The Embodiment Project

How we distort posture and movement A natural progression from last podcast's focus in which I focused how much we feel held affects our ability to be present to the world.  And then real life happened. My street level view of how the Embodiment Project worked for me. The Embodiment Project is a world wide community that supports inhabiting yourself more in everyday life. Want to know more? Check us out at www.SomaticsInstitute.com

Another episode that explores themes from the Embodiment Project, I dive into how feeling held is essential if we are going to meet with the world sensorily - to hold it so that it feels held.  But how much can we tolerate doing that?  We've got everything in this episode: some contributions from psychology, practical explorations you can do, and even some examples from my clinical practice. Want to know more? The Embodiment Project community lives online at SomaticsInstitute.com

There are so many ways that we can enter into sensory engagement with the world. In my interview with Pedro David, he describes how his practice in NLP has been an important bridge to the world of breath, and to embodiment in general.  Pedro also brings his perspective as marketing and network representative for the Alchemy of Breath community as it reaches out to collaborative work with other embodiment communities.   You can find more about Alchemy of Breath at https://alchemyofbreath.com As always, you can discover more about my work with the Embodiment Project community on the Somatics Institute web site here 

What are the essentials of embodiment practice, the simple go-to awarenesses that you can use in everyday life?  Here's my elevator talk (a bit of a long elevator ride), the essence of a practice that you can return to whenever you need to anchor yourself a bit more in life. As ever, you can find out more about the Embodiment Project at www.SomaticsInstitute.com

This last segment of the Sacred Vessel is 'Healing the Imaginal Body'. The recovery of imaginal life in the body is an essential part of inhabiting the body as a lived, sensory experience.  We are guided by the stories that have been generously shared from individual's journeys. If you would like access to the print version (with footnotes), you can find it on the Somatics Institute web site here.

The Sacred Vessel is a reading of an essay I wrote a number of years ago.  It's still relevant, delving into engaging with the body when the wounds are more than physical.  It's part of my education in applying body centred skills in support of clients who were doing deep healing with psychotherapists.  I share some of my learning in the series. I'm grateful to the people I worked with who were willing to share their stories here. You can find the original essay on the Somatics Institute web site here In the four episodes of the Sacred Vessel, this one is about listening and the body...through a Jungian lens.

Reclaiming the Soul Lost in Nature Part 2 of the Sacred Vessel is a continuation of writing I did in the 90’s that explored the experience of the person in body centred clinical practice.  As you’ll see, this essay is a meditation on the influence of Jungian ideas about the intersect between psyche and body through image, and is a deeper dive into ideas I explored in the Embracing the Beast podcast series. You can find the original with footnoting on the Somatics Institute site here. https://somaticsinstitute.com Enjoy, Matthew

The Sacred Vessel was part of a body of writing I did in the 90's that explored the experience of the person in body centred clinical practice.  As you'll see, this essay is a meditation on the influence of Jungian ideas about the intersect between psyche and body through image, and is a deeper dive into ideas I explored in the Embracing the Beast podcast series. The essay has been divided up into four segments - this is the longest of them!  You can find the original with footnoting on the Somatics Institute site here. Enjoy, Matthew

Often, dreams are not included in embodiment practices.  Yet, the dream is there in the body, a connection that psychologist Arnold Mindell calls the dreambody.  In this episode I explore ways in which I have experienced dreaming and the body.  And, I suggest ways in which you might explore the dream as a support of your sensory practice in everyday life, connecting dream, body and the world. This is a contribution of the Embodiment Project, a nine week cycle that explores how individuals can join in community towards a more deeply embodied life.  You can find out more about the Project at www.SomaticsInstitute.com

We start with a body connecting practice, then explore how that sense of self connection can survive connection with the world and the challenges it brings us.  An important internal journey that includes insights from indigenous shamanistic practitioners on the relationship between the individual and community and the relationship to the natural world as related…

What do you notice in this moment?  So often, when we pay attention to our body we prepare it, fix it.  In this excerpt from the Embodiment Project we explore what it’s like to just explore the body as it is in this moment. You can find out more about the Embodiment Project at SomaticsInstitute.com

Focusing on body sensation can help you find yourself in your tissues.  But too much information, perhaps from physical pain or emotional distress, shows the importance of finding surfaces to help locate and ground yourself. In this week’s practice we explore the relationship between inner sensory experience and the balancing awareness of surfaces that help…

Another short (about 18 minute) meditation on how breathing and sensing interact with each other.  It’s one of those ‘skills for life’ that can be helpful any time. As you may know, these podcasts are tidbits from the ongoing Embodiment Project.  There’s lots of videos, audio and other resources, and a weekly Zoom meeting. Check…

Today’s podcast comes from an Embodiment Project class conversation.  I answer student questions, giving examples of how movement helps us connect with ourselves and others. I also give some examples from my personal and clinical practice. You can find out more about the Embodiment Project at www.SomaticsInstitute.com

Here’s a new series of practices for 2021.  At just under an hour, they will ask a little more of your day than the 10 minute meditations but I think you’ve find they are subtle, powerful, and worth it! You can find out more about the Embodiment Project, and our new Inhabit Yourself Workbook at…

Today, I’m bringing you another contribution from the Project’s weekly seminars.  For those of you who are used to a taste of the seminars in the form of 10 minute body meditations, today’s offering is the full meal deal, at 45 minutes long it’s a rich mix of science and embodiment practices, a deep dive…

Breath is the bridge between body and mind.  It helps us locate sensations and more deeply connect with the the community conversation that is our lived experience.  This 16 minute practice from the Embodiment Project will help you develop the skills to locate your self…just a little bit more…within the world of that body community.…

Conclusion The body’s needs for release can never be fully fathomed by the rational mind, it must be felt, and brought to life in expression.  Only then will the wounded body and being release to a new relationship with life.   If you would like to find out more about my exploration of deepening our…

Coming Home Learning to relate to pain seems to be the source from which healing comes forth in bodywork.  In fact, there is every indication that much of our continued experience of pain is bound up in the very tension that holds it. We continue our metaphorical journey through myth…with a tasty dollop of psychology…

The World of Sleeping Beauty In this section we leave the dilemma of the frog body and the princess mind for the moment and take a closer look at the process through which consciousness of bodily injury is denied.  Control of pain is explored through the metaphorical world of the Sleeping Beauty story as well as a revealing and powerful portrayal of one individual’s response to injury and pain from psychologist Jeanne Achterberg’s ‘Imagery in Healing‘. You can find out more about the Embodiment Project under Courses at www.SomaticsInstitute.com