EJW Community Gathering: Community Connection in Sivan
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
10am PST | 1pm EST [90 mins]
Come as you are, from wherever you are, for an opportunity for us to be together in a bit of embodied practice informed by the Hebrew month of Sivan, connect to one another, and envision our hopes and dreams for our EJW community in the coming year.
Guided by EJW Leaders Julie Emden, Karen Cohen Gibbons, and Rabbi Diane Elliot.
Julie Emden, E-RYT-500, Halprin Practitioner, infuses her work with exploration, spirit and joy. She is passionate about awakening the body as a gateway to deep inner knowing and guides others in somatic explorations of Jewish wisdom teachings as a resource for living in balance and wholeness. A graduate of five fellowship and teaching certification programs related to her work as a Jewish educator, Iyengar-based yoga instructor and movement/expressive artist, Julie has over two decades of experience guiding others in exploring Jewish wisdom, text and practices via the body in a variety of settings. Julie offers classes, workshops, on-line learning, retreats, teacher trainings, individual coaching, and strategic consultation and guidance for Jewish Wellness Initiatives throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Karen Cohen Gibbons is an Expressive Arts & Dance Movement Facilitator, a Certified Yoga instructor & Mindful Educator, and an Integrative Creative Personal Growth Guide.
She works with individuals and groups in the realms of embodied awareness, expressive movement and the creative arts – weaving in felt sense, narrative and emotional expression
She enjoys invoking the power of playful possibility, awakening the intelligence of the creative process and attuning to the wisdom of the body/mind/spirit to embolden and embrace the gifts of individuals and communities. Karen has a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology specializing in dance/movement and creative expression. She was adjunct professor at Institute for Transpersonal Psychology masters program as well.
Rabbi Diane Elliot is a pioneer in the field of Jewish Embodiment. A spiritual teacher, ritual leader, writer, and spiritual director based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she inspires her students to become clearer channels for Presence through awareness and movement practices, chant, and nuanced interpretations of Jewish sacred text. Ordained at the Academy for Jewish Religion California in 2006, Rabbi Diane serves as a Project Director for ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal and is a founding steward of Taproot, a multi-generational community of Jewish artists, activists, and changemakers. Before training for the rabbinate she enjoyed a 25-year-career as a concert modern dancer, choreographer, and somatic movement therapist. Trained in multiple somatic modalities, she is a certified teacher of Body-Mind Centering®, a Soul Memory Discovery facilitator, and the author of four books of sacred poetry, most recently "Traces: Poems, Prayers, Torah." Learn more about her at www.whollypresent.org.
EJW Community Gatherings are offered quarterly as part of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network. Become a member to attend these events live, or to view after, and connect with our Jewish embodiment community!
Each meeting, different members of our collective guide us in creative, connective Jewish movement & embodied text study experiences. Embodiment modalities include Alexander Technique, Authentic Movement, Body-Mind Centering, Chanting, Dance, Embodied Mindfulness, Qi Gong, Yoga and more! Recordings are made available within one week of each event.