From Success to Service: The Evolution of a Teacher


Ellen Watson, world-renown movement teacher and global change catalyst, developed the Movement Arts Program at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where she teaches a range of ecstatic dance, massage, yoga, moving meditation practice, Five Rhythms™ and Spirits Dancing™. Now though her nonprofit MovingVentures School (MVS), Ellen offers training and retreats at inspiring locations around the world, with a focus on community service. During her annual Esalen® Massage Certification Training in Bali, Ellen puts her students to work treating local people with disabilities, and provides free training to Indonesian women and youth in poverty, empowering them to earn a sustainable living.  Ellen writes "one of the things I'm most grateful for is the opportunity to be of service in the world."

During a difficult decade in Indonesia that has seen bombings, devastating tsunami, SARS and record unemployment, MVS established a unique scholarship program that trains local people to earn a sustainable living by providing massage to tourists. One of these scholarship students, a traditional Balinese healer now incorporating Esalen® Massage into her work, was featured in the recent bestseller, "Eat, Pray, Love," by Elizabeth Gilbert.

In addition to Ellen's work in Bali she also collaborates with a school for the hearing- and speech-impaired youth in Central Java to fund and build treatment rooms where students can learn and practice Esalen® Massage, allowing them to become self-supporting.

In the U.S., Moving Ventures School is developing The Dream Center, a major educational and community service initiative to help women in need become self-sufficient through training and employment development in holistic and preventative health.

2013 will mark Moving Ventures School's 11th annual Esalen® Massage Certification Training in the flowering jungles of Ubud Bali. Learning the art of Esalen® Massage is an experience that often changes lives.

Ellen was honored to take part in the first annual BaliSpirit Festival of yoga, dance, sacred music, retreat, and ceremony, in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia in March 2008, offering her popular Rumi, Dance & Freedom of Liberation Retreat. The BaliSpirit Festival raised $18,000 that year to support pregnant Balinese women who live in difficult circumstances. That was the launching of what has become an extraordinary annual event.  Join Ellen at BaliFest this year, 2013!

MovingVentures is also committed to producing excellent educational massage and movement resources, and has two videos currently on the market: The Art of Essential Touch, a 120 minute massage DVD/Video, and Awakening 101, both filmed in Bali, Indonesia. You can find these and other resources and products in the MVS Boutique.
MovingVentures, Inc. is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, educational institution. Your donations are tax deductible.

 

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