Sometimes one teacher changes the direction of a life. For me, that teacher was Lynn Simonson. As Lynn receives a 2026 Dance Teacher Award, I want to celebrate not only her extraordinary contribution to dance education, but the profound influence she has had on my journey from dance to Touch for Health®, Tai Chi, and BioEnergetic Wellness.
When movement became a challenge
In my late thirties, pain in my knees and feet became so severe that I lost the ability to walk normally. I was raising two young children, running a dance company, directing performance groups, and teaching dance from a stool with a microphone. The stress and physical challenges were overwhelming.
I signed up for a workshop with Lynn, visiting from New York at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary. Her exploration of movement patterns introduced me to a name I had never heard before: Touch for Health. Then she shared words that stopped me: “I have the gifts of my injuries.”
How could the pain that had taken so much from me be a gift? Yet Lynn’s perspective opened a new possibility. Perhaps I could learn to understand my body differently instead of seeing only what I could no longer do.
Finding Touch for Health
This was before Google. It took nearly a year of searching to find a teacher. I first discovered training in Malibu, California, but I lived in Alberta. Eventually I found Greg Webb in Calgary, where I could attend classes and receive private sessions. As I explored Touch for Health® Levels 1–4, I began rebuilding my relationship with movement and discovering how actively I could participate in my own well-being.
When I thought my family might move, I decided to pursue instructor training while it was available. But I was terrified. I doubted that I knew enough or deserved to be there. So I called Lynn in New York, reminded her of her Calgary workshop, and told her about my fears.
Her reply was simple: “Dear, everything you need to know is already inside you.”
Those words gave me the confidence to attend eight intensive days of Touch for Health® instructor training. That experience transformed my understanding of possibility, intention, and the body’s capacity for change. I have never looked back.
A shared passion for movement at every age
I am delighted to see Lynn continuing to teach and share her work at 83, including movement opportunities for older adults through dance. My own path now includes seated and standing Tai Chi, where we explore balance, coordination, flexibility, confidence, and the joy of moving well. Different movement languages can share the same belief: our age or challenges need not define our possibilities.
Three years of Movement and Music
Over the past three years, I have created Movement and Music programs that bring together my lifelong passion for dance, music, and the arts through the power and artistry of Tai Chi movements. Each exploration invites participants to discover new relationships between movement, intention, rhythm, breath, and personal awareness.
Touch for Health® knowledge and techniques remain at the core of these movement explorations. The framework that Lynn helped me discover continues to guide how I invite people to observe their own movement, notice change, and explore possibilities without being limited by a single prescribed outcome.
These programs, including recordings and resources for exploring at your own pace, can be found in the Greenwell Center shop. They are a celebration of everything I love about dance, music, Tai Chi, and BioEnergetic Wellness.
From one dance workshop to a university program
Perhaps the most extraordinary ripple effect is the new BioEnergetic Wellness program being developed at Akamai University International, within the College of Integrative Health. As Department Chair of BioEnergetic Wellness, I am helping shape an educational pathway that recognizes whole-person development, movement literacy, reflective learning, and the potential within each student.
I can trace the courage to take on this new challenge back to Lynn’s encouragement. Her belief that the knowledge and potential we need can be discovered within ourselves gave me confidence first to become a Touch for Health® instructor, and now to help create opportunities for a new generation of learners and facilitators.
Congratulations, Lynn Simonson, on your 2026 Dance Teacher Award! Thank you for showing me the gifts within my injuries and helping me trust the possibilities within myself. Your influence continues to move through every class, program, and educational vision I create.
Read Lynn’s Dance Teacher award profile and explore the Movement and Music offerings in our shop.