Why should we care about embryology as movement educators? Why should we care if all of our cells are in a creative mode or not? Is there a history in us from the time of the moment of our making that can inform how we express our bodies today? Join me and Debora Kolwey with Body-Mind Psychotherapy creator, Susan Aposhyan, for this wonderful conversation that kicks off our final season.

The way I define embodiment is on a cellular level. Cellularly we can be in a physiologically creative mode or be in more of a routine, somewhat shutdown, minimally functioning mode. It used to be that people were saying a lot of “I was my body, I was out of my body,” and I’d say it’s not that simple, that’s not helpful to reduce embodiment to a binary set of states. But if we think about it on a cellular level…out of our 37 trillion cells how many of those cells are in a creative mode and how many of them are in a habitual mode? That’s how I define embodiment. 

If you look at every other creature on the planet they’re hovering close to 90 percent to 100 percent of embodiment. In that sense embodiment means that whatever that is coming in to the organism, whether it’s material or immaterial, in the case of thoughts and perceptions, is processed with no holds barred, and then expressed out with no limitations. So there’s a free flow of energy. Stuff comes in and energy, behavior goes out. 

So for example you don’t see coyotes trying not to fart. It's just input output, input output… .

That’s a very concrete way that we stop our embodiment, that we stop our physiological processing. We’re trying not to belch or fart or smell or sweat, but also we’re trying not to laugh or cry or express our pain or jump up and down if we’re in a classroom, or run away if somebody scares us. There’s so many ways we stop our embodied flow. And as adults we’ve learned how to do that. Human adults are unique really in their ability to put cells into a habitually fixed mode and leave them there for decades at a time. 

Listen. Get quiet. Question what you know. Enjoy and share.

More About Susan Aposhyan

Susan considers her work a convergence of dance, psychology, meditation, Body-Mind Centering.

Here are some of Susan's answers to her pre-interview questions...

Q: What has been one of the most difficult challenges to overcome in your professional life?

A: Division between physicality, psychology, and spirituality

Q: What inspires you about the future of your profession / field?

A: Unification

Q: What worries or concerns you about the future of your profession / field?

A: Rigidification

Susan's webiste: Body Mind Psychotherapy

Explore Susan's books: here

• Body-Mind Psychotherapy
• Natural Intelligence

Find out where Susan is teaching: here

Connect with Us

• Chantill - chantill@skillfulteaching.com + (707) 738-7951
• Debora - dkolwey@gmail.com 
• James - j.crader@evolvedbodystudio.com

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Chantill

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James

• Check out James' new website - JamesCrader.com
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