What is embodiment?
embodied movement is a way of sensing, feeling, trusting, listening and responding to the wisdom of the body. it is about expressing freely, moving intelligently and feeling deeply.
many yoga practices today have become a performance - valuing strict alignment and out-dated cues. in this rigid structure, peak postures and flexibility become the goal, students are ‘corrected’ in ways that are often harmful and injury-inducing, and a sense of hierarchy arises where students are compelled to push, strive, achieve and compare. yet that is not the essence of yoga!
embodiment opens up a new paradigm that celebrates difference - different bodies, different patterns, different nervous systems, different everything.
just like the pioneers of modern yoga, pattahbi jois and Krishnamacharya, who worked with the individual at hand, embodied movement honours a lifeftime of lineage whilst incorporating the latest scientific discoveries to make it inclusive, accessible and relevant today.
Embodied movement is…
functionality over force, cohesion over separation, feeling over performing.
there is no hierarchy, but freedom to move, explore and evolve each posture so that it serves our bodies best in that given moment.
it is less being told what to do, and more asking questions - helping us gain a much deeper insight into ourselves
it is working with the nervous system, not against it
it is less doing and more receiving - without having to understand, analyse or conceptualise.
it is reconnecting with the space around us (proprioception) and the space within us (interoception), moving from awareness and felt sensation
it is coming back to our embryological development to remember how we were formed, how we continue to evolve, and return us to the whole.
