Author Archives: ლელა მოსემ

About Racism

The classmate whose name I never asked As I was reading an essay A Revolution of Values by bell hooks in the book Teaching to Transgress, I kept underlying passages where she recalled memories of segregation and de-segregation of white and black pupils in school. I was struck by nuanced details, which unveiled to meContinue reading “About Racism”

Reflecting on the 5 Rhythms

“a radical form of surrender, a ritual of shattering” Gabrielle Roth (Maps of Ecstasy) The driving impulse behind this reflection is my ongoing exploration of the 5 Rhythms (a movement practice developed by Gabrielle Roth and today danced by thousands of individuals all over the globe). As Gabrielle writes in the introduction of her firstContinue reading “Reflecting on the 5 Rhythms”

Contemplative movement practice for students

This year, I will be offering a series of workshops in Experiential Dance to the members of Student Meditation, an association at the University of Amsterdam. Student-Meditation does an amazing job for peers (holds free meditation sessions by students for students, quiet co-working sessions, and even organizes a “death cafe!” where students can freely speakContinue reading “Contemplative movement practice for students”

A journey to contemplative pedagogy

dr. Lela Mosemghvdlishvili shares a personal yet professional story of how they changed their approach to teaching. They talk about contemplative pedagogy and their quest for transformative learning in academia. At the end, together with the audience in compassion, a meditation experience is performed.
Dr Lela Mosemghvdlishvili is an academic skills coordinator, course designer, and lecturer at the interdisciplinary honours program in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economy. After a career in media industry, Lela decided to commit herself to transformative education. Lela is committed to integrating experiential learning, embodiment, and contemplative practices to enhance teaching methods at the university. To this end, they have received various grants, among them the IIS grant for project-based learning for cultivating students’ metacognitive skills and empathy, and the TLC Education Innovation Grant for facilitating knowledge sharing practices and collaboration among students from various backgrounds. Aside from teaching, a considerable part of their time, Lela devotes to the study of wisdom traditions through meditation in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, embodied practices, and silent retreats for introspection. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Sharing my story

I feel sincerely grateful to my former student who invited me to speak and share my way of teaching (using mindfulness, embodiment, and contemplation in academic teaching) on TEDxUniversiteitvanAmsterdam. The event is scheduled for November 15th, 2021 in a small and beautiful theater in Amsterdam. We have already prepared the text, it still needs littleContinue reading “Sharing my story”

A dance of remembrance

The sacred art of whirling dervishes The last period has been saturated for me; the death of my father and the completion of 10 years long Ph.D. project left me emotionally numb. On the one hand grief and the other hand excitement of completion – seemed as if the two opposites have canceled each otherContinue reading “A dance of remembrance”

Steve Paxton’s inquiry into the dark side of the body

The Material for Spine is an outcome of many years of curious movement exploration by Steve Paxton, skillfully compiled in a video presentation. It is a system with ideokinetic imagery and exercises that allows connection with one’s spine, the part of our body, which is the most unseen.

Tribute to the living legend

I write this in the times of COVID-19 pandemic, where the lock-downs and social distancing has affected almost the whole globe; resulting in closing down dance schools, courses, gatherings, retreats and festivals. However, for me personally the lock-down has been brightened up by generous initiative of German Acogny, and her school Ecole de Sables (inContinue reading “Tribute to the living legend”