Rolando states that: ‘Biodanza is a complex adaptive system…. ‘
With this spirit in mind of Biodanza being a ‘complex adaptative
system’ the subject of this thesis is to create, trial and evaluate
an application of Biodanza to a specific environment.
This application of the Biocentric principle and Biodanza methodology
would be to support and enrich people’s experience participating in
Insight Meditation Retreats.
I will explore some of the relevant theoretical aspects of Biodanza, the shortfalls of the
meditation retreat environment and what potentially Biodanza can contribute.
I will offer my personal reflections on the journey I have travelled blending the
seemingly two disparate methodologies of Buddhist philosophy and the Biocentric
principle.
The core of this thesis though, is practical as it will outline the research undertaken on
5 retreats over 6 months, and the results and conclusion reached.
It will outline the research methodology, the design of the Biodanza application, the
feedback received, improvements made and subsequent trialling of the improvements.
Two distinct stages in the research:
The first stage was low key and was to trial one Biodanza session on a few retreats
with informal feedback. This would give an early indication if it would be accepted and
if the idea had merit.
The feedback at this stage allowed us to proceed with more confidence towards a
more fully developed offering. The early appraisal and feedback were invaluable in
giving us a better understanding on what to design and how to develop a more formal
feedback mechanism.
The second stage, was conducted twice. After the first one feedback was gathered,
two supervisions conducted and improvements made.
The improved session was run again a month later and feedback received once again.
This thesis presents the conclusion of the research and offers a definitive statement
about the suitability of the application of the Biocentric principle to this very specific
environment of Insight Meditation Retreats.