Summary

I started the Biodanza teacher training in the School of Antwerp in 2021. Its enriched environment changed my views on life and how I experience life, entirely. It triggered a tremendous personal growth and stimulated me to reconnect my mind, body and hart.

From the first module of the teacher training, I was startled to see that the vertical axis in the model of Biodanza appeared to be so closely intertwined with my scientific path in the last 25 years. Indeed, Rolondo Toro had been inspired by so many leading scientists while developing his System of Biodanza. However, in my formal scientific education, I had never been exposed to many of the concepts that were touched upon in the first modules of the teacher training, and I could not comprehend these without consulting the work of the original authors.

My monograph, therefore, reflects my quest to understand Rolando’s view on the biological aspects, which he enfolded in his model of Biodanza. In the first chapter, I introduce the model of Biodanza to put all readers on the same footprint. In the second chapter, I try to shed light on Rolando’s view on life, his biocentric principle and vital unconsciousness. In this chapter I also lay the foundations for the remaining three chapters that each focus on an important biological aspect in the model of Biodanza: (1) Principles of cosmic life and the genesis of life, for which I give a short narrative on the history of the universe up to the origin of life, (2) Phylogenesis and evolution, in which I tells a brief story on the history of life and how life evolved, and, (3) Ontogenesis, where I shed some light on how we evolve from our origin as a fertilized egg cell up to our adult stage until we eventually die. In the latter chapter there is a strong focus on epigenetics, which is the missing link that Rolando Toro needed to explain how Biodanza can provide an enriched environment that induces change in how we use our genetic potential. Finally, I end this monograph with some concluding remarks and with an addendum with some additional texts and impressions that I have written during my Biodanza teacher training.