Ana Bernardes

body wisdom in movement

Experiences to (re)connect with your body, your creativity, and your inner truth.

What if your body already knows your next step?

Learning journeys for individuals and groups to step into deeper connection with their bodies, emotions, and inner wisdom through intuitive movement, creative process, and embodied presence.Drawing from psychology, authentic movement, social presencing theater, holistic dance and movement pedagogy, as well as experience design and game design, my work creates space for clarity, transformation, and leadership from within.This isn’t therapy. It’s not performance.It’s an invitation to move from within — and meet what’s truly alive in you!

How Can We Work Together?

Experience a space of embodied learning—where transformation arises from direct experience.
Where the bodies speak, and we listen.
From the I to the WE to the WHOLE.With curiosity, compassion, and courage, we move:
- inviting new perspectives,
- honouring what is, and
- allowing wisdom to emerge not through explanation, but through expression.

This is a journey back to your own knowing.A reconnection to what’s alive beneath the surface.We meet as humans—whole, imperfect, radiant.Here, you are empowered to lead your life with authenticity, adaptability, and deep inner truth.

The Embodied Path

3-Month Immersion

A transformational journey of embodied clarity, emotional depth, and personal alignment.

Unfold

3-Month Group Process

A co-created exploration into presence, movement, and inner truth — together.

Body Dialogues

1:1, Small Groups and
Couples Sessions

Private, personalized sessions for those ready to listen to what the body is trying to say.


Practice Labs for embodied presence, connection & intuitive movement.


Intro Sessions and Practice Groups

A meditative, non-verbal practice of being seen and moved — cultivating inner listening, trust, and body-led awareness.

Seeds, AM meets SPT and more...

Awareness-based practice rooted in Theory U.It brings the U Process into movement and stillness, helping us sense the current moment, access deeper knowing, and prototype new possibilities.

Where connection happens through playful interaction

A playful space to explore embodied relating. Through movement, touch, and playful presence, we reconnect to our aliveness and discover new ways of being with ourselves and others — in motion, in rhythm, and in relationship.

Take a step into a transformative journey!

I curate the playground,

You find your path.


Through carefully crafted experiences—movement, ritual, and somatic exploration—you are invited to return to the wisdom of your body, reconnect with your creative essence, and remember the truth of who you are.This is not a performance. It’s a return.
To softness. To expression. To life moving through you.
Here, you are invited to slow down, feel deeply, and remember who you truly are beyond the noise of everyday life.I’m Ana, and I invite you to join me on this journey!


Next Events:

Authentic Movement - Intro

Sat July 12 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna

Sat Aug 9 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna


Authentic Movement - practice

Sat July 26 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna

Sat Aug 30 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna



Unfold - intro to embodiment

July 22 | Tue 18:30 - 20:30 | online


Unfold (3-Month Group Process)

Tue 18:30 - 20:30 | 1170 Vienna | Sep - Nov 2025

Sep 16 / 30 | Oct 14 / 28 | Nov 11 / 25


As we allow movements to flow within us and find expression outwards, we make the invisible visible. We honour its form, rhythm, and vitality.Moving from within is being in a dance, a dynamic interplay between our essence and the external realm. It’s a sacred dialogue between what is alive within and the perception of the outer world.With every fibre of our being, we engage with the world — listening, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling — and become a vessel for direct experience. In this intricate dance of body, mind, and soul, our inner landscape awakens, our spirit is stirred, and our wounds find solace.Are you intrigued? Contact me!

move from within

body wisdom in movement

move from within is a method for embodied growth.It's a body-based method that guides people into deeper presence, emotional clarity, and intuitive expression. Rooted in movement, creativity, and somatic awareness, it helps you access not only what you think, but what you know in your body.It invites you to return to the innate intelligence of your body — not to be fixed, but to be felt, moved, and known from the inside out.This method combines conscious movement, emotional intelligence, and embodied listening.
It opens space for what’s often unspoken: sensations, feelings, impulses, insights — the raw material of transformation.
Rather than focusing on performance, productivity, or analysis, move from within centres relational depth: to your body, your emotions, and your inner compass.

sense

Sensing is the perception that something occurs or that a particular state exists.We are always sensing — often without knowing.
Our bodies constantly take in information from our environment, both externally and internally. Learning to consciously listen with our whole body is a powerful skill worth cultivating.
By engaging our full sensory systems — including the five senses, proprioception (body position), and interoception (inner feeling states) — we deepen our somatic awareness and widen our range of choice in how we respond, relate, and show up in life.Sensing opens the gateway to the subtle: to the emotional truth, intuition, and presence. It connects us to both our inner landscape and the world beyond ourselves.

play

Playing is a way to explore possibilities, learn, and express oneself within a safe environment.We need spaces where we can experiment and move beyond habitual roles and step into the “as if.” Play is not frivolous; it’s a serious way to rehearse freedom.In this work, we create safe playgrounds where you can explore new ways of moving, being, and relating. You’ll engage with archetypal energies, recognise core patterns, and experiment with new relational scripts.Through embodied practices the invisible becomes visible. Movement, gesture, posture, and presence reveal deeper truths that can’t be accessed through thought alone.In the bodymind experience, play is what helps us bridge the conscious and unconscious — fluidly, gently, and with curiosity.

create

Creating is causing something to exist; making something new or imaginative.We are always creating — every gesture, word, and choice is a generative act. The difference is whether we’re aware of it.Through direct experience, we learn to pause before interpretation — to understand through experience before assigning meaning. This is the essence of embodied consciousness.In this space, we practice speaking from the body, giving voice to what has no language — yet.
We learn to name the unnameable, move the unmoved, and allow insight to emerge not from effort, but from alignment.
When we root in inner wisdom — what some call source — we access fertile ground for creativity, connection, and authentic inner leadership.

Not a dance class.
Not a meditation session.
Not a ceremonial space.

move from within combines elements from all those contexts.

  • dance elements and movement to recognise our behavioural patterns and to enlarge our range of responses;

  • contemplative practices and awareness principles which are common to meditation to develop the ability to sense and be present;

  • rituals and intention to provide a sacred and safe container for the individual and collective experience.

We offer a space that encourages self-awareness, growth, and connection by bringing these elements together.

SCIENCE-BASED

These learning journeys mix insights from psychology, dance and movement pedagogy, neuroscience, game design, and experience design.Through this rich blend, cultivate somatic awareness and foster nonlinear thinking.

FOCUSED ON 5 PILLARS

  • Self-led discovery

  • Art

  • Nature

  • Spirituality

  • Embodied Consciousness

A PATH TO INNER LEADERSHIP

The journeys are designed to foster inner leadership grounded in principles of wholeness, flexibility, and congruence.The art of listening to oneself, by attending to the subtle messages from our bodymind, our emotions and intuition as an inner compass.

About the methods:

Testimonials

"Dancing with Ana in the 6 weeks course “MOVING FROM WITHIN” was the highlight of my week. No matter how stressed, hyped-up or disconnected I felt, Ana always managed to create a space where I could let my guard down and connect with all my feelings. I could let my body speak, express everything that I couldn’t find words for. I could dance my worries, my anger, my joy and my love. Ana taught me how to connect to my true authentic self, to connect with others, to find my boundaries and also to break them. It was a journey of pure magic, healing and joy!"

I.H.

M.

body wisdom circles

body wisdom in movement

move from within is a method for embodied growth.It's a body-based method that guides people into deeper presence, emotional clarity, and intuitive expression. Rooted in movement, creativity, and somatic awareness, it helps you access not only what you think, but what you know in your body.It invites you to return to the innate intelligence of your body — not to be fixed, but to be felt, moved, and known from the inside out.This method combines conscious movement, emotional intelligence, and embodied listening.
It opens space for what’s often unspoken: sensations, feelings, impulses, insights — the raw material of transformation.
Rather than focusing on performance, productivity, or analysis, move from within centres relational depth: to your body, your emotions, and your inner compass.

authentic movement


As a contemporary mystical practice, Authentic Movement offers a ritualized space for the individual development of embodied consciousness and the emergence of a collective body.The practice of Authentic Movement is rooted in Jungian Psychology. Within its framework, we explore the relationship between movers and witnesses, between inner and outer witnesses, and between seeing and being seen.We invite the unconscious to become visible through movement and words and separate direct experience and perception to welcome the development of an individual "inner witness”.

A drop of theory

From Movement in Depth to Authentic Movement

“Movement, to be experienced, has to be 'found' in the body, not put on like a dress or a coat. There is that in us which has moved from the very beginning. It is that which can liberate us.”

Mary Starks Whitehouse

When Mary Starks Whitehouse started developing a movement practice rooted in Carl Jung's Active Imagination, she called it Movement in depth.This method, born in the convergence between dance and psychoanalysis, aims at the integration of body, mind and soul.Janet Adler was one of the students that brought the practice further. Although it was born in the field of Dance Movement Therapy, it has been widely used for movement exploration or self-development.STRUCTURE
The basic components are very simple: there's at least one mover, and at least one witness. The movers close their eyes and move from their inner impulses. The witnesses offer a non-judgemental presence providing a safe space for the movers to express themselves. Often, there's a space for sharing verbally in the end.
The duration and setting can be changed. Can often be combined with other expressive methods such as drawing or writing.

Authentic Movement - Intro


For anyone who would like to gain experience in Authentic Movement, with guidance for people who have no experience.

Structure

  • Arrival and Check-in

  • Introduction to AM

  • Warm-up

  • Circle

  • Reflection and Check-out


Details

Sat July 12 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna

Sat Aug 9 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna

Authentic Movement - practice


For anyone with experience in Authentic Movement.Drop-in sessions
Registration is mandatory until the day before (minimum 3 participants).

Structure

  • Arrival and Check-in

  • Warm-up

  • Circle

  • Reflection and Check-out


Details

Sat July 26 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna

Sat Aug 30 | Sat 10:00 - 12:00 | 1170 Vienna

AM Inner Tuning - online practice


For anyone with experience in Authentic Movement.Drop-in sessions
Registration is mandatory until the day before (minimum 3 participants).

Structure

  • Arrival and Check-in

  • Warm-up

  • Circle

  • Reflection and Check-out


Details

Thursday | 09:00 - 10:00 | online



social presencing theater


"Social Presencing Theater invites us to tap into our natural creativity and ability to fully embody the "performance" of being human. My intention with this work is to offer movement practices that support people in recognising their own and others' embodied wisdom, compassion, and courage to act."

Arawana Hayashi, in Social Presencing Theater

The collective body becoming conscious

When using embodiment tools, we often start by an exploration at an individual level.However, the potential is to tap into a deeper understanding of the social dynamics that are present in the collective body. Making the invisible visible in the network of a social field has the potential to provide insights into the unseen forces that guide behaviour and beliefs, even if not easily perceived at a cognitive level.

THE STRUCTURE

We will blend tools from Authentic Movement and Social Presencing Theater.No previous experience necessary. Ideally, participants know at least one of the methods.


DETAILS

tbaRoom cost is divided by all participants; Facilitation & Organisation donation based

sense your current field and move into the next phase with clarity

What are the seeds that you are sowing to create your future reality?Sitting in front of a blank paper and dropping your ideas and thoughts into words is part of the process, but not the only part. Theory U speaks of including an open mind, but also an open heart and an open will so that we can let the new emerge.In a small group (4 people), join me for an exploration of the Seed Dance, a practice of Social Presencing Theater, and Authentic Movement. Include your inner wisdom, by connecting with your embodied consciousness, in the preparation of your seeds!

THE STRUCTURE

I’ll offer a combination of the “seed dance”, an SPT exercise aiming to sense the field of the future and Authentic Movement. The session combines journaling, visualisation, movement and embodiment.No previous experience necessary. Ideally, participants know at least one of the methods.


DETAILS

Next event: tba

body dialogues


Book your 1:1, couples or small groups sessions!

Beyond a dance class or a meditation sitting, go on a journey of self-discovery towards inner leadership through movement and body awareness!

body dialogues sessions are self-discovery sessions that are tailor-made to you and your intentions. They may be individual, for couples or small groups (up to 4 people).

intro call

In a 20-minute online call, we assess how fitting it is to work together. There, we can clarify all your questions about the process.

20 minutes | free of charge | online

COMMITMENT

The sessions are based on somatic awareness, embodiment and movement, but also on conscious communication. We use different tools, especially from Social Presencing Theater, Authentic Movement, Holistic Dance and Embodiment Coaching.When people are not familiar with the tools, it’s recommended to plan at least 3 sessions to best benefit from their potential.


individual session

It’s up to you to bring the topics that you’d like to explore. The case may be a clear question or a general area in your life you’d like to look into.In this journey of self-discovery, I’ll assist you by bringing external inputs and leading the experimentation.

90 minutes | 1170 Vienna or online

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DETAILS

1,5 hours | 1170 ViennaExchange: 90,00€

couples experience

Discover a deeper connection with your partner through the transformative power of Authentic Movement.

A unique couples experience designed to:

  • Foster trust and communication;

  • Deepen emotional and physical connection;

  • Encourage playful, mindful exploration of movement together

What to expect:

  • A guided session where you and your partner move freely, connecting to yourselves and each other.

  • No prior experience needed—just an open heart and willingness to explore.

  • A safe, nurturing environment to rediscover the joy of shared presence.


DETAILS

1,5 hours | 1170 ViennaExchange: 135,00€ (3 sessions = 360€)

small group

Because some things can only be understood when we move through them... together!

Body Dialogues for groups are custom-designed, embodied workshops that bring groups into deeper presence, connection, and shared insight through movement, creativity, and somatic exploration.Whether you're a circle of friends, a conscious team, or a creative collective, these sessions offer a chance to step out of everyday roles and into authentic, body-based relating.Each session is crafted around your group’s intention, and may include:

  • Guided embodied practices

  • Relational movement & “as if” play

  • Emotional awareness & nervous system attunement

  • Collective sensing & witnessing

  • Creative expression (drawing, voice, gesture)

  • Integration circles or reflective dialogue


No movement or spiritual experience is required — just openness and curiosity!

DETAILS

2 - 4 hoursExchange: tbd

other playgrounds

move . play . connect

more info soon

Emotional Intimacy

Next event: tba

into the emptiness

"Janet (Adler) refers to “stepping into the emptiness” as an embodied act of entering this infinite field of potentiality, a mystery, a field encompassing that which is not yet known.”

From "Intimacy in Emptiness", by Janet Adler; Bonnie Morrissey; Paula Sager

A regular practice (every 2nd week) for everyone who wants to dive into their inner landscape through Authentic Movement.In these sessions, we focus on developing skills that support the practice during the warm-up and explore the method in different forms during the circle.The goal for these 6 sessions is to develop the connection with the inner witness and to increase the ability of embodied conscious speech.

THE STRUCTURE

2 hours/ week

  • WARM-UP (20 minutes)

  • CIRCLE (90 minutes)

  • REFLECTION AND CHECK-OUT (10 minutes)

Are you ready for an intimate encounter with yourself?

Do you have moments when it feels like you think one thing and act oppositely?Can you be with your own emotions and know what led to them?When did you last feel a deep sense of connection and trust?Do you have connections where both you and the other feel safe to express your true thoughts, feelings, and vulnerabilities without fear of judgment?

Join us, Ana Bernardes and Mafalda Vergueiro, for a transformative weekend of emotional exploration and self-discovery through movement, embodiment, and somatic awareness.

We are both psychologists who have found a way into more profound layers of ourselves through the exploration of a deeper connection with our bodies. For more than 15 years we’ve been exploring somatic practices to improve our relationships and offering that journey also to others.


What methods do we use?

"Emotional Intimacy" is an invitation to a space of self-experimentation and self-discovery through movement. An experiential laboratory using Biodanza, Dance Movement Therapy, Holistic Dance, Authentic Movement, Social Presencing Theater, and sharing circles.

Who is it for?

  • Those open to exploring their emotions and behaviours through body awareness and dance;

  • People who would like to improve their capacity to sustain emotions and get intimate with their emotional bodies;

  • Anyone looking to improve the quality of their relationships..


What can you expect?

  • Open to the capacity to feel and express emotions in a safe space;

  • Discover clarity around your emotions, personal needs and boundaries;

  • Learn to understand the emotional language of your body in relationships;

  • Get to know or to be more intimate with your sensed self in relationships;

  • Explore limits, pains, softness and compassionate love for yourself and others;

  • Obtain more congruence between feelings and actions.

AGENDA

10:00 - Authentic Movement (Ana)
Discovering the container in yourself for your Emotional Body
12:00 - Biodanza (Mafalda)
Nourish and Hold - the roles of taking care and being taken care of in Emotional Intimacy
14:30 - Authentic Movement & SPT (Ana)
Emotional Alchemy: tap into your inner wisdom to hold the space for transformation
16:30 - Dance/ Movement Therapy (Mafalda)
Listening to the impulse of creation


Each sessions lasts 1,5 hours.

December 14Estúdio Mariposa

Rua dos Douradores, 178 Cave, 1100-207 Lisboa


Saturday 14.12. 10:00 - 18:00


Max: 15 participants
Exchange: 110,00€ (full day)
Half-day: 60,00€
1 session: 35,00€

Join us for more information in our Telegram Group!

Emotional intimacy:

Emotional intimacy involves being fully seen, heard, and accepted by yourself and by another person, creating a bond that fosters closeness, empathy, and mutual understanding.It can occur in various relationships, such as between romantic partners, close friends, family members, or even within therapeutic settings.It needs key elements such as Trust, full Acceptance of yourself, Open Communication, Mutual Understanding, Empathy and Emotional Safety.Emotional intimacy is essential for building lasting, meaningful relationships, fostering stronger connections, and enhancing personal well-being and a sense of purpose.

Emotional intimacy can benefit a wide range of people, including:

  • Individuals seeking self-awareness who can better understand their own emotions, needs, and boundaries to live more authentically;

  • People working through emotional challenges who can benefit from a safe space to explore their feelings;

  • Friends and family members who can deepen trust, openness, and vulnerability in their relationships;

  • People seeking personal growth who can explore emotional intimacy to lead to greater self-awareness and stronger, more fulfilling relationships in all areas of life;

  • Romantic partners who can strengthen emotional bonds, improve communication, and foster deeper connections.

Mafalda Vergueiro

Psychologist, Dance/Movement Therapist and Biodanza FacilitatorOver 20 years ago, driven by a desire to understand myself, I embarked on a journey through psychology, yoga, dance, movement, and a greater connection with my body-self-relational (emotional, sensory, mental and spiritual). My passion for helping others discover their potential led me to yoga, Biodanza, and ultimately to study psychology.I work as a clinical psychologist specialised in Dance Movement Therapy and dynamic psychotherapies, supporting adults. I facilitate individual and group therapeutic sessions using movement and body awareness to achieve greater internal congruence (thinking-feeling-acting).I've been organising therapeutic retreats since 2016.
Previously, I worked for 15 years in finance following my degree in Economics.
I believe that in everyone there is a healthy Self that wants to feel alive and the way to accomplish it is to go back to our BEing, relearn how to feel, and strengthen this Self-body in relationship.

Ana Bernardes

Psychologist, Embodiment Facilitator"The core of my work is to create spaces where people can grow. I guide learning journeys towards the development of inner leadership using awareness-based tools.By accessing body wisdom through conscious movement, somatic awareness and human connection, each person can promote the connection with oneself, improve the quality of relationships and rediscover creativity.I hold a degree in Psychology and I'm trained in Holistic Dance and Movement Pedagogy, Social Presencing Theater and Embodiment, which I combine with my experience of working in Business Consulting, Corporate Training, Event and Experience Design and Game Design, as well as 20 years of teaching social dances.My path made me a believer that only by bringing more consciousness into relationships and organisations we can create a lasting impact in living a purposeful and balanced life, both individually and collectively."

Weaving Connections: A Sacred Dance of Life

Are you curious to experience Connection through Movement and Singing?

In the heart of the yurt, where music and movement intertwine, we gather to weave connections—within ourselves, with one another, and with the greater web of life. Like strands of an intricate tapestry, each of us is a thread, essential to the whole, moving in harmony to create something greater than ourselves.Through live music, authentic movement, and shared presence, we honor the unseen threads that bind us to nature, community, and spirit. Just as a spider weaves its web with care and intention, we too weave relationships—through rhythm, breath, and touch—strengthening the bonds of belonging and co-creation.This is more than a gathering; it is a living ritual, an embodied practice of connection. Here, we remember that we are not separate, but part of an ever-evolving, sacred web of existence.


TBA

🛖 Location: 1170 Vienna
🌱 Sliding scale: 40€ - 70€


Come as you are. Move as you feel. Weave with us.

Ana Bernardes

What if we truly recognized the invisible threads that connect us all within the same web of life?I am passionate about creating spaces where we can tap into the power of co-creation, weaving our individual expressions into a greater whole and witnessing the deeper, implicate order that unites all things.

Manuel Niederhafner

In playing the guitar and chanting I find joy and connection to the sacred; rediscovering childlike curiousity.From there, l like to move attention further into the openness and the puzzling mystery of just being without the need of knowing where or what I am.Just observing for a while the poetry from these moments interplay of waves in sound and sensation.

Ana Bernardes


In 1998 I started dancing and studying Psychology and I walked these 2 paths separately until they began to get intertwined.As a Vocational Counselor and Trainer, my career started in 2004 and focused on developing soft skills. This brought me into human resources consulting, training organisation and facilitation, and project management.After several years working in the corporate setting, in 2013 I discovered social entrepreneurship and experience design. Among other events, I co-founded a festival for innovation in education in Vienna (stEFFIE – Experimental Fun Festival for Innovative Education).In 2019 I started working in a game design agency, where I was responsible for people management, finance and organisation development, as well as for creating and hosting events and developing game concepts for companies.In what felt like a parallel world, my first class as a dance teacher was in 2000. For ca. 20 years I taught social dances, mostly ballroom and salsa, and I’ve learned many more partner dances, like tango or kizomba. In 2017 I came across Biodanza, which was the first step in using dance as a way of expression and healing.In the last years, I’ve added to my skills embodiment and dance practices such as Social Presencing Theater, Authentic Movement, Embodiment Coaching and Holistic Dance.

Imprint

Ana Bernardes

Trainer in adult education
Krenngasse 1180 Vienna
[email protected]


Freelance (Neue Selbständiger / new self-employed)


Content and webdesign: Ana BernardesPhotos: Bernard Samouh, Ana Bernardes, Laurent Ziegler

Terms & Conditions

General Conditions of Participation

The participants acknowledge that they are solely responsible for their physical, mental and emotional health during the program.These workshops and programs don't replace any kind of therapy.


Cancellation Policy

If you register for a workshop (event with 2 or more hours) and have to cancel, the following cancellation conditions apply:
• Cancellation more than 2 weeks before the event: we will refund the full participation fee;
• Cancellation more than 72 hours before the event: we will refund you 50% of the participation fee;
• Cancellation less than 72 hours before the event, we cannot refund the participation fee, but you can replace participants.

If you register for a program or series of workshops (repeated event with 2 or more hours) and have to cancel, the following cancellation conditions apply:
• Cancellation more than 2 weeks before the 1st event: we will refund the full participation fee;
• Cancellation more than 72 hours before the 1st event: we will refund you 50% of the participation fee;
• Cancellation less than 72 hours before the 1st event, we cannot refund the participation fee, but you can replace participants;
• Cancellation after the 1st event, we cannot refund the participation fee, replacement of participants will be analysed individually.