Mark Taylor

Mark Chandlee Taylor

Biographical Narrative

I am a registered somatic movement therapist (RSMT) and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) with a background in dance, choreography, and movement education.

My interest in somatic investigation originated after my university studies when I arrived in New York in 1975 with limited training but a strong desire to pursue dance. I quickly found that the most effective way to train was not just to take dance classes, but also to study Alexander Technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals, the Feldenkrais Approach, and Body-Mind Centering, all of which integrated sensory awareness with function and allowed my neuromuscular coordination to progress more rapidly. I also found that a daily meditation practice was a great support. My primary interest remained in performance and choreography, so I established and toured with my own company, Mark Taylor & Friends, beginning in 1983.

In 1991 my son was born with a traumatic brain injury, resulting in multiple disabilities. In 1993 Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, the founder of Body-Mind Centering, became his primary therapist. Although I felt fulfilled as a performer, teacher, choreographer, and company director, I became increasingly interested in movement as a tool for healing rather than as an art practice, as a result of the transformative process of my son’s treatments with Bonnie. I trained for eight years to become a certified practitioner and teacher of Body-Mind Centering, and devoted myself to teaching BMC beginning in 2002. I taught in the School for Body-Mind Centering (SBMC) in the U.S. and Europe, and then became its Program Director and Program Coordinator in the United States.

In 2006, I decided to continue the trajectory of teaching by initiating my own training program, the Center for BodyMindMovement. While my new curriculum bore a relationship to that of SBMC in the study of embodied anatomy and developmental movement, my preferred focus was 1) to emphasize the psychophysical, interpersonal, and spiritual implications of the embodiment process, and 2) to build professional skills for students in teaching and movement facilitation at the same time as providing a deep embodiment experience. The curriculum was co-developed with Mary Lou Seereiter, a Laban Certified Movement Analyst and teacher of Authentic Movement. Both of those disciplines contributed significantly to the training, with ongoing sites in Pittsburgh, PA; São Paulo, Brazil; and Mexico City.

My private therapy practice was originally focused on adult cancer survivors, children with learning and developmental disabilities, and dancers and athletes with musculoskeletal distress. Increasingly, I became interested in working with the residue of traumatic experience in the bodies of my clients. In recent years I have incorporated into my teaching and practice Peter Levine’s theories of trauma healing through the autonomic nervous system. This has supported me in facilitating individuals and groups to process and integrate psychophysical issues at deeper levels. I also trained as a yoga teacher with the Himalayan Institute; in Craniosacral Therapy with the Upledger Institute; and meditation and philosophy at the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center. I currently serve on the board of directors of the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association.