Online SOBI Sponsored Study Groups

The Society of Ortho-Bionomy International sponsors monthly Online Study Groups. They are primarily in a conference call format and are taught by various Registered Ortho-Bionomy Instructors via Zoom.

Our Study Groups cover a variety of topics and also count towards the study group requirements in the Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner Training Programs.

The receipt received upon registration will have a link to download the handout, any preview materials and the Zoom link. Be sure you have these materials available before you login to the study group. 

There is a limit to class size, so be sure to register early.

After a group finishes, all attendees will be emailed an evaluation form for that session. To receive study group credit attendees will need to keep their cameras on during the study group and complete and submit the evaluation form within two weeks.

The study groups are a full three hours, with no credit given for homework time.

Out of respect for the Instructor and the other students please be on time for the study group.

The Body Schema

with SOBI Advanced Instructor Richard Valasek

August 15, 2024

6:00 PM Eastern, 5:00 PM Central, 4:00 PM Mountain, 3:00 PM Pacific, 12:00 PM Hawaii (US and Canada)

Three hours

SOBI member $45; non-member $55

Taking a phenomenological view of Ortho-Bionomy, we will hold focus as much as possible on your own experience as a practitioner. The body schema is your body's own subjective experience of itself. The body schema works in at least three moods: the indicative, the imperative, and the subjunctive. That is to say, it describes how the body is arranged in relation to its immediate surround (indicative mood), it gives commands (imperative), and considers possibilities (subjunctive). The subjunctive is the as-if body. Before the flesh-body moves through space, it is preceded by the as-if body.

The body schema plays a key role in responding to trauma. 

I consider Chapman's Reflex Network to be of the body schema.

Most of the time of this three-hour slot I hope to spend on practices. The last section of this pot of notes is a kind of list of things—practices—we might do. And wonder together about. Praxis.

Richard Valasek learned Ortho-Bionomy from our Founder, Dr. Arthur Lincoln Pauls. Richard was the first of two students, along with Lynn Drummer, to be appointed an Advanced Instructor. He was also the first of 4 Instructors to be appointed an Advanced Instructor Trainer. Richard holds a BA in Theater Arts, a BA in Animal Science from UC Davis, has been an RN for over 35 years and practicing Ortho-Bionomy for over 40.

Richard’s philosophy: Learning happens best through play. Classes should feel like Ortho-Bionomy. Lots of “Yes.” Practice Radical Affirmation. Safety allows exploration. Teach students to reinvent Ortho-Bionomy.

Richard’s other great passions are family and theater. He is married to Karen, with whom he has 3 children, 7 grandkids and 4 great grandkids. He is active in the Unitarian church as it is most like Ortho-Bionomy, and he is the winner of multiple awards for acting and theatrical sound design. Richard is available for worldwide travel.

REGISTER HERE