Our Programming
Our foundational programming caters to BIPOC, Asian and Pacific Islander individuals and communities that often exist on the margins. Our three core areas focus on cultural embodiment, survivor empowerment and health and wellness.
A TASTE OF HEALTH, HOME & HISTORY
While rasa means taste in Indonesian, it is not just in reference to food. Rasa is our taste to any relationship we experience in life to place, objects, people and ideas. At the center of our tasting experiences is our connection to our body and our mutual respect for one another.
In a Taste of Health, History, and Home participants enhance their experience of these things through the Moving Rasa framework. We use movement games and facilitated explorations to invite the subconscious to emerge. Connection to rasa can bridge to experiences of the past and to possibility in profound and non-linear ways. No experience is needed to participate, just a willingness to try something new and build new relationships.
Spaces intentionally center BIPOC participants and their lived experience. Allies are welcome.
BEYOND TRAUMA: MOVING TOWARD JOY & JUSTICE
Moving Rasa practice incorporates movement, personal and relationship development approaches to support survivors of violence, along with their allies, in reclaiming agency and reconnecting with their whole, authentic selves. Areas of focus include: mindfulness, boundary setting, and confidence building.
We facilitate transformational weekend retreats and establish a safe space to educate, empower and uplift survivors. We utilize movement, food, storytelling, and cultural practices as tools to assist participants in:
realignment of their mind-bodies to move into relationships with the world
releasing and expressing their innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires
exploring the possibilities of the present and the near future
MEN OF WATER
Opening hearts to Flow with Life
As men of the Global Majority, we are conditioned to appear strong and confident by hardening up. We learn to hide our soft inner landscape so we can parade around and be served as “men.”
As a man of the Global Majority however, the status quo is not my narrative. I organize to author my own story. Men of Water is an invitation to open your heart to the flow of life. We provide individual coaching and group process spaces to cultivate empathy and understanding of others grounded in self-love and shared fulfillment.
Men of Water uses the Moving Rasa practice shaped by Southeast Asian philosophies to cultivate authentic relationships to all things. This is done not only with people, but with the world and objects that move concretely and abstractly around us. We use movement games and prompts to invite connection, empowering people to cultivate awareness and choice about how they experience their bodies, movement, consent, intimacy and relationship.
COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIP LABS
We come together to practice Moving Rasa through :
* creative play
* improvisational movement and theater games
* intentional community building
When & Where
Occurs on a monthly basis, January-April,
Location:
Weldon Johnson Community Center 1833 Lexington Avenue @ 112th Street Harlem, NYC
Dates: 1/25, 2/15, 3/22, and 4/26
Everyone is welcome to attend.
Register if it is your 1st time attending.
BREATHE AGAIN
These spaces are for BIPOC people to be in culturally specific somatic healing community with one another.
This is a collective virtual space to discuss social and/or political issues that impact the Global Majority such as:
* institutionalized practices surrounding race, gender, class and culture
* disability and environmental justice
* and other topics as per members interest and/or need
When & Where
Sundays - virtually.
Note: The last Sunday of every month is reserved for Men of Color.
Register if it is your 1st time attending.
MEN’S HEALING SPACE
This is a virtual space to honor Southeast Asian men.
This is a special virtual space facilitated by Moving Rasa in partnership with Man Forward to discuss sociocultural issues that impact Asain males.
When & Where
Occurs on the 2nd Thursday of every month, 8-9:30pm EST
Register if it is your 1st time attending.
Tastes of the Arichipelago
A Journey through Movement and Taste
Join us every 4th Friday of the month to learn about and enjoy the cuisine from a new island on the Archipelago!
We’re excited to invite you to our special event titled, “Flavors of Java.” It will be an unforgettable evening that brings together the rich culinary traditions of Java and the embodied practice of Moving Rasa. This unique collaboration with Shandra Woworuntu, a renowned chef and cultural advocate, combines food storytelling with movement explorations that deepen our discernment of Rasa.
When & Where Location: Astoria, Queens Date: January 24th, 6-9pm and every 4th Friday thereafter
Cost $60
