Join Matthew's journey through the touch, breath, movement and psychological practices that have shaped body centred practice. With a little biological science to help us understand why they work!
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…
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…
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
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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
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…
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 hold. A daily read from the Embodiment Project. You can find out more about the Embodiment Project under Courses at SomaticsInstitute.com
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…
A short introduction to the five part Embracing the Beast, the series were originally written for Massage Magazine.
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 we get disconnected from the body, our stuck relationship with discomfort and pain, and the unexpected pathways that can lead to healing. Presented here as a five part series, Embracing the Beast provides a foundation for many of the perspectives that inform the Embodiment Project. You can find out more about the Embodiment Project at Somatics.ca
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
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
Life can be overwhelming. It can be hard to stay connected to body centred practices when we are feeling depressed and anxious. But our body is still there, providing a constancy that can support us in difficult times, if we only know how to connect with it. In this 15 minute podcast, Matthew describes the…
Matthew guides you through a simple scan that you can put into any part of your day. It will help ground you, and reorient you to your busy world. From the Embodiment Project at www.SomaticsInstitute.com
We are constantly bouncing off tension. It’s habits seem to subvert our best attempts to functionality in the world. Whether it is posture, movement or social expression, our tension is a constant presence in life. This podcast explores how tension is the surface of a whole world of sensory experience. And how, as we explore…
An excerpt from Week Three of the Embodiment Project, which focuses on movement. How do the habits of our movement express the dominant stories of ourselves and our culture. How do we meet with the less heard, or subjugated, stories that show up so often in our tensions and discomforts in a way that admits…
From the Embodiment Project, a talk from Week Two: Surfaces. How do somatic practices challenge us to find our unique path to this moment…and challenge the quiet training to only notice what is permitted? Find out more at the Embodiment Project https://somaticsinstitute.com/product/the-embodiment-project-online
Embodiment Seminar: An introduction to Week Three of the Embodiment Project. Basic principles, and some very specific examples of how you can bring these practices into your life. Great for dropping into the experience of an Embodiment Project class.
From the Embodiment Seminars: How does a David Abram story about a chance meeting an Aboriginal Australian help us connect more fully to the surfaces in our life? How do surfaces help us locate ourselves and support inner organization? A short exploration of interesting questions…and some practices to help ground them in everyday life.
How do with engage with the dislocated and disavowed parts of our inner being? In an exploration of what Martin Buber called the I/Thou relationship, this seminar excerpt starts at the beginning – where we face the truth of our experience and, by not trying to fix it, find a pathway to reconciliation, in the…
The nine weeks of the Embodiment Project are a journey into the application of somatic practices in everyday life. Week One focuses on the simple practice of just noticing what’s there. Or maybe not so simple! Matthew van der Giessen introduces a 30 minute meditation that guides your into meeting with yourself just as you…
A sensory based exploration of your inner world in under 10 minutes. You can do this practice seated, anywhere in your life. With the added benefit of an exploration of pelvis, spine and head by the simple addition of weight. You can use a bag of peas, beans or rice right off your grocery shelf.…
A practice that has become a favourite in the Embodiment Project community. A simple sensory practice to use any time you have about 15 minutes in your day. It will help you reconnect with your body…and yourself.
This is an excerpt from Class Three of the Embodiment Project, a nine week on line course that distills the wisdom of somatic pioneers into simple practices for everyday life. You can find out more at The Embodiment Project.
An essential part of my work in Somatics is understanding the biological landscape of the body. Recently, I had an opportunity to chat about how biology and experience interact with each other with Leslie Sanderson and Louise Amuir at the wonderful Haven retreat Centre on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. Here are some of the…
Sometimes our early life experiences can show the shape of how our life will unfold. Two stories, and their influence on my clinical work, and what they have to tell us about how we might engage with the world more fully.
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