Rabbi Diane Elliot, based in the Bay Area, is a spiritual teacher, ritual leader, dancer, and somatic therapist who inspires her students to become clearer channels for Presence through awareness and movement practices, chant, and nuanced interpretations of Jewish sacred text.
Before studying for the rabbinate, she enjoyed a 25-year career as a concert modern dancer, choreographer, and movement teacher. Diane trained for over 30 years with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, the creator of the somatic modality Body-Mind Centering® and is a certified teacher of that work.
A long time meditator, Rabbi Diane has devoted her life to exploring the intersections between spirituality, creativity, and healing. Currently, she directs Embodying Spirit, En–spiriting Body – a residential retreat training program in embodied approaches to Jewish tradition – under the auspices of ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal www.aleph.org. She maintains a private spiritual direction practice; conducts Deep Living, an ongoing practice group; teaches in interfaith settings; and is the author of numerous poems, essays, and articles, among them The Torah of the Body, Two Great Lights: The Spiritual Potency of the Teacher-Student Relationship, and Hannah’s Tears. Find out more about Diane and her work here: www.whollypresent.org.
Her series is: Nurturing the Inner Tree of Life
Rabbi Diane melds embodied awareness, mindfulness, chant, prayer, and imagery from the Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). Her meditative guidance aims to help you root your awareness within your body and cultivate the positive, loving midot (qualities), and the inner balance needed to actively co-create peace and wholeness in the world.
This series includes embodied practices and some are to be done standing, though each can be adapted for sitting or lying down. There is a sheet of chants here and you might want to have a journal nearby to record insights that may come to you during or after your practice.
