We foster social change in individual and collective life through the art and craft of conscious embodiment.

Why ASTER?

An aster is a star-shaped transient structure inside the cells of animals. It is part of an intricate and responsive network of microtubules and filaments that create the cell's scaffolding. Asters appear when needed, to create and maintain spatial clarity especially while the cell undergoes its transformation from one cell into two. When one cell becomes two, each new cell has everything it needs to survive and thrive. This process is called cell division, and it is a foundational and vital activity of the living, cellular community of our bodies.

Like the asters in our cells, ASTER association aims to hold space, provide structure and build scaffolding that is adaptable and responsive to the changing dynamics of individuals and groups. This highly responsive, community-building patterning is present within all living things. For example, the blue button jelly-fish pictured above is a community of organisms that coordinate as a fluid and adaptable living entity. In this way it is a networked ecosystem working toward the health of the whole. These metaphors from nature guide the work of the ASTER association.

ASTER is also an acronym that represents our wider fields of interest: Australasian Somatic Therapies, Education & Research.

The ASTER Team

  • Angela Clarke

    Angela Clarke, PhD, is an embodiment practitioner, vocal specialist, educator, and scholar. She is co-founder/director of Melbourne-based embodied education provider 'Live Particle' and co-creator of online embodied practice & wellbeing resource 'Adventures In The Field'. Angela has worked extensively within tertiary education and community settings as a performance practitioner and academic leader in creative disciplines. Her work is sourced in practices that include improvisation, Body-Mind Centering®, extended vocal technique, (syn)aesthetic performance and Qigong. She has published work on creativity, embodiment, fine art education, professional learning, educational change management, motherhood, and performance philosophy. She is the co-editor of the recent DTAA publication The Art of Embodiment (2021).

  • Camilla Maling

    Camilla Maling, MA. is an educator, therapist and movement/sonic artist specialising in embodied practices & multi-sensory learning. She is Co-Founder/Director of Melbourne-based embodied education provider Live Particle and co-creator of an innovative interactive embodied practice manual Adventures In The Field. Camilla synthesises several decades of research, performance and teaching in movement/dance practices, yoga, improvisation and sound design. Her work is dedicated to sharing the critical role embodied intelligence plays in personal, social and environmental care & vitality. Camilla works as a Multimodal Arts Therapist with young people for Living Learning, has a private practice in Embodied Therapeutics, performs around Melbourne with dance improvisation duo - LIPS and founded & directed pioneering Melbourne-based yoga & movement studio The Yoga Lab. Camilla is currently studying as a Somatic Movement Practitioner with Somatic Education Australasia (SEA).

  • Kim Sargent-Wishart

    Kim Sargent-Wishart, PhD, is an artist, researcher, educator & writer specializing in somatic education, physical practices & contemplative photography. Research interests include experiential embryology and physiology as models for creative practice, the life cycle, and everyday beauty. Kim enjoys teaching somatic and creative methodologies for a range of audiences in support of personal, professional and creative development.

    Certified as a Body-Mind Centering® Teacher and Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist, Kim has practiced movement education and bodywork professionally since the early 1990s. Her arts practice is influenced by Miksang contemplative photography and dance/movement improvisation. Kim is the Administrative Director of Somatic Education Australasia (SEA), and co-editor of The Art of Embodiment.

  • Kate Barnett

    Kate is an Alexander Technique teacher and InterPlay facilitator. She grew up and trained in Australia, moving in 2016 to live in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington, where she is loving learning the poetry of big weather. Kate has an enduring interest in the creativity of embodiment and the embodiment of creative expression. More recently, with others in the ASTER team, she has been exploring the practices of Social Presencing Theatre - curious, excited and hopeful for its potential to bring the power of embodied knowing to the shaping of a more socially and environmentally generative future.

  • The ASTER team have immersed in the fields of embodiment and somatics for over 20 years. Their combined energies and desire for furthering the known, educative and healing benefits of body-oriented practices gave rise to the establishment of the Aster Association in 2022.  Together they share an emerging and ongoing vision for fostering conditions that allow individuals and groups to tap embodied wisdom for deeper connections with themselves, others and all living things.

  • Vanessa Chapple

    Bio coming soon!