Authentic Movement Community Blog: Meeting Cassie Bull by Elizabeth Reid

It was hard to find a time we could both make, even though we were just over 10 miles away from each other. Cassie was persistent, even though she was just finishing a five day retreat that completed her year long training called Body Visible/Body Invisible. She had 25 participants. I asked her how she let people know about her program beyond her own web site. She said just our Authentic Movement Community Web site. I was touched and so happy to hear that using our events page was working so well for someone.
Her place is tucked among the high hills in Sonoma County between Healdsburg and Calistoga. A beautiful cradle-like environment, with many small building in various stages of renovation, surrounded us. My sister-in-law and I held each other's hands to feel safe as we walked on the uneven pathways. Cassie said the buildings were barracks in the 1940's, and then a school owned the place and leased it to Cassie and her husband for their Leap Now Gap Year program. The school sold it to them when the school disbanded. We saw a large kitchen and studio, a dorm that slept 8 and another studio. We met some of Cassie students, who were young and open and delightful.
The tour and Cassie gave us a feel for the laid back energy of the place. Cassie was immediately recognizable to me as someone who knew the same language I knew from my years of training, even though we studied with different people and in different parts of the country. When this happens for me I feel I am part of a tribe. It was late in life for me before I found a group that felt like home. When I hugged Cassie good bye, my sister-in-law said that my face was just beaming. It is always such a treat to find another retreat center lead by someone with what I consider authentic compassion and discernment. My dream is still to travel and meet everyone in our community. When I meet someone like Cassie, my dream comes true.