Becoming a Truly Consensual Somatic Practitioner

I’ve officially became a Consent Educator in 2021 however as a Feldenkrais practitioner, specialising in anxiety, I began interrogating what it is to be a truly consensual practitioner over 10 years ago.

Consent is a subtle, juicy and complex field and each Professional works in nuanced ways.  

The type of Consent I teach stems from Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent with further training in Intimacy Direction and Coordination (IDC). My training in Dance, Feldenkrais, Trauma and Equity also inform my teaching.

My teaching is about practice - Embodied Practice - where Consent is a constant question. In the same way I might ask...Am I breathing? Am I grounded? Am I present? I ask... Am I being consensual? Sometimes I am. Sometimes I'm not. My interest is finding out, not using Consent as a baton to whack myself with.

Embodied consent can be counter-cultural and I find myself acting in non-consensual or low-consensual ways often, so it needs to be a daily practice.

My interest is simply to develop the skills to slow down, sense my body, embrace my vulnerability, communicated what I sense, listen to others, and make deliberate choices together with others.

I’ve significantly changed the way I work in clinic, but until recently I’d not fully considered my groups classes.

Feldenkrais is one of the most consensual movement practices I know. We mostly move alone, at our own pace, respect our limits and rest when we want. And the teacher does not correct (unless there is a concern) and so I’d made a few tweaks but I’d not given my class a complete overhaul.

At the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) I teach Consent and Intimacy workshops for the actors and performance students and it’s got me really thinking - How we can foster consent literacy before touch even happens?

And how could I create a simple practice that helps my students build consent literacy skills. Looking around the house I saw a pack of TACO CAT cards. Maybe this would work? And so I started handing them out at the start of class.

I ask the students to consider what level of interaction they want today.

*PICTURE FACING UP* - I’m happy to engage in touch and verbal interactions/corrections

*WORDS FACING UP* - I’m happy to engage in verbal interactions/corrections

*CARD SLIPPED UNDER THE MAT* - I’m happy in my own bliss (or bunker) and wish for no interaction

Each students takes a moment to sense, think and choose, and they place their card in the position that honours their desires and limits. One of the fundational pillars of consent is the choosing.  

Moshe Feldenkais stipulates that real choice does not exist unless there are 3 options.

And in Consent Education genuine consent can’t be binary ie only Yes and No. Real consent must include Maybe. Some practitioners use Red, orange and green to interrupt the binary.

But consent can’t be binding either which is why the TACO CAT cards are perfect – the students can change their mind anytime. They simply flip their card the other way or slip it under/out from their mat.

I ask students to check in at the middle of class, or when we shift to a new section of learning, but they can change at anytime.

Consent isn’t about removing touch from teaching practices. Many students love touch and their leaning is significantly enhanced by touch. I am one such person and I’ve cherished my dance and somatic practice career. 

My dancing days were filled with skin to skin contact, lying length ways across someone’s body, resting back to back, tracing along someone’s shoulder, having my foot cradled, face nuzzled into someone’s belly’s, occasional even someone’s crouch. It was nourishing and seriously good fun!

I’ve also had corrections in Pilates and yoga that we so enlightening and clear that words could never have conveyed. And of course I’m a sucker for the nuanced touch of a skilled Feldenkrais practitioner. There is simply nothing like it!!

BUT… I’ve also had times where I did not want to be touched but the power dynamics meant I yielded to a teachers corrections against my better judgment. As someone who has hypermobility I’m susceptible to inexperienced/enthusiastic teachers excitedly pushing my body flat to the floor. Yet while my body yields it also goes floppy and I lose joint integrity.

These days in yoga if I see a teacher walk toward me I just say ‘no thank you’ or ‘I’m happy’

I have a good sense of my desires and limits but not everyone feels so emboldened to say out loud they don’t want to be touched. So innocuous and ‘we’ll ahead to of time’ Consent practices are essential.

Another pillar of consent is each person needs time to consider. As a teacher if I’m walking toward a student with my hand already reaching out to touch their shoulder it’s too late to ask for consent. The power dynamics favour the teacher, and a student with no time to sense, think and choose is likely to yield. (Or be defensive.)

So TACO CAT is proving to be a subtle and profound way to build consent practices into my teaching - long before any touch happens.

We’ve got a long road ahead of us to create truly consensual leaning spaces. But it’s going to be truly worth it!!