An embodiment practice is a method of using the unique sensations of our body as a tool to develop awareness, stay present, self-regulate, feel whole, find balance, feel connected, know ourself, love ourself and be empowered.

We can learn to recognize our strength, power, softness, uniqueness, vulnerability, truth and love as sensation with embodied or somatic practices such as Somatic Movement and Feldenkrais Method®.

→ An Embodiment Practice cultivates Self-Knowledge.

“Without learning to know ourselves as intimately as we possibly can, we limit our choices. Life is not very sweet without freedom of choice.”

– Moshe Feldenkrais

Our culture, how and where and when we were raised, who our role-models were, the kind of education we received and our physical activities as well as our personal preferences, language, temperament and constitution all contribute to the mental and physical habits we develop as adults.

Some habits become rigid confines that limit the possibilities for how we do things, how we move, how we think and how we behave.

As we develop our awareness in the way we feel ourself – our whole human self – because of – and regardless of – the events and circumstances we have encountered in our life – we become empowered.  When we are empowered we are free to choose – how to live, how to think, how to be.

→ An Embodiment Practice helps us experience personal freedom

As we improve our awareness of the distinct and changing sensations in our body we can also become aware of the way we are moving, thinking or behaving is causing us pain, strain or not serving us. Embodiment involves listening to sensation without an objective which leaves us open to discovering new unusual, easier, healthier or more comfortable possibilites.

→ An Embodiment Practice fosters self-love

Becoming aware of our sensation is as intimate, vulnerable process. We can become aware by learning to listen to physical sensation – breath and movement and the sensation that determines our emotions. As our sensations become more familiar we can begin to recognize them as part of our integrated whole self. Recognizing ourself as whole – the good and bad parts – is an integral part of self-love. As we cultivate self-love we learn to be less dependant on external forces (people, objects or circumstances) to supply meaning, balance, contentedness or happiness in our lives.

We educate, study and celebrate movement and bodywork modalities that deepen awareness, provoke curiosity and promote presence of being. SMP strives to open dialogue, push boundaries and build community. It continually evolves from the belief that embodiment is a state of being that can liberate us from the self-limitations in movement, behavior, emotion and thought.

What is Somatic Movement?

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Intuitive, comfortable, easeful and joyous movement used as a tool to improve an intimate connection to ourselves – an awareness of our whole self connected to our individual parts, to space and gravity.

Somatic Movement is practiced with the intention of an internal experience rather than to the outer appearance. It is a mindfulness practice that uses the felt sense awareness to keep us connected to the present moment.

It is a container for improving our sensing, including interoception and proprioception as well as our empathic and intuitive senses.

Somatic Movement uses the body as a tool for fine tuning our awareness. We “learn to listen “ to what we sense and feel in ourselves physically: our breathing, our posture, our weight distribution or degree of ease or discomfort in our movements.  We then expand to listening to the quality of our thoughts, reactions and behavior. Awareness does not discriminate. We can learn to apply this awareness to all of life. We get better at listening to what the world around us is saying without our hearing being restricted by the sound of our conditioned or habitual thoughts and judgements.

What is the Feldenkrais Method®? 

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The Feldenkrais Method®– a sensory-motor education system designed to promote bodily and mental well-being by using movement, sensation and processes of the nervous system to teach self-awareness and improve physical and mental functioning. Moshe Feldenkrais designed a collection of lessons – taught through words or touch – based on his lifetime of understanding of neuroplasticity, physics, sensory-motor connectivity and mindfulness.

Awareness Through Movement® lesson

One of thousands of lessons that were created by Israeli scientist and Judo master Moshe Feldenkrais. Students are guided through a sequence of gentle movements, done slowly, with attention on the sensation in order to discover new possibilities for optimal functional. This results in improved flexibility, coordination and efficient movement, increased ease and range of motion, reduction in aches and pains, and an increased sense of self-awareness.  

What is Somatic Education?  

A field within bodywork and movement studies which emphasizes internal physical perception and experience.

What is Somatic Yoga? 

An awareness-based approach to yoga. Yoga asana is used to experience somatic movement.

Somatic Yoga begins with simple inquiry, clarifying where we are physically and mentally, sensing parts of our bodies and fluctuations in our breathing or thought patterns. The practice explores functional movement patterns and alternatives to habitual movements or holding patterns. The intention of the practice is to evoke a heightened sense of connectivity, sensitivity and awareness.