, large enough for groups of people who want to learn together and discover their value.
I initiated this because I have seen that healing is an interweave of personal, collective and societal exchange. We gain in vitality as we embark our journey toward balance. I’m gleefully inspired to learn with others through processes that evoke experiences of curiosity, expression, connection and transformation.
I have been receiving online SourcePoint Distance Sessions from Liesje for the last few months and it has been such a profound and nourishing experience. It’s amazing how connected I feel to Liesje, and how clearly I can feel the work she is doing ‘on’ me, even though we are sharing a virtual space. Her presence and dedication provide me with the opportunity to share, and receive, and be fully supported. Her voice leads the way, almost like a guided meditation, shepherding me through new landscapes and territories. The sessions themselves feel rich and valuable, and I notice substantial shifts in the days that follow ~ sometimes in body or mind or spirit, or all three. I highly recommend trying the distance (online) version of SourcePoint Therapy. It’s something I plan to continue in addition to my in-person Rolfing/Movement Sessions. They bring something new, and much needed, to my experience of wellness and health. -J
