Chi for Two® Curriculum (and how it aligns with ISMETA Curriculum)

Movement Awareness and Recognition

Chi for Two provides embodiment coaches and clients with two visual tools that help them increase awareness of movement development and recognize how multi-generational trauma inhibits movement expression so they can move through the awakening of the inhibited expressions to expand their movement vocabulary:
●  Circles of Support Drawing [Womb, Pouch (swaddling), Lap, Watch (witnessing), Self-supported with inner parents (mindfulness)]
●  The “Map” of nervous system functioning now part of Miller and Beeson’s Neuroeducation Toolbox: Practical Translations of Neuroscience in Counseling and Psychotherapy.

Neuromuscular Science


Chi for Two connects a unique view of the neuromuscular biology identified by polyvagal theory with the infant development work of child psychiatrist Judith Kestenberg and colleagues, especially dance/movement therapist Susan Loman. This connection deepens the trauma understanding provided by Peter Levine, Resmaa Menakem, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Wendy Maltz, and Bessel van der Kolk. The partner practices deepen our awareness of the energetic dance of relationship to bring mindfulness of touch, movement, and how infant/parent interactions over generations influence the development and use of language.

Chi for Two provides partner practices based on human development that occur in the dance of infant and primary care-giver, influenced by secondary caregivers and social systems. This material draws from the work of:
●  Infant Development specialists Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Judith Kestenberg and colleagues (especially dance/movement therapist Susan Loman)
●  Dance/Movement Therapy originator Marian Chace
●  Authentic Movement developer Janet Adler
●  Experiential Anatomy expert Andrea Olsen
●  Attachment Theorists Mary Ainsworth, Cindy Hazan, Phillip Shaver, and Lisa Diamond
●  Object Relations theorist Donald Winnicott
●  Romantic Relationships expert Harville Hendrix
●  Gender theorists Marion Woodman, Lisa Diamond and Kimberlee Crenshaw
●  Social Systems expert Isabelle Wilkerson

Chi for Two honors the ancient practices of yoga, tai chi (especially tai chi push hands), qigong, and buddhist meditation. Several of the Chi for Two practices bring the insight of infant development to these ancient practices. Chi for Two helps us find empathy for the fact that the shapes and rhythms of infant development exist within these ancient practices even though the people who could birth children were often excluded from studying the practices.

Partner Practices

There are 40 Chi for Two partner practices. Five of the partner practices are for relationships where there is ideally power equality: siblings, friends, colleagues, lovers. 35 of the partner practices are for relationships where there is a built-in power differential: child/parent, client/helping-professional, student/teacher, employee/boss.

Kestenberg and colleagues identified infant tension/flow rhythms that alternate between ones they call “indulging” and ones they call “fighting.” Chi for Two practices are invitational, making room for oppositional mismatching movement that utilizes the “fighting” rhythms. In infancy, the parent’s celebration of the “fighting” rhythms facilitates Individuation within the dance of relationship.  Likewise inviting the mismatching language of clients and celebrating the “fighting” rhythms facilitates their Individuation in an essential way sometimes overlooked as clients concede to the expertise of their helping-professional. 

Nervous System Functioning

The vagus nerve, which serves the parasympathetic nervous system, brakes activation. The rhythm of the braking changes depending on a sense of safety or danger. When we feel safe, the rhythmic braking of the ventral branch of the vagus facilitates the rhythmic braking of the dorsal branch to aid peristalsis—the moving of content through the digestive system. Thus the rhythmic braking of the ventral branch of the vagus allows more reparative rest and more functional digestion.

When we feel trapped, the dorsal branch of the vagus shallows breathing and slows digestion. In this way, it inhibits movement expression.

Publications supporting Chi for Two by Dee Wagner, LPC, BC-DMT, RSME

Dee Wagner, originator of Chi for Two, has four journal articles that speak to the anatomical understanding of the polyvagal theory of nervous system functioning and integrate awareness of the tension/flow rhythms of infant development.

Stirring up health: Polyvagal theory and the dance of mismatch in multi-generational trauma healing, with Orit Sônia Waisman, Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, November 2022.

Couples Dance/Movement Therapy: Bringing a Theoretical Framework to Practice, with Stacey Hurst, American Journal of Dance Therapy, February 2018.

The Big Dance: My love affair with the science of nervous system functioning, Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy (journal of The American Academy of Psychotherapists) Spring, 2017.

Polyvagal Theory and Peek-a-boo: How the therapeutic pas de deux heals attachment trauma, Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy, November 2015

Helping Clients Re-pattern How They Live in Their Bodies

Chi for Two identifies Four Emanations of Embodiment: Navel Radiation, Contralateral Movement, Gesture, and Handling.

Gus Kaufman, long-time therapist and trainer in Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor says, “Emotion is motion. Motion creates action. Action is designed to get a reaction.”

Below are the Practices for Relationships with Built-in Power Differentials: child/parent, client/helping-professional, student/teacher, employee/boss. The practices are listed under the Emanation the practice invites through experiential anatomical awareness. In the practices, the Embodiment Coach's hands invite the awakening of blocked movement expressions. The practices in which the coaches provide resistance for the client to Push are marked with PR.

Navel Radiation

  • Star (MOVEMENT EVALUATION)

  • Potentially Supportive Surfaces (in infancy the support must be human)

  • Deep Nourishment Core Awareness (breath, origins of movement, movement inhibition)

  • Amniotic Fluid (Re-wombing)

  • Elbow Push (Learning we can control our arms - PR)

  • Sea Star (Re-wombing)

  • Bubble (Breath as a form of Navel Radiation)

  • Runny Egg (A creative dance/drama)

Contralateral Movement

  • Twist (disconnecting focus from the caregiver, if safe we can roll over, twist to seated)

  • Alternate Shoulder Rolls (cognitive “on the one hand, on the other hand”)

  • Flow Hands (“I get to control the energy in front of my body”)

  • Bicycling on the Changing Table (“I get to control what happens to my pelvis” PR)

  • Reach/Grab/Pull (birth crawl, pull to standing, knowing what we want)

  • Basketing (being protected when we reach for danger - PR) 

  • Snuggle Pose/Squish Pose/Cocoon (squirming out discomfort - PR) 

  • Sway (self-soothing)

  • Dance de Digestif (exploring the post-pubescent pelvis)

  • Knowing No (can I turn my head or am I “deer in the headlights”)

Gesture

  • Saying No (If No is not an option, Yes is not a choice) 

  • Space Claiming (“I can stretch my spine”)

  • Ready Stance (supple hips, knees and ankles)

  • Push (“When I Push into what’s Not-Me, I find Me” PR) 

  • Patty Cake (Percussive connection and disconnection)

  • Bite/Snap—caught by The Mother (Releasing the “fighting” rhythms) 

  • Mouthing Consonants (Bite/Snap with words)

  • Drumming (Bite/Snap caught by a musical instrument)

  • ArtMoves (Expression caught by paper)

  • Jaw Transformations (creation stories) (infant development)

  • Pelvic Transitions (POSTURE, first is learning to sit alone, second is puberty)

Handling

  • Hula Hoop (“I can Handle my own energy”)

  • Safety Pose (“I can give myself safety holding my legs toward my chest”)

  • Self-hug (“Baby-me can cry out and Mother-me can come”)

  • Sound Expression (Honor physicality of making sound & hearing own sound-making)

  • Bite/Snap—caught by Self (“I can Handle my ‘fighting’ rhythms”)

  • Bubble Dancer (Solid but malleable energy sphere, “No one can ‘make me feel’ things.”)

Catchers Mitts (Infant/parent and peers, Holding Circles of Support for the next generation)

Practices for Romantic Partners and Other Relationships with Ideally Power Equality

(Most of the Romantic Partner practices are for all relationships in which there is Ideally power equality—siblings, friends, colleagues.)

All of the practices for romantic partners invite mindfulness of the awakening of unfinished infant/parent dances, which is a common occurrence in romantic dances. As one member of the couple experiences awakenings of an unfinished infant/parent move, that person does redos with the coach, replicating the needed Circles of Support. The other partner experiences being present while this healing occurs (using Not My Side of the Street). When the unfinished infant/parent dance move becomes integrated into the person’s movement vocabulary, the couple can return to the romantic dance, with that person in a more post-pubescent playful place.

  • On My Side (feeling peers “on our side” even when there is conflict) 

  • Not My Side of the Street (Not Mothering peers)

  • Extensions of Not My Side of the Street (ways to create playful conflict): Press (Negotiation), Patty Cake, (Connection and Disconnection), Play (Romantic Competition)

  • Pause (mindful gift-giving, the dance of consent)

  • Safe Share (sharing our minds and hearts without dumping on peers)

Final Practice for All Types of Relationships

Chi for Two Hug (connecting without merging) (see the ethical guidelines)

Training Documents

There are ten Chi for Two training documents. Because the synthesis of material that supports the partner practices is rich, trainees revisit the documents in experiential ways year after year.

Revisiting of the ten training documents facilitates an experiential understanding of infant development. Language develops in an effort to change the dance that infants do with their caregivers. Writing, whether it is alphabetic, logographic, syllabic, or featural brings a whole new dance.

Within all two-person dances is the likelihood of awakening movement expressions that have been inhibited due to multi-generational trauma patterning, so understanding the pathway for trauma healing and the role of the expression of the infant developmental rhythms is important. Wagner’s article with Waisman, Stirring up health: Polyvagal theory and the dance of mismatch in multi-generational trauma healing, identifies the important connection between the infant “fighting” rhythms and multi-generational trauma patterning.

Chi for Two® Ethics

Chi for Two embodiment coaches pay special attention to the following ethical guidelines:
●  Obtain and maintain competency requirements of Chi for Two certified embodiment coaching.
●  Remain within your scope of practice.
●  Invite clients into awareness rather than telling them to do things.
●  Use touch only for two specific Chi for Two embodiment coaching purposes (unless touch is part of the training of an accompanying field): Providing Resistance, Offering a Chi forTwo Hug.
●  Develop consciousness of the multi-generational patterns that foster the trauma caused by social systems that allow some people to dominate and to marginalize others.

● Honor ethical codes of all accompanying fields with which Chi for Two embodiment coaching is being integrated.

Why Chi for Two Now?

This document is on the chifortwo.com website Resources page. It gives a general overview of how the Chi for Two model of multi-generational trauma healing connects current Western understanding of nervous system anatomy, trauma patterning and infant/parent interactions with aspects of Eastern healing traditions.

Chi for Two Reflective Listening

Chi for Two embodiment coaches reflect clients’ words and their energetic expressions—inviting clients’ Navel Radiation.
This document helps trainees experience an embodied sense of vitality and create both meaning for and enjoyment of life.

Using the Chi for Two® “Map” with Clients

The Chi for Two “Map” of nervous system functioning helps clients picture the path to healing. The “Map” and how to use it with clients became a section in chapter five of Miller and Beeson’s The Neuroeducation Toolbox: Practical Translations of Neuroscience in Counseling and Psychotherapy in 2021.

This document helps trainees refine their perceptual, kinesthetic, proprioceptive and interoceptive sensitivity that supports homeostasis, co-regulation and neuroplasticity.

Chi for Two® Coach Boundaries

This document helps us see how professional boundaries relate to the energetic dance of relationship.

This document helps trainees recognize habitual patterns of perceptual, postural and movement interaction with the environment.

Chi for Two® and Divine Inspiration

Divine Inspiration describes the deep and luminous part of each person's psyche. Our Divine Inspiration can offer the world a unique light that is the spark of Being itself if we can Handle ourselves—develop the 4th Emanation of embodiment, Handling.

This document helps trainees focus on the body as both an objective physical process and as a subjective process of lived consciousness.

Chi for Two® and Home-play (assessment)
We heal multi-generational trauma one practice at a time. When we have awareness of the energetic dance of relationship, we can create symbolic redos of infant/parent interactions within the first four Circles of Support to develop the 5th Circle of Support.

Home-play provides a great assessment tool as it relates to one's relational interaction with their environment. It is possible for trainees to practice alone by using and imagining the Circles of Support as symbolic redos of relationship for their own nervous system re-patterning and functioning as well as their professional readiness to hold Circles of Support for clients.

Chi for Two® Moves

Details on all 40 practices.

This document helps trainees and their clients improve movement coordination that supports structural, functional and expressive integration.

Year-two training includes a review of all the documents from Year-one, plus two additional documents (listed below). These final two documents help embodiment coaches in their dance with clients in their professional practice.


A Structure for 50-minute Embodiment Coaching Sessions

Professional guidance for how to begin, develop and end sessions:

  • Chi for Two Reflective Listening

  • Inviting Practices

  • Suggesting Home-play

This document also looks at the flow of logistics like scheduling and charging.


Chi for Two Approach to Business

We have arrived at a place in time in which many are realizing that the path America has tread has been far from ideal for many groups of people and for species other than our own. Every person has to manage money in our modern world, so almost everyone has to make money somehow. The focus of this training document is the delicate dance of healthy business.

Training Sessions and Classes

Trainees participate in two types of training:

ONE-ON-ONE TRAINING SESSIONS

The dyadic sessions help trainees feel the awakening of unfinished infant/parent dances and experience the symbolic redos of those dances that the partner practices provide.

GROUP TRAINING SESSIONS

Group training invites mindfulness of power differentials within families. Ideally sibling dances are managed by parents who celebrate the infant “fighting” rhythms, drawing those movement expressions toward parents who can help offspring learn to focus those expressions toward the accomplishment of socially useful activities. Trainees feel the awakening of unfinished ideal sibling dances where parents help them manage their big feelings and experience the symbolic redos of those dances that the partner practices provide (the 5 partner practices for relationships where there is ideally power equality such as siblings and then the 35 for relationships where there is a built-in power differential such as infant/parent.)

There are also two group offerings that can be part of the training:

Art of Yoga - It is in our earliest dyadic dances that yoke that which makes us alive with that which we leave behind when we die. Art of Yoga uses Chi for Two partner practices in a form that is similar to yoga classes. Teachers invite awareness of the energetic dance of relationship between themselves and the students through movement expressions that respond to those of class members, and voice patterning that offers the Circles of Support.

M-Bodied: Mindful Movement as Mothering Medicine® - Various explorations of the early relational partner practices that can look like various kinds of dance classes.