Erika Berland, a Certified Practitioner of Body-Mind Centering (R), is a nationally Registered Movement Therapist and licensed Massage Therapist. She has an extensive background as a dance teacher and performer and has taught workshops in experiential anatomy and dance applications of Body-Mind Centering in numerous studios and schools throughout the US and Europe.  A pioneer in the field of somatic education with a long and distinguished career in the fields of movement therapy and re-education for performing artists integrating movement, dance, physical theater, massage therapy and contemplative practice. Erika was a founding faculty and co-creator of the unique movement curriculum of the MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance Program at Naropa University (2004-2020). She has been in the forefront of creating new techniques and applications of Bonnie Cohen’s ground breaking work (Body Mind Centering®) and post-modern dance techniques in the service of a new aesthetic–fully integrating psycho-physical sources for the actor, and clarity of form and articulation for the dancer.

An early student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the meditation master and founder of Naropa University, Erika is a long time student and teacher of meditation, and her areas of research include the integration of meditation practice and view in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition with performance techniques as well as offering deep somatic practices for the meditator. She has presented her workshop, “The Physical Art of Sitting”, based on her book of the same title published in 2017, throughout the US.  She has also been a member of the teaching team for Naropa University’s Extended Campus Mindfulness Compassion Initiative; WELCOME, since the program’s launch in 2017.