Editorial

Abstract

This editorial marks the transition of the role of principal editor of the journal from Amanda Williamson to me. It marks the points of contact between us as I reflect on how Amanda’s work and more broadly how practices of somatic spiritualities have impacted my life personally and professionally. As I navigate my new role as an editor, I embrace and celebrate the diversity of practices and voices this journal seeks to recognize. It feels like no accident that the contributions to this issue all, at some level, are speaking about the interpersonal body. Through somatic movement practices, the more embodied we become, the more aware we are of other people, and we begin to acknowledge others as simultaneously distinct from us whilst also being a part of us – others are included in our experience of ourselves. And so here, in this issue, we are invited deeply into the practices of others, knowing that we are already included in them. And as we read and move alongside each other through these words, we extend ourselves into their consciousness too, broadening the networks of embodied knowledge which hold open the space for us to be body–spirit–somas, ineluctably entwined with one another, energetically, intellectually, spiritually. The very real physical, material, fleshly aspects of the contributions to this issue speak to the urgent demands of a society which longs for contact and connection which these practices offer. Whether through shared rhythms of breathing and dancing, visual perception or practical care and somatic authority offered to those suffering illness which threatens to take away their agency, spiritually oriented somatic practices give life back to us when we feel undermined by a world in chaos and reminds us of the connections available to us when we listen, feel, think and move together.