Chi for Two - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship

09/05/2024

Hello All. We have one space, possibly two, available for the Chi for Two Training group beginning October 31. This is the 8th cohort for the two-year training. Groups are 5-7 people with two trainers. 😊

There is a group portion to the training, which is virtual and a One-on-one portion, which can be virtual or in-person depending on where you are located. The group portion of this training will meet on Zoom on Thursdays 1-2:30pm. Somatic therapist and Chi for Two co-developer Caroline Gebhardt and I will be the trainers for the group portion.

Caroline will be offering One-on-one training for some members of this group. Somatic therapist and Chi For Two co-developer Mary Lou Davidson is also available to offer the One-on-one portion of the training. Mary Lou is a long-time Bodyworker and somatic educator. Caroline, Mary Lou and I are located in Atlanta, GA, US.

I could possibly fit one other person into my schedule for One-on-one work if you are passionate about polyvagal theory and therefore my level of polyvagal expertise would make the most sense for you.

Chi for Two offers advanced training that synthesizes many trauma healing methods. For instance, Chi for Two helps trainees identify Four Emanations of Embodiment.

The Chi for Two developers (Caroline, Mary Lou and my son Stephen) and I spent a lot of time finding the word "emanation."

We chose the word "emanation" because it can create a picture of the radiating ripples that occur when you drop a pebble in water.

The Emanations are Navel Radiation, Contralateral Movement, Gesture and Handling.

Bainbridge Cohen among other somatic therapy elders invites exploration of Navel Radiation as well as Contralateral Movement. Contralateral movement coordinates our right and left brain.

Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor trainer Gus Kaufman explains that emotion is motion in the body, which creates actions that are designed to get a reaction—Gesture that needs Handling.

When we are infants, we need someone who can carry us to resources who responds when we reach out for them. When our reach is met adequately, we learn to reach mindfully. If not, we reach desperately for a while, and then we might stop reaching.

When our reach becomes inhibited, Chi for Two helps us recognize that inhibition of navel radiation correlates with sluggishness in the rhythm of tension and flow in the unmyelinated dorsal branch of the vagus.

If you want to interview for the available spot, you can reach out to me at [email protected]. You can let me know about your background and why you want to train in Chi for Two. We will respond to everyone of course and pick a few people to interview to find the best fit for this group.

07/12/2024

Orit Sônia Waisman and I wrote Stirring up health: polyvagal theory and the dance of mismatch in multi-generational trauma healing. My son Stephen loved this article.

Orit Sônia is a long-time dance/movement therapist in Israel. What has been happening in Israel lives alongside the ending of Stephen's embodiment.

Years ago, Orit Sônia recognized mismatch of gesture and words in conversations of conflict between Israeli Jewish and Palestinian college students. Developmentally, gesture proceeds words in our infant efforts to communicate with our parents.

Chi for Two invites clients to mindfully practice with their coaches the major infant developmental movements identified by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen along with the major infant development rhythms identified by Judith Kestenberg and colleagues. Practicing these moves with a coach allows us to integrate primitive reflexes that ideally resolve in infancy like the moro reflex.

When we Push into a coach as you see Stephen doing here with me, that movement provides a symbolic redo of an important infant developmental dance. Can you see by the shape of my body that I am providing resistance for Stephen's Push?

My supervisor Gus Kaufman is a long-time trainer in the healing method Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor. Gus says, "Emotion is motion in the body. That motion causes action that is designed to get a reaction." As the baby's hands come forward to Push into the parent because they don't want that bite of food on the spoon until they have dropped the last cheerio, the baby is developing their personal space—their bio sphere.

It can be hard for men to do the symbolic redos of their unfinished infant developmental dances because boys from most cultures have been told, "Don't be a baby." Boys as young as five years old have been told that it is their job to care for and protect their mother.

Stephen was a co-developer of Chi for Two along with somatic therapist and counselor Caroline Gebhart, mother of three boys. Caroline's husband Nick Gebhardt is a certified Chi for Two Embodiment Coach and they have used the practices in their family since the boys were babies.

The third co-developer is Mary Lou Davidson. Mary Lou is a long-time massage therapy teacher, bodyworker and musician. Mary Lou appreciates the knowledge of the vagus that helps us recognize what is happening when a bodyworker's hands provide the symbolic redo of parental support for the infant head. It is ideal when bodyworkers have consciousness of this dance, which replicates parental support for the infant's head. The first thing this infant/parent dance does is to help the myelinated vagus facilitate the pharynx's coordination of breathing and swallowing after the umbilical cord is cut.

06/27/2024

I am ready—our family is ready—the Chi for Two community is ready for me to share some deeply sad news.

In early April 2024, my son Stephen Wagner, one of the co-developers of Chi for Two died. In the wake of his death, Stephen’s beloved wife of ten years appreciated how the Chi for Two practices for romantic partners helped them have the joyous and adventuresome life they had. Chi for Two® - The

04/03/2024

Always an honor to be interviewed by VoyageATL because I am a long-time Atlanta native. This time the interview is for a series called Bold Journey. Originating Chi for Two has been a bold journey. Push into Stephen Porges to share my understanding of his theory has required boldness. Embodying my understanding of the Kestenberg Movement Profile's first 4 developmental rhythms and how they relate to multi-generational trauma has required boldness.

While I have felt the vulnerability that accompanies being bold, I have held my Hula Hoop 😊 ...and the result has been a deeply spiritually-fulfilling journey. Putting our ideas out there and catching the feedback from others helped me and the co-directors develop Chi for Two and the Chi for Two Embodiment Coach certification training now approved by ISMETA. What an honor.

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dee Wagner a few weeks ago and

03/29/2024

Conversations are happening in the polyvagal community about primitive reflexes—infant reflexive movements—for instance the birth crawl, the hip wiggle side-to-side that is called the spinal Galant reflex after Johann Susmann Galant who first identified this newborn movement, and the palmer grasp that makes a newborn hold your finger, .

In Chi for Two, we talk about unfinished infant/parent dances to bring together the work of...

-Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (infant movement)
-Judith Kestenberg and colleagues (infant rhythms),
-Chace, Whitehouse and Adler (dance/movement therapists who teach kinesthetic empathy and the role of the non-judgemental witness)
-Pesso and Boyden (dancers who created Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor, which helps us see that our infant actions seek a particular reaction)

I am working with a Chi for Two Embodiment coach who is an occupational therapist to write a blog post naming which of the Chi for Two practices for client and clinician seem to create symbolic redos of the infant/parent interactions—dances—related to various newborn reflexes. In the meantime, this older blog post could also give those who are interested a sense of how Chi for Two addresses movements like the newborn grasping, helping Reach/Grab/Pull evolve into the Push.

Over my many years of doing dance/movement therapy and counseling, I have developed partner practices that I now call Chi for Two®- The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship. To give helping professionals an understanding of these partner practices, I am sharing stories from sessions with clients...

03/22/2024

Registration Deadline, April 19th

Register: https://ismeta.org/course/the-chi-for-two-take-on-polyvagal-theory-mobilization-with-play-dance

Chi for Two®– The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship, is a polyvagal-informed, trauma healing method. The physiology of the rhythmic braking and releasing of the vagus nerve, key in trauma patterning, creates an active state called Play/Dance. In this workshop, participants will explore somatically how the infant developmental rhythms identified by Kestenberg and colleagues align with the anatomical awareness of Dr. Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory, using 6 Chi for Two Play/Dance partner practices—5 for client/therapist or student/teacher, 1 for lovers. This workshop is also informed by Cultural Somatics, identified by Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies and Monsters in Love: Why Your Lover Sometimes Drives You Crazy—and What You Can Do About It.

In this workshop, participants will learn:

to use the Chi for Two “Map” of nervous system functioning to help clients normalize sensations that occur when the body shifts between Fight/Flight and Shut-down—bouncing back and forth between anxious urges to “do something” and a lack of energy that feels like, “I can’t do anything.”
to utilize five partner practices for client/coach or student/teacher that help when movement expressions formally inhibited by dorsal vagal Shut-down awaken.
to utilize one practice to help in romantic dances when urges to control the lover arise.

Live Online Workshop in two sessions

Registration is limited to 12 participants for this 2-session class series. Because the live synchronous energetic dance between participants and presenters will be an important part of the recorded version, participants in this workshop are asked to be present with cameras on and with the willingness to be recorded.

03/12/2024

Tomorrow is the free Intro Session for those interested in the next two-year Chi for Two Embodiment Coach training. You can come and experience some of the client/clinician practices that create the symbolic redo of the key infant/parent dances that wire our nervous system functioning multi-generationally.
Wednesday, March 13, 1:30-2:30pm ET
Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89898498273...
Meeting ID: 898 9849 8273
Passcode: 758096

03/09/2024

We are proud to announce that the Chi for Two® Embodiment Coach training program has been approved by ISMETA! 2 years ago someone interested in our program asked me, "Who certified your certified Embodiment Coach training program?"

Back when I got the idea to create a certified training program, I did research about what is required and I learned that I could certify my own program because I have been doing somatic trauma healing work professionally since 1992. However, when this person asked who certified the program...I thought...hmm, maybe I will research further...maybe I will find a program to give us their stamp of approval. I talked to the International Coach Federation, because I had written articles on polyvagal theory for their blog and magazine. I had presented on nervous system functioning at their conference in 2017. But then I talked to Caroline Gebhardt, co-developer of Chi for Two, and Caroline found ISMETA!

As Caroline and I read about ISMETA's scope of practice, competencies, standards and ethics, we were so excited to see that Chi for Two Embodiment training checked off all their boxes...and here we are!

This acceptance has grown our program two-fold!! We are the first training program that can train coaches to gain both the ASMP credential and the RSME/T credential.

Graduates of the Chi for Two Embodiment Coach training program are eligible to become Associate Somatic Movement Professionals (ASMP) with 250 hours of training, or Registered Somatic Movement Educators or Therapists (RSMEs or RSMTs) with 500 hours of training.

We are so proud!!

03/07/2024

I am honored to present Chi for Two® practices for therapists and clients, which can also be done multi-generationally—grandparents with parents and then parents and their children...at the Expressive Therapies Summit Midwest! We start with the oldest person wishing to be part of the change of the family dance. That person's symbolic redo makes it possible for them to practice with the next generation...and on down the line.

03/02/2024

We are gathering the next cohort for the Two-year Chi for Two® Embodiment Coach Training program.

Chi for Two deepens all other somatic healing methods. And we are happy to explain how!

We invite you to join us for an info session about our Spring 2024 coach training group!

Wednesday, March 13, 1:30-2:30pm ET

Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89898498273?pwd=cFZBZ21yak82aDg1MFdLZGRHUzNOZz09

Meeting ID: 898 9849 8273
Passcode: 758096

Chi for Two is a polyvagal-informed, multi-generational trauma healing method offering somatic practices that are relational and developmental.

The 35 Chi for Two partner practices for practitioners and clients create symbolic redos of early infant relational embodiment.

The 5 partner practices for peers help us recognize when unresolved infant patterning awakens in dances with siblings, friends, colleagues and lovers.

Chi for Two training is relational, in small groups of 5 to 8 trainees.

All sessions are held via Zoom and are live (synchronous) with cameras on. Our virtual training sessions are as close as possible to being in-person.

Tentative: Training sessions will be on Wednesdays from 1:00-2:30 pm ET USA beginning April 10, 2024

The Trainers for the series beginning Spring 2024 will be Dee Wagner, LPC, BC-DMT, MSME/T & Caroline Gebhardt, LPC, RYT, RSME/T

Chi for Two is an ISMETA Approved Training Program (www.ISMETA.org, International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association), meaning Chi for Two qualifies within ISMETA’s worldwide standards for scopes, ethics, competencies and practices in training Somatic Movement Therapists and Educators.


ChiforTwo.com



For more information: www.chifortwo.com/coach-training
Or contact John Cargile: [email protected]

02/05/2024

Kestenberg Movement Profile meets 5Rhythms - Saturday I shared some of my understanding of these rhythmic systems in a Zoom sponsored by the Vagus Study Group. I shared about the rhythmic braking and releasing of the ventral vagus on day-to-day activation, its role in coordinating breathing and swallowing, and how it seems to me to physiologically create the active state Porges called Play/Dance.

We were honored to have Ed Tronick with us who created the still face experiments.

As I was sharing afterwards in an email with Ed, I clarified:

If the sucking establishes Play/Dance, then the bite/snap can be mobilized by Play/Dance, which is key to language. Bite/snap allows articulation of plosive sounds.

If bite/snap is mobilized by Play/Dance, Twist can be "indulging." When babies feel the presence of a parent, they can look away from drinking in the sights and sounds of the parental connection and give compete focus to exploring something else. When they look back, they feel the parent's presence.

Today, I clarify further about Kestenberg, 5Rhythms and application to the still face experiments:

It is a luxury for parents to not be still-faced by worries about paying bills or lost in their phones.

No one gets what is ideal. However, when we have somatic knowing of what is ideal, we become who we would have become if we had gotten what is ideal.

The first rhythm in the 5Rhythms is Flow, which I connect with the "indulging" rhythms. The second rhythm is Staccato, which I connect with the "fighting" rhythms. The third is Chaos.

Chaos

If the second "indulging" Kestenberg rhythm Twist can truly be "indulging," then the bite/snap of language can create chaos that is fun, like listening to a joke, knowing a "punchline" is coming. Like Peek-a-boo (My first journal article was Polyvagal Theory and Peek-a-boo).

If bite/snap is not mobilized by Play/Dance, and Twist is not "Indulging," but a listless wandering gaze like channel surfing, then Chaos is not funny. It's a whole other ballgame.

Orit Sônia Waisman is a dance/movement therapist in Israel and the coauthor of my fourth journal article, Stirring up health: Polyvagal theory and the dance of mismatch in healing multi-generational trauma. Years ago Orit Sônia did research about the mismatch of word and gesture between Jewish and Palestinian students in discussions of conflict.

Lyrical

The fourth of the 5Rhythms is Lyrical. Lyrical is patterns. Like chaos theory, Lyrical helps us see that things that seem chaotic when looked at closely actually have patterns when we back up and see them from a difference. The awe of this awareness brings the fifth of the 5Rhythms, which is Stillness.

Stillness

As I back up, what I see is that the pattern of the braking and releasing of the ventral vagal nerve on day-to-day activation is likely the physiological difference between Play/Dance and games of thrones.

01/30/2024

Reminder: VSG talks about “pulse” on Zoom Feb 3rd, 2-3pm ET
Water metaphors for nervous system functioning bring the word "flow" to mind. Kestenberg infant developmental rhythms are tension flow rhythms. The vagus nerve, that brakes activation in the body like the brake on an automatic car, has a brake and release rhythm—a tension flow.
This Sat 2/3 from 2-3pm ET.
Here’s a Zoom link for those who wish to participate:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87067913333...
Meeting ID: 870 6791 3333
Passcode: 507494

12/23/2023

Happy to share a blogpost creation with Mukti Mia Jarvis!

In Chi for Two® - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship, we invite embodied awareness of the difference between touch in relationships that replicate the infant/caregiver dance and touch in relationships where there is ideally power equality. 

08/14/2023

🐺 When caregiver/child interactions follow the pattern of the interactions between wild mammal mothers and their offspring, co-regulation is more likely to occur in matching dances and in mismatching dances. Wild mammal mothers both nuzzle with their young and teach bite regulation.

Caroline and Nick Gebhardt created M-Bodied® Coaching for individuals, parents and creatives based on Chi for Two®, a multi-generational trauma healing method that is polyvagal-informed, trauma-sensitive and attachment-based. In-person Atlanta, Georgia. Virtually worldwide.

PS! 🧠🥁 Interested in exploring nervous system regulation and embodiment practices as a path toward more creativity and healthier business practices? Check out Nick’s upcoming Labor Day PlayShop on Sept 5.

https://www.chifortwo.com/playshop

MBodiedCoaching.com
MBodiedTherapy.com
ChiforTwo.com

08/07/2023

Chi for Two® recognizes that:

"The freedom of the head and neck to make the gesture No when we do not want to do something allows us to make choices. If we do not feel free to say No, Yes is not a choice."

Chi for Two--The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship is a polyvagal-informed, multi-generational trauma healing method.

There are 40 Chi for Two partner practices. 35 are for relationships where there is built-in power differential—child/parent, client/coach, student/teacher, employee/boss. 5 are for relationships where there is ideally power equality—siblings, friends, colleagues, lovers.

In addition to being based on scientist Stephen Porges' understanding of nervous system anatomy and Peter Levine’s understanding of trauma patterning, the practices draw from the work of major attachment theorists (Ainsworth, Tronick, Hazan, Shaver, Mikulincer), as well as the infant development understanding of Bonnie Bainbrige Cohen, creator of Body-Mind Centering, and the developmental rhythms identified by child psychiatrist Judith Kestenberg and colleagues.

Because the practices are all invitational, they celebrate the awakening of the infant rhythms that Kestenberg and colleagues named the “fighting” rhythms. When clients practice the “fighting” rhythms with their Chi for Two Embodiment Coaches, they gain more movement expressions that are mobilized by Play/Dance.

Interested in receiving relationally-focused coaching or becoming a trauma-informed embodiment coach?

Visit ChiforTwo.com

08/07/2023

Chi for Two - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship helps to heal trauma patterning in a relational way.

🌟 Want to learn more?

🤔 What is trauma? Trauma is an inhibition of certain movement expressions in certain situations with certain people.

🐺 Chi for Two (“Chi” meaning energy, “for two” meaning the dance between two people) helps us awaken our natural animal movements, which have been inhibited by our nervous systems due to multi-generational trauma.

👣 When we do the Chi for Two partner practices with a Chi for Two Embodiment Coach, we gain more movement expressions that are mobilized by Play/Dance.

😴🍏 When we mobilize with Play/Dance, our bodies are naturally able to Rest and Digest. Our bodies feel more aligned with nature’s rhythms.

🧠 When the nervous system of each body within a social system functions in a naturally sustainable way, the energetic dance between people becomes more sustainable.

🌀 Larger social systems are more likely to become capable of functioning in ways that sustain each person within that system.

☀️ Are you interested in embodying polyvagal theory and learning how the therapeutic relationship can help heal attachment trauma? Maybe you want to take a workshop or know more? Perhaps interested in joining our next embodiment coach training cohort in October? 🤓

Explore more at ChiforTwo.com

08/04/2023

🧠🌀🧠🌀

08/03/2023

🧠 Polyvagal theory helps us know that we have an active state that is not Fight/Flight.

😻 That state is called Play/Dance.

😴 🍏 When we are activating using Play/Dance, we naturally have Rest and Digest.

🤓 This Circuit of Play/Dance and Rest and Digest is called our Social Engagement System.

🌀 Interested in how somatic therapy or embodiment coaching can help you embody polyvagal theory by exploring movement expressions that pave a path toward healing trauma while offering a more robust quality of living from the inside-out?

💛 Interested in how “re-parenting” your nervous system using relational practices can provide more sustainable bodily functioning? This means a more rhythmic digestive pace in literal and figurative ways.

👣 No movement experience needed. Consider bringing some curiosity to explore how to invite natural animal movement into your life for more satisfaction and nourishment.

☀️ Are you a professional interested in embodying polyvagal theory and earning CEs?

Chi for Two: Polyvagal-informed Somatic Movement Practices for Therapists & their Clients

August 5, 2023, 12:45-4pm
3 CE Core Hours - LPCAGA approved
In-person at Harbor of Dreams Art in Stone Mountain, GA

Presented by: Dee Wagner, LPC, BC-DMT, RSME and Caroline Gebhardt, LPC, RYT, RSME/T

$90 Registration ~
https://www.chifortwo.com/chi-for-two-polyvagal-informed-somatic-movement-practices-for-therapists-their-clients

08/02/2023

Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) was created by Richard C. Swartz. A version of Internal Family Systems Therapy that specializes in work for couples was created by Toni Herbine-Blank. Both Chi for Two and IFS appreciate the therapeutic value of picturing parts of ourselves.

07/18/2023

Chi for Two - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship

Levine’s ideas of “titration” and “pendulation” are built into Chi for Two. Over the years, Levine created the trauma healing method Somatic Experiencing. As Wagner has presented on Chi for Two, participants have recognized the deep connection between Somatic Experiencing and Chi for Two b...

03/20/2023

Today, I was sharing this blog post with a counseling student from GSU and thought, "I don't think I ever shared this blog post on Facebook." So I am sharing it! This is a post on how Chi for Two is similar to Internal Family Systems.

Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) was created by Richard C. Swartz. A version of Internal Family Systems Therapy that specializes in work for couples was created by Toni Herbine-Blank. Both Chi for Two and IFS appreciate the therapeutic value of picturing parts of ourselves.

12/05/2022

So excited for my 4th peer-reviewed article to be published. Chi for Two continues to expand across the world. My coauthor is Orit Sônia Waisman, a dance/movement therapist in Israel who is a researcher of Mismatch. After reading the article Porges said, "I am sure it will be embraced by the dance/movement therapy community."
I am honored that Porges appreciated this material, which expands the way polyvagal theory has been presented up to this point. This is the link to the abstract. I can give a link to 80 colleagues to read the entire article for free. If you would like to read the entire article, you can reach out to me at chifortwo.com

In this article, author Waisman’s work with mismatch combines with author Wagner’s work with polyvagal theory to illuminate the dance of mismatch in healing multi-generational trauma. Author Waisma...

12/16/2020

I sing the praises of the work of Kestenberg and colleagues, especially dance/movement therapist Susan Loman. Movement Profile but not as a tool for movement analysis. Their work helps us recognize that infants both match with their caregivers and "fight" them. As we seek the path of equal rights for all people, I think we need to better understand the dance of fighting...and gender roles in all cultures. My son Stephen Wagner and I are creating work around these issues.

It was lovely presenting Chi for Two® - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship with my son and Tai Chi teacher Stephen Wagner at the Dance Therapy Advocates Summit this weekend. We spoke about the value of understanding the innate interactions between wild mammal mothers and their babies. Afte

12/11/2020

Mother Earth can hold us.

Parents and caregivers—are you trying to manage children who seem insatiable?    Children hunger for attention, snacks, screens, play and then more attention. How does one help their child to find what they are truly hungry for from moment to moment—love and c

11/07/2020

You can find Dee Wagner at the Embodiment Conference, along with the many top presenters in the field. Look for 'Dee Wagner' under the "Intimacy and Relationships" channel. The Embodiment Conference is offering free viewing this weekend, Nov 7 & 8, of the recorded presentations from the live conference. You'll need to sign in, but it just takes part of a minute. There is a treasure trove of great stuff here. Happy viewing!
https://theembodimentconference.org/

Embodiment Conference, 10 days of Free access to world-class teachers, practical tools for times of turmoil, and a supportive global community. We’re here to make the world’s embodied wisdom accessible to everyone with access to over 1000 embodied teachers and practitioners.

10/28/2020

So honored to be with these two amazing women, Tai Davis and Adria Jordan Kitchens. Please listen to how they flow with me as I geek out on nervous system science. Talk about the energetic dance of relationship!

In Resmaa Menakem's book, "My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies", he describes "racism as the operating system in which we all live and make our decisions inside of". How difficult has it been for you to be at rest in 2020? Do you ever think of h...

09/20/2020

The Ready Stance prepares us for dancing with others. Getting into our pelvises frees the Gestures that "arm us" to "handle" our lives and our relationships. This little one seems a bit overwhelmed by the hunger this group has for her movement. We invite the redo of developmental dances in Chi for Two® - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship.