Somatics Institute

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…

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…

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…

What are the essentials of embodiment practice, the simple go-to awareness that you can use in everyday life?  Here’s my elevator talk (a bit of a long elevator ride), the essence of practice that you can return to when you need to anchor yourself a bit more in life. As ever, you can find out…

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…

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…

Reclaiming the Soul Lost in Nature In Part 2 of the Sacred Vessel I continue 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…

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…

In this episode from the Embodiment Project, 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…

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…

When Walter Scott wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” he could have been talking about our relationship with the body. In this second section of Embracing the Beast, we begin to explore how our well intentioned attempts to control discomfort can only entangle us further in its…

Written as an article for Massage Magazine in the early 1990’s, Embracing the Beast has sustained some of the most constant interest of any of my published works.   Originally intended as information for massage therapists and clients, Embracing the Beast draws upon my experience as a massage practitioner and somatic educator.  It explores how…

The Embodiment Project’s step by step approach to inhabiting yourself starts with noticing what is actually there.  So it begins with our exploration of the lungs.  Follow the simple, ten minute journey from the Project’s weekly Seminar.  Enjoy! You can find out more about the Embodiment Project at www.SomaticsInstitute.com.  Look for the Courses link.

At just over 10 minutes, one more opportunity to connect with yourself…and connect with the world. Another contribution from the Embodiment Project at www.Somatics.ca   Enjoy! Matthew