Moving connection guided by Beatrice Antonie Martino

Heidi writes

The women of Women Matters meet online for many years. We feel very connected despite the fact that not many of us know each other in person. Having to meet online, as it is the case in our weird Corona times, is much less satisfactory than meeting in person. But being able to come together from different continents regularly is a great gift of modern times.

Our participants come from Germany, Austria, Italy, South Africa and various parts of the US. Spending time together feels almost as if we were sitting in front of each other. As long as we talk, it seems to be enough to see each others faces in a small box on the screen. But how can we be together in a more embodied collective way? 

In this session, Beatrice Antonie, an artist and dancer based in New York, leads us into an experiment of including our whole bodies in the meeting. It was fun and very inspiring, at times also really surprising. A special AHA was for me the part of the exercise when we were instructed to follow each other, to look at each other. How can you know that the person you are looking at is also looking at you or at someone else? You can*t. But still the feeling of connection deepens inside the field which we have created together. 

Another interesting question arose in many of us: When I respond to another person, how do I know if I am following the women or if she is following me? Especially when you frequently change your orientation towards another box on the screen? In my time as voice therapist I often came across this phenomena when we did mirroring exercises. There is a clear difference between online and in person encounters where you are sure on which person you follow. Online makes the whole thing more complicated, but also, somehow, more fun as a result of the uncertainty.

When you watch the exercise (it starts at about minute 13) you can follow through with the instructions. In the mirroring part you might just follow one or more women, but you probably won’t have the satisfaction of noticing that someone is following you! You can take this exercise and try it with your own group, both online and in person. Enjoy!

PS: If you are interested in joining my women’s groups in English or German, please contact me. More groups, in public and in private, are about to be born!

OUR PRESENT TEAM