The Body Awake

SA is part meditation, part body awareness, and part sitting with another who's attuning to, listening to, asking about, and following along with your developing experience, particularly the raw experience of arising sensation. This practice can actuate profound changes in one's mental and physical well-being. Sessions last 50 minutes. Payment is on a sliding scale, $75 - $125. BOOK A SESSION Who's this for? If you're feeling stuck, are wrestling with something difficult in your life, have a sense you've lost connection to something vital, or would like to be more in touch with your direct experience … then this work could be really good medicine. What's a session like? We sit together and bring attention to what's arising. I listen deeply to you, not just to the words you're saying but to the whole experience. So much can unfold from there, it's hard to say "and then this is what happens …" but often, there are at least moments of: guided somatic meditation both of us attuning to your body's sensations slowing down, especially when there's a lot of feeling arising feedback, conversation rooted in here and now There may be grief and tears. There may be uprisings of joy and gratitude. We don't know what to expect, but expect a dedicated, loving presence with you in that unknown. Remarkable changes can unfold from that place. What's your training? How did this practice come about? This practice as its own entity really arose out of my bodywork sessions: often, when someone would come in with a particular body ailment, the very act of describing the pain would appear to begin a healing process … if I felt that way, I note that, and say "this seems fruitful; are you open to staying with this for a few minutes (instead of just getting on the table)?" If they said yes, which they usually did as we could both feel the powerful potential here, we would simply stay with the ever-evolving sensations. This kind of inquiry would often span the entire length of the session, and we were both often surprised at the deep, radical, and permanent shifts in the pain symptoms they'd come in with, perhaps more effective than hands-on work would've been. My guidance, listening, questioning, developing education, and ultimately Somatic Attunement as its own healing practice, has stemmed from those spaces. So really, in short, my life's work — including tens of thousands of hours learning and teaching various mind-body modalities — has led me here. Have you been a client in this type of work? Yes. My life was profoundly altered by sitting with my teacher regularly for many years in this way, and it all took place over the phone. To say our body of work together was life-changing is an understatement; nearly every session felt worth its weight in gold. Is this different from therapy? Yes. I am not a therapist. That said, you may seek this work for similar reasons that you would seek therapy. An example of how this is different might come from if a client says "I am so angry at my mother." If you said that, I wouldn't say "oh, interesting; tell me about your mom" and start taking notes. I might encourage you, instead, to feel the sensations in your body as you say those words, or as you respond to a question I ask you based on that statement. The scope of practice of somatic coaching is very, very important to me, for both our sakes. If our work enters territory beyond my scope of practice, I will redirect us, and recommend a therapist if appropriate. How do we meet? Sessions happen over Zoom. If you would prefer no video, we can also work together over the phone. I'm interested but have a question or two first. Wonderful. Please send me an email at liam@thebodyawake.com, and we'll take it from there.

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Can body-based material be taught online? Can a somatic curriculum be shared with a decent felt sense, something other than the feeling of not quite being as good as the real thing?

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I've been wanting to interview Sara for a long time ... Indeed, since I first participated in Authentic Relating Games in a variety of settings, including potlucks, movement seminars and segues into contact improvisation. Happy to have you with us. SHOW NOTES That Atlantic article the the AR Games, "The Club Where You Bare Your Soul to Strangers" Sara and co's website, Authentic Revolution

Birth and death: an update. Thank you for being here! 💛 Danny Schmidt "Just Wait Til They See You" 💛 Rev angel Kyodo Williams On Being 💛 David Whyte's Clear Mind, Wild Heart

Happy third anniversary, friends 💛 Links My "how to start a podcast" guide My interview with Donna Martin My interview with Angelo Coppola

Patty Townsend has been teaching yoga since waaaaaay back in the day when there were only a couple yoga studios in LA. That alone would give her lots of credit to be on this show ... And so it's such a bonus that she offers her experience with a refreshing humility and clarity. We go into what teaching yoga in the States in the early 80's was like, the distinction between purification and clarification (this one's good), even a really sweet — if not super disarming — tip for teachers on how to begin a class ... a home practice you can do to feel the buoyancy of your internal organs ... and heaps more. I really enjoyed this one; hope you do too! Show Notes Patty Townsend and EmbodYoga The YTT manual and other free resources And here's a schematic to give you an idea of what and where the mesentery is inside you.

In this episode, we wrap up Season 2 of The Body Awake with a mix of retrospect, looking around and some personal sharing from me. Here's that poem I mention at the end. With love, LB

This episode, after a long time considering and reckoning myself with some of this material : "Reaching for Blackness" with Aaron and Jennie of Holistic Resistance. You can find their website here. Cheers to all of our inquiries, rich and personal, on our own paths. Love, LB

When teaching, "I start with science, but hopefully I end with more of the poetry of the movement." This is one of my favorite lines from this episode's guest, Tatjana Mesar. Tatjana is a teacher and practitioner, a smart thinker and deep feeler, like so many of you. And we dive into some big guiding questions: what is tradition, what is modern, what is fusion of ideas and, ultimately, what is outside of the erosion of time? You can find Tatjana's school, and some of her writing, in Berlin or at https://www.zenyoga-berlin.de/

Living your body's intelligence ... Oh, what that could mean! To get a feel for what it is, let's point to what it's not. It's not blindly following every bodily desire that arises. (Only one donut orgy per month, alright?) Nor is it forever perfecting your internal compass without moving in its direction, paralyzed by the potential — and inevitable — messiness of life. It's something else, something that is both of these end ranges at the same time. Pay attention, try, move, keep paying attention, refine, laugh and fail and fall and yet strive for a certain regality; this isn't child's play (unless, sometimes, it is) ... We sure do hope you enjoy. Love, LB (+ BT) PS if there's still space in our July 28 / 29 workshop in Seattle, you can find that out, and sign up, here.

In this episode, I'm reading "The Limbic Brain and the Biology of Emotion," which is a chapter from Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit and Sexy — Until You're 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D. This could be a great chapter to share with parents or grandparents in your life. (My reading starts at 6m 10s.)