Chair of the Emilie Conrad Da'oud Research Initiative
Executive Director of Continuum Movement®
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“When Emilie asked me to carry the vision of Continuum it was one of the most moving and transformative experiences of my life. For these many years that we have been so close, we have always recognized that we have a shared vision. It will be with love and honor that I go forward in the world with our amazing teaching community, to allow the continuing unfolding of the great mystery that is Continuum.”
About Donnalea
Donnalea Van Vleet Goelz has a Ph.D. in Somatic Clinical Psychology and is executive director of Continuum Movement®, founded by Emilie Conrad- Da’oud and chair of the ECD Initiative for research in the somatic movement arts. She is the founder and owner of Cobalt Moon Center, a center for integrative health in Neptune Beach, Florida, an authorized Continuum Movement teacher (1998), and a T’ai Chi Instructor (1990). Donnalea is a graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of Healing where she served as senior faculty, as Dean of the third year class in the US and Europe.
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She is also a certified Brennan Integration Practitioner, a graduate degree at BBSH that incorporates psychology and the human energy field. Other certifications include Object Relational Psychotherapy from Center for Intentional Living and Kabbalistic Healing from the Society of Souls. She has an extensive training in Dance (Ballet, modern, African) and Technical Dance Movement of Irmgard Bartenieff and Frances Cott. She is on the faculty of Esalen Institute, Hollyhock Educational Institute and teaches workshops nationally and internationally in Continuum, Tai Chi, and healing arts.
Continuum Movement®
MISSION STATEMENT
Continuum Movement® is a dynamic inquiry into what it is to be a human being, providing a somatic experiential method to consciously explore yourself as an unfolding biological and planetary process.
VALUE STATEMENT OF CONTINUUM MOVEMENT
Biology enables, culture modifies.
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Biology enables us to live on this planet; culture limits how we must live. Each culture shapes the human body according to its assumptions about what a human being is, and what is best for society. It must do so to contain the multitudes of souls that live within its limits. But the individual can become absorbed in the consensus, and the primal bio-uniqueness of the organism can be lost. A primary value of Continuum Movement is access to the universal processes within. That process is a transcultural, universal movement of fluidity.
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Continuum was introduced in the late 1950’s by Emilie Conrad. One of her main values was to make available to others the deep sense of exploring intrinsic movement to the very impulses from which we are born every moment. . . every NOW. Within the waters of our being lie unfathomable feelings that allow us to surface and walk on dry land keeping the energy of swimming. The human body is not an object, but an ocean of flows and gushes.
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After many eons, the beginning of a species called homo sapiens began to make itself distinct from other species. This new creature, with its organs, circulating blood — all of its interior life — still undulating with its oceanic origins, muscled itself on land. But, always, through it all, no matter what, its internalized fluid resonance continues to carry the message of the sea.
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Rather than being overwhelmed by our current cultural challenges Continuum Movement accepts them as exciting opportunities to invent ourselves differently, not as bionic-humans but as the exemplars of the courageous and the daring. Let us see these times as seeds for a probable future with the wetness of the stars still gleaming in our eyes and the rush of the seas throbbing in our heart as we dream the future, and it is US. – Emilie Conrad, founder of Continuum Movement.
CONTINUUM’S BENEFITS
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Increases vitality, health and healing
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Provides a spacious sense of well-being
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Develops core strength and flexible power
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Revitalizes bones, joints, and skeletal health
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Releases, relaxes and realigns, much like receiving bodywork
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Heightens sensuality and increases receptivity
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Awakens creativity, innovation and play
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Facilitates trust in one’s inherent body wisdom
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Deepens spiritual connection
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Provides a safe environment for growth and renewal
Cobalt Moon - Tai Chi
Cobalt Moon Center
Cobalt Moon Center was established in 1996 by Donnalea Van Vleet Goelz. Since that time it has grown to become a leading center serving the Northeast Florida community by providing classes, workshops, and other activities related to developing and enhancing healthy lives.
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Cobalt Moon Center has a full staff of Health Practitioners, offering treatments in acupuncture, massage, somatic therapy, auric healing, physical therapy, movement therapy, energy healing, spiritual counseling, and Brennan Integration work serving Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach and Jacksonville, Florida.
Tai Chi
T’ai Chi is an ancient exercise that enhances our health and self-awareness through a series of gentle, flowing movements. Regular practice of T’ai Chi develops strength, vitality, and the ability to relax. This is possible because we learn to work with, rather than against, the forces of nature. For example, through proper body alignment, we learn to rely more on our bones and less on our muscles to hold us erect against the force of gravity. Once freed from excess effort, we can move with increased grace and agility.
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Over time, we begin to embody all of the principles of T’ai Chi. It becomes part of our being, changing and growing with us, unifying the body, mind and spirit through movement. As we relax in T’ai Chi, we relax in life. In this way, T’ai Chi prepares us to move through life with greater ease and efficiency. A profound sense of control develops, our awareness increases, and we respond in new ways to life circumstances.
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T’ai Chi is easy to learn and accessible for people of all ages, young and old alike. Whether practiced alone or in groups, T’ai Chi practice is a time to step away from daily pressures, collect yourself, relax, and regain a clear perspective. T’ai Chi takes only 7-10 minutes to perform and can be practiced in any small, flat space, without special equipment or clothing.
Benefits of T'ai Chi Practice:
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Increases circulation of vital energy (ch’i) in the body
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Strengthens the legs
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Improves balance & stability
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Relaxes the entire body
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Reduces stress, melts tension
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Relaxes and deepens the breathing
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Improves posture
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Focuses the mind
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Improves concentration
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Increases kinesthetic awareness
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Reduces the risk of falls among older people
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Lowers high blood pressure
Atlantic Beach Institute
Atlantic beach institute is dedicated to providing education, therapy, research, and collaboration with others in order to create a kinder and more conscious world. Offices are in the Cobalt Moon Center.
Dr. Sue Carter
Dr. Sue Carter is a Distinguished University Scientist and Rudy Professor Emerita of Biology at Indiana University. A career biologist, Carter has studied the endocrinology of love and social bonds for more than three decades.
She was the first person to detect and define the physiology of monogamy through her research on the prairie vole. These findings helped lay the foundation for the studies of behavioral and developmental effects of oxytocin and vasopressin in humans.
Research interests
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Social bonding
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Role of oxytocin in mental disorders
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Traits of monogamy and pair-bond formation
Dr. Stephen Porges
We are very happy to house Dr. Stephen Porges at the Atlantic Beach Institute. Stephen proposed the Polyvagal Theory as well as creating the Safe and Sound Protocol™.
Stephen W. Porges, Ph.D. is a Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University where he is the founding director of the Traumatic Stress Research Consortium.
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He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers across several disciplines including anesthesiology, biomedical engineering, critical care medicine, ergonomics, exercise physiology, gerontology, neurology, neuroscience, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, psychometrics, space medicine, and substance abuse.
Polyvagal Theory
In 1994 Stephen proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of the physiological state in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders.
Donnalea Van Vleet Goelz Ph.D.
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Safe and Sound Protocol™
A music-based intervention created by Dr. Stephen Porges, the Safe and Sound Protocol™, which currently is used by more than 1400 therapists to improve spontaneous social engagement, to reduce hearing sensitivities, and to improve language processing, state regulation, and spontaneous social engagement.
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Donnalea is offering appointments. For inquiries, please contact media@continuummovement.com
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