Liberated Being

Ep 106: Transition Updates Jan 17, 2022

Updates on the Liberated Being podcast and studio, and The Healing Arts Business Incubator at

www.brookethomas.me/incubator

Ep 105: Terrain Medicine and Your Nervous System Jun 08, 2021

Today I’m talking with Dr. Ginger Nash. Ginger is a naturopathic physician who has been in practice for over 20 years. Her practice centers around nutrition, herbal medicine and homeopathy, with a focus on personalized care and treating the underlying causes of disease rather than just symptom management. Her practice offers some of the best technology available for evaluating whole-body health and her particular specialties are women’s hormone balancing, and immune dysfunction such as allergies and auto-immune disease. She also treats a tremendous amount of patients suffering with the long-term effects of infections like Lyme and its common co-infections and many different types of chronic disease.

As you may know if you are a regular listener of this podcast, I don’t often talk with Naturopathic Doctors on the show. This show is dedicated mostly to manual and movement therapy as it relates to our being-ness or how we experience ourselves and the world. So it was probably inevitable that I would have a naturopath on the show eventually to talk about true mindbody medicine from a different point-of-view. So today we’re merging the worlds. Usually I’m coming at things from how our soma and nervous system effect our physiology. Today is a glimpse from the other side, talking about how how our physiology effects our nervous system states and mental health and so much more.

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community and we don’t have any social media accounts anymore- so if you want to stay in touch and hear about special events in the embodied practice studio, head to the website and subscribe to our newsletter.

You can find more of Dr. Ginger Nash’s work at

www.gingernash.com

Ep 104: Bringing Somatics to Schools with Emory M. Moore Jr May 25, 2021

Today I’m talking with Emory M. Moore Jr. A health and fitness pioneer and innovator, he created the EM LifeWork TM & EM technique TM methods for holistic fitness, wellness and body harmony.

Emory is a multi-certified exercise & movement master teacher and pioneer. With over 35 years of experience, Emory has immersed himself in the study of a myriad of disciplines including, but not limited to martial arts, dance, chi gong, yoga, bodywork, Pilates, Gyrotonic, somatic training & strength conditioning systems. Not content with having a taste of all things he went for total involvement pursuing decades of study on three continents.

Emory has taught and trained hundreds of teachers in the US, Germany & Switzerland some of whom went on to sculpt the fitness landscape and help develop the fitness industry as we know it today.

A resident of Brooklyn, New York, Emory’s passion for teaching and the education of young people, led him to found the ground breaking Embora Studio and to create the wellness-arts organization EM Arts exemplifying the belief that the way to a better healthier society is through inner harmony and the arts. Currently EM Arts serves schools in New York City and we’re going to talk about their work in schools and with teachers and students a great deal today. It’s really beautiful and needed work, I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing about it. You can read more about his work at www.em-arts.info.

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community. We don’t have any social media accounts anymore so if you want to stay in touch and hear about special events in the embodied practice studio, head to the website and subscribe to our newsletter.

Ep 103: Co-Creating with Community with Brea Fisher May 18, 2021

Today I’m talking with Brea Fisher. Brea is the founder of Quan Yin Gongfu and has spent the last 13 years dedicated to the disciplines of Qigong, Taiji, and Gongfu, drawing on focused study and knowledge of Daoist philosophy and lifestyle, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yin Yang theory, and Five Element theory.

Brea unites the visual arts and the written word with the Chinese internal and martial arts. She carries the lineage of Eagle Claw Turning Style (Ying Zhao Fan Zi Men), teaching Gongfu Palm + Sword, and Taiji forms handed down by Master Sing Chui. You can read more about her work at www.quanyingongfu.com

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community. Our embodied practice studio is www.liberatedbeing.community/studio

Ep 102: My Experience of Where Trauma Met Awakening May 06, 2021

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with David Treleaven about his book and training on Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness. If you missed that episode- it’s a good one- and you can find it in the podcast player you’re on now or at liberatedbeing.community at the podcast tab.

This episode is a personal experience with where trauma met what is often referred to as "spiritual awakening" and how my practice, my approach to the practice (and the goal), and some harmful ideas of what awakening is and what it requires dysregulated me and put me into a tough place. And also how I recovered from that and I view the subject of "waking up" these days. Spoiler: it's still in progress. I hope it can be helpful for anyone who is suffering as a result of their practice. We also go through a specific pointer you can use to make sure your practice is working for you instead of against you.

Also this month Liberated Being is partnering with David Treleaven's Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness training to bring you a chance to go through it at a reduced rate and with some support. To sign up you can go to https://bk738.isrefer.com/go/LB/LB/ and use the code LB400.

Ep 101: Conscious Vibrational Leadership with Isha Vela Apr 27, 2021

Today I’m talking with Isha Vela. Isha is a psychologist and somatic trauma professional who works as a somatic expressive coach with healers, weavers, change agents, bridge-builders, connectors, and other folxs who feel called to make an impact on the world. She runs the Revolutionary Rompe Reglas community and you can find more of her work at www.revolutionaryrompereglas.com. Her program for conscious leaders, Devotion, is via her work with me page.

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community, and we don’t have any social media accounts anymore- woohoo! So if you want to stay in touch head to the website and subscribe to our newsletter.

Ep 100: Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness with David Treleaven Apr 20, 2021

David Treleaven is a writer, educator, and trauma professional working at the intersection of mindfulness and trauma. He is the author of the acclaimed book Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness and founder of the Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness (TSM) Community—a group of practitioners committed to setting a standard of care through mindfulness-based practices, interventions, and programs.

David focuses on connecting mindfulness providers with the knowledge and tools they require to meet the needs of those struggling with trauma. Through workshops, keynotes, podcasts, and online education, he is closely engaged with current empirical research to inform best practices.

His work has been adopted into multiple mindfulness teacher training programs around the world, including UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, the Engaged Mindfulness Institute, and Bangor University’s MA in Mindfulness program in the UK.

David is currently a visiting scholar at Brown University and has worked with a number of organizations to bring Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness to their staff and programs.

You can find more of his work at www.davidtreleaven.com and his book, Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness is available all places where books are sold.

You can go through the TSM training with us this May! When you sign up at https://davidtreleaven.com/trauma-sensitive-mindfulness-complete/ use the code LB400 (code must be used by May 10th) to get $400 off the cost of training, and two live q+a sessions with David and I.

Ep 99: Uncovering Your Natural Awareness with Diana Winston Apr 06, 2021

Today I’m talking with Diana Winston. Diana is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center and the author of The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness. Called by the Los Angeles Times “one of the nation’s best-known teachers of mindfulness,” she has taught mindfulness since 1999 in a variety of settings including hospitals, universities, corporations, nonprofits, and schools in the US and Asia. A sought-after speaker, she developed the evidence-based Mindful Awareness Practices or (MAPS) curriculum and the Training in Mindfulness Facilitation, which trains mindfulness teachers worldwide. She is a founding board member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.

I hope you enjoy the conversation. You can find more of Diana’s work at www.dianawinston.com.

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community. We are no longer on any social media, so if you want to hear about when we have retreats or other special events, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter on our website.

Ep 98: Reclaiming Ourselves Mar 30, 2021

This is a practice-based episode that speaks more deeply to the issues that were brought up in the last episode, with Jane Clapp, about how social media is changing us. This is from the point of view of a podcast/body-centered mindfulness studio that wants to "make the world a more embodied place" and that is "in the inquiry of being fully human".

In the episode, host Brooke Thomas asks if it's possible to be more embodied and fully human and still connected to the social media algorithms with how they are designed to change our brains and behavior.

She also gives a guided practice for becoming present by receiving through the senses, a way of falling back in love with the world.

Retreat month in the Liberated Being studio begins April 1st. It will be a flexible container for disconnecting from social media and doomscrolling and most importantly reconnecting to our bodies, our beings, our natural environment, and our actual lives.

You can sign up at liberatedbeing.community/studio. It’s not an extra program, just a part of monthly or annual membership.

RESOURCES mentioned in the episode:

The Social Dilemma (documentary)

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

Jaron Lanier

Feels Good Man (documentary)

Ep 97: How Social Media is Changing Us with Jane Clapp Mar 23, 2021

Jane Clapp is a mindful strength and movement coach, an embodiment educator and a Jungian analyst in training. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to her work that goes beyond mindfulness, to enmesh each client’s physical condition with the psychological and emotional aspects of their selves while always factoring in that the oppressive systems we live in play out in every system in the body.

She has worked as an expert coach and educator that brings together expertise in the effects of chronic stress and overwhelm on the fascial and autonomic nervous systems, movement and breath patterns since 2006. Bringing together her many years of somatic study while supporting others through their bodies, with her personal journey through Jungian Analysis and her training as a Jungian Analyst, she has developed what she refers to as Jungian Somatics.

And why do I feel like of all the episodes THIS one is a don’t miss? Well Jane and I are getting into territory that isn’t discussed that much in our circles- that being how social media is quite literally changing us, changing our brains and changing the world. It’s like we’re all hooked up to a neurofeedback machine now that works on us to make us more polarized, more in our survival/reactionistic brains and more dualistic. Among other things… Jane and I have been swimming in these waters separately but simultaneously, so this was our chance to talk about it with each other. I think we all need to be talking about this more and finding ways, as we are able, to unhook from the algorithms.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell (book) The Social Dilemma (documentary on Netflix) https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/the-internet-doesnt-have-to-be-awful/618079/ How Humans Get Hacked Yuval Noah Harari and Tristan Harris on Wired https://www.wired.com/video/watch/yuval-harari-tristan-harris-humans-get-hacked It Will Never Happen to Me by Claudia Black (book) Dr. Iain McGilchrist James Hillman Jaron Lanier

Ep 96: Qigong and the Power of the Formless with Master Mingtong Gu Mar 16, 2021

Today I’m talking with Master Mingtong Gu Named Qigong Master of the Year by the 13th World Congress for Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Master Mingtong is on faculty for Esalen Institute, OmegaInstitute, 1440 Multiversity, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and the Shift Network. He is the founder of The Chi Center / The Center for Wisdom Healing Qigong, a beautiful 79 acre retreat center south of Santa Fe, NM

You can find more of his work and more about the chi center for Wisdom Healing Qigong at www.chicenter.com and if you head to their website, they also have a free ebook Ancient Healing Secrets which is available to download.

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community, and on Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Ep 95: Being Human with Betsy Polatin Mar 09, 2021

Today I’m talking with Betsy Polatin. Betsy Polatin, is an Alexander Technique teacher, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and has her MFA. She is An internationally recognized breathing and movement specialist,, has been teaching for more than forty five years and is currently a master lecturer at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. She has worked with numerous individuals and institutions and some of her teaching experience includes Berklee College of Music, the Boston Ballet, and the Opera Institute of Boston. Her background includes movement education and performance, as well as training in music, dance, yoga, meditation, trauma resolution, and the broader healing arts.. She is the author of two books, The Actor’s Secret and her most recent book which we are discussing today: Humanual: A Manual for Being Human.

I hope you enjoy the conversation. You can find more of Betsy’s work at www.humanual.com and her book again is also titled Humanual.

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community, and on Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Ep 94: Resting in the Head and the Heart Mar 02, 2021

This is a practice-based episode. We are so inundated with information all the time! Even information about being less conceptual and more embodied, as on this podcast lol.

Within Liberated Being we also run an embodied practice studio, where we can engage with practices that help us to make the shift into embodying what we know, becoming more real, and changing how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world.

So this week I'm sharing two 15 minute practices that I taught in the studio last week. Take a break from the firehose of learning about things and instead have a chance to digest things by connecting with the home inside yourself.

These practices are for inhabiting the head and the heart- and seeing how locating within those areas shifts the way the world shows up to us.

More information about the embodied practice studio can be found at www.liberatedbeing.community/studio

Ep 93: On Creating with Liam Bowler Feb 23, 2021

Liam Bowler is a teacher, bodyworker, and a somatic philosopher. He’s also the creator of The Body Awake podcast which, if you’re listening to this podcast, I can highly recommend!

He is most recently the author of the book A Creator’s Companion: A Handbook for the Practice of Creation. I found it to be a wonderful read, and a highly experiential book, as opposed to ideas about the process of creation. I believe life itself is a process of creation, and this book is a wonderful guide in how to be more immersed in that.

His book, A Creator's Companion can be found here thebodyawake.com/book/cc

You can find more of Liam’s work at

www.thebodyawake.com

and

www.dynamicalignmentbodywork.com

Liberated Being is at

www.liberatedbeing.community

You can read about the embodied practice studio on the studio page. On Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Ep 92: Advocacy Meets Embodied Healing Feb 16, 2021

Today I’m talking with Caprice Taylor Mendez. Since getting her Masters from Harvard in education, administration, planning and social policy, Caprice has spent the last 30 years supporting social justice in the nonprofit sector.

She works to support strategic grant making and nonprofit collaborations to co-create systemwide impact.

She has done a great of work in policy advocacy, coalition building, and grassroots organizing experience with diverse populations to support low-income communities.

She is also the host of Together, We Can / Juntos, Podemos a bilingual radio show celebrating co-creators and initiatives for a kinder and more just world.

She teaches Journey Dance and practices Cosmohealing Energy.

We’re talking about how she came to be in these parallel worlds of social justice through the non profit sector and advocating for policy change, alongside her own embodied healing practices for herself, and how she came to also provide that work for others.

Ep 91: Falling Open in a World Falling Apart with Amoda Maa Jeevan Feb 09, 2021

This week’s episode is with Amoda Maa Jeevan. It is an outtake from a longer guest teacher gathering that happened with Liberated Being members on November 14th of 2020. We talked about her recent book, Falling Open in a World Falling Apart. A fitting title for the times we are living through! In this talk, Amoda connects some important dots between embodiment and spriritual awakening. She gets to important inquiries like- Awakening from what? To what? And what does this have to do with being spiritual or not spiritual (more concepts, as you’ll hear…). What Amoda is pointing to, and what embodiment work is also for, is about shedding conditioning and coming home more deeply to our own internal space and experience.

You can find more of her work at

www.amodamaa.com

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community and on Instagram @liberatedbeing. The embodied practice studio is open with live classes all week.

Ep 90: From Body to Embody with Marika Baxter Feb 02, 2021

Today I’m talking with Marika Baxter. Marika has a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy and for 17 years practiced as a physical therapist and Pilates teacher working in particular in the dance medicine world.

She is a Realization Process teacher and is currently studying through Internal Family Systems with Richard Schwartz. Marika is also a dear friend, and a teacher in the liberated being embodied practice studio. You can find out more about her work at www.mb1wellness.com

The Liberated Being embodied practice studio is at www.liberatedbeing.community, and on Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Ep 89: Embodying Healthy Power with Kimberly Ann Johnson Jan 26, 2021

Today I’m talking with Kimberly Ann Johnson. Kimberly is a Structural Integrator, a Sexological Bodyworker, a birth doula and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.

She is the author of the book The Fourth Trimester, and her forthcoming book which we are talking about today is Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power, and Use it for Good.

You can find out more about Kimberly’s work at www.magamama.com. Maga means sorceress in Brazil, so that THAT maga...

Liberated Being is at liberatedbeing.community, and on Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Our embodied practice studio is at www.liberatedbeing.community/studio

Ep 88: The End of Trauma with Steve Hoskinson Jan 19, 2021

Today I’m talking with Steve Hoskinson. Steve is the founder of Organic Intelligence® (OI) and the nonprofit Organic Intelligence Outreach Institute. OI’s Human Empowerment And Resiliency Training (HEARTraining®) is an international personal and professional development training program using OI’s strengths-based, trauma-safe approach for resiliency.

As you’ll hear in our conversation, The Organic Intelligence® (OI) clinical protocol suggests that, from a systems perspective, what’s wrong with therapy is the focus on what’s wrong — including the focus on trauma.

Organic Intelligence brings a necessary shift in perspective from pathology and trauma to the proven methods drawn from the wisdom of mindfulness and the science of self-organization.

OI teaches how healing happens from the nervous system up and makes it possible to imagine freedom from suffering. Freedom from suffering becomes freedom for living an authentic, vibrant life in the here-and-now.

Steve has trained thousands of trauma therapists, health professionals, mindfulness experts, and teachers. He presents at conferences worldwide, is Adjunct Faculty for JFK University’s Somatic Psychology program, a founding member of the Northern California Society for Integrative Mental Health and the International Transformational Resilience Coalition.

You can find out more about Steve’s work and Organic Intelligence at www.organicintelligence.org

Liberated Being is at www. liberatedbeing.community, and on Instagram we are @liberatedbeing.

The Liberated Being embodied practice studio is now open!

Ep 87: Pleasure and Play with Constance Clare-Newman Jan 12, 2021

Today I’m talking with Constance Clare-Newman. Over 30+ years of teaching embodiment, Constance has developed a trauma-sensitive, neuroscience-informed approach to embodiment practices that focus on wholeness of being.

Foremost in her work is a pedagogy of pleasure. The cultural norm of working hard at improvement is relinquished for a slow pace of enjoyment and feelings of pleasure that facilitate healing, creativity and unity of self.

Grounded in her own deep study of somatics, dance, meditation, trauma work, contemplative practices, deep ecology, social justice work and addiction recovery, Constance facilitates a path to wholeness.

She has been studying and teaching movement practices her whole life, as a horse trainer and dressage trainer, as a modern dancer and as an Alexander Technique teacher since 2001.

She is a co-founder of Desert Movement Arts, an intergenerational collective based in Coachella Valley, CA. Constance has taught in performing arts departments of Academy of Art University, University of Redlands, and ACT in San Francisco.

In 2001, Constance completed a three-year Alexander training program in San Francisco with Frank Ottiwell, and has continued her study with master teachers over the world.

I'm also thrilled that Constance is a regular weekly teacher in the Liberated Being online embodied practice studio, which opens to new members this Friday the 15th of January 2021.

You can find out more about Constance’s work at

www.constanceclare.com

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community, and on

Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Ep 86: Trauma and Anxiety are Really Strange with Steve Haines Jan 05, 2021

Today I’m talking with Steve Haines. Steve has been a bodyworker for 20 years primarily in the field of craniosacral therapy. He is now a senior international teacher of craniosacral, and together with his colleague Ged Sumner he wrote the book Cranial Intelligence and founded a training program at bodyintelligence.com. He is also a lead TRE Certification trainer.

He is deeply interested in pain, trauma, and anxiety and the links between them. As an author, he is the creator of the “...Is really strange” graphic books series which I adore. Titles in that series are: Pain is Really Strange, Trauma is Really Strange, and Anxiety is Really Strange. If you’re looking for simple and straightforward explanations about the current “really strange” science behind these experiences, I highly recommend the books. Today we are talking in particular about trauma and anxiety.

This is my second conversation with Steve, the last one was many years ago. It was great to catch up with him.

You can find out more about his work at

www.bodycollege.net

and

www.bodyintelligence.com

Liberated Being is at liberatedbeing.community, and on Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Ep 85: I Am My Ancestor's Dream Come True with Enroue Halfkenny Dec 29, 2020

Today I’m talking with Enroue Halfkenny. Since 1993, Enroue has been a practitioner within the nature based, West African, Òrìṣà religious tradition of the Yorùbá people. He was initiated as a priest of Ifá in Nigeria in 2000.

In 2008, Enroue graduated as Valedictorian from the Smith College School for Social Work. Since then, he has worked in a community mental health clinic, been an adjunct professor, presented at conferences, sat on various panels, and been a Marta Sotomayor Fellow at his alma mater.

In this role, he consulted on undoing the ways that institutional oppression, as related to Race, Gender and Ability, impacted the students, staff, faculty, advisors and administrators at the School for Social Work.

It is his unique skill set as an activist, priest, and clinical social worker that helps him to develop effective, client specific strategies for those seeking his support.

Today we’re talking about ancestral healing and support- you know these people who are bodies are literally made from! As Enroue says- "We all have a road to go back to."

You can find out more about Enroue’s work at

www.healingandliberation.com

Liberated Being is at www.liberatedbeing.community, and on Instagram we are @liberatedbeing

Ep 84: Courageous Compassion with Laura Banks Dec 22, 2020

Today I’m talking with Laura Banks. Laura is a Certified Compassion Cultivation Training© (CCT) teacher through the Compassion Institute and Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE).

Laura has studied literature, languages, folklore, and philosophy to explore expressions of human experience across time. She has traveled around the world to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch life in its countless forms. Joys and sorrows, life and death crossed her path. Again and again, she saw how fear and anger could complicate and magnify pain, but also witnessed people choosing compassion for themselves and others –meeting anguish with loving presence – and spinning the straw of suffering into the gold of connection, healing, and wisdom.

You can learn more about Laura's work here:

https://www.lauralbanks.com/

and she is a teacher in the Liberated Being embodied practice studio which is set to open to new members in January.

You can find out more about Liberated Being at

https://www.liberatedbeing.community/

Resources mentioned in this interview:

A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives by Thupten Jinpa

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Carlton Abrams

Love 2.0: Finding Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection by Barbara Fredrickson

The Compassionate Species, article by Dachner Keltner, faculty director of Greater Good Science Center

Compassion does not fatigue!, research article by Trisha Dowling

Contesting the term ‘compassion fatigue’: Integrating findings from social neuroscience and self-care research, research article by Anne Hofmeyer, Kate Kennedy, and Ruth Taylor

Ep 83: When Resilience Training Gets Really Real with Sarah Histand Dec 15, 2020

Today I’m talking with Sarah Histand who is blending her worlds as a personal trainer, mental health counselor with a masters’ in social work, and an outdoor adventurer to become a mental health-informed adventure fitness trainer

Born & raised in Alaska, Sarah teaches mindful bodyweight interval training classes that build functional strength -- in both body & mind.

Over the last decade, she has built a body of work that brings together fitness, mental health, and outdoor recreation and has worked with hundreds of women from Alaska to Antarctica, to help them build the mind & body strength necessary for life & mountain time.

Her own life's adventures have taught her that we're all capable of more than we realize and is passionate about helping others realize their own potential, discover inner strength & self-worth, break through whatever is holding them back.

You can find out more about Sarah’s work at www.sarahmhistand.com

On Instagram she is @sarahmhistand

And you can follow along with Liberated being at www.liberatedbeing.community

or on Instagram we’re @liberatedbeing.

Ep 82: Expanding the Heart with Will Pye Dec 08, 2020

Today’s episode is an excerpt from a longer guest teacher gathering with Will Pye that took place on October 27th of 2020 within Liberated Being.

This is an especially practice based episode, and it is a profoundly delicious meditation practice. It is a gem of a practice session that you can use sometime when you’re able to drop into a meditative state.

Will Pye’s work is summed up by ‘integrating’; integrating psychological wholeness and spiritual awakening, science and spirituality, reason and intuition, personal wellbeing with collective evolution and social justice.

He is the author of two books: Blessed With A Brain Tumor; Realizing It’s All Gift and Learning to Receive and The Gratitude Prescription; Harnessing the Power of Thankfulness for Healing and Happiness.

Will is also the founder of the community of awakening and sacred activism, Love & Truth Party:

You can find that at www.loveandtruthparty.org and more of his work at www.willpye.com.

Our embodied practice community is at www.liberatedbeing.community

Ep 81: Embodied Relating to Self, Others, and the World Nov 21, 2020

This is a homeplay episode! In other words, it's a chance to be guided through some embodied practice. In this case, it's about inhabiting internal space so that we can relate to ourselves, others, and the world in a more present and clear and heartfelt way. At its core, embodied practice has to be relational or it risks being a hobby or, weirdly, a disembodied "thing to do" or object to acquire. Fortunately, this ability to shift the quality of how we relate is also the big win of embodied practice. Check it out and play with it for yourself in today's episode.

For more information on the longer embodied relating course that Brooke is teaching in the month of December 2020, you can visit www.liberatedbeing.community/spaciousandsturdy Registration is open now through November 30th.

Ep 80: Self-Love as a Language of the Body with Vanessa Scotto Nov 12, 2020

This talk is an excerpt from a longer guest teacher gathering with Vanessa Scotto which took place on May 15th 2020. Vanessa Scotto may sound familiar to you- she is a very dear friend of mine the co-creator of a podcast we ran together for 4 years titled Bliss and Grit which was dedicated to embodied awakening.

She is a Teacher, Mentor and Coach in private practice who has dedicated over two decades to exploring the dynamic interplay of the Mind, Body and Spirit. She holds two masters degrees in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Transpersonal Psychology; and is a certified practitioner of the Realization Process with Judith Blackstone. With a background in Eastern philosophy, Contemplative Psychology, Mysticism and somatic meditation, Vanessa takes a holistic approach to transformation, self-realization and self-love.

You can find out more about Vanessa’s work at vanessascotto.com. And more about Liberated Being at liberatedbeing.community.

Ep 79: Alchemical Resilience with Nkem Ndefo Nov 06, 2020

This talk is an excerpt from a guest teacher gathering with Nkem Ndefo which originally took place on September 24th, 2020. Nkem is the founder and president of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit, a model that promotes embodied self-awareness and self-regulation in an ecologically sensitive framework and social justice context. Licensed as a nurse midwife, Nkem also has extensive post-graduate training in complementary health modalities and emotional therapies. She brings an abundance of experience as a clinician, educator, consultant, and community strategist to innovative programs that address stress and trauma and build resilience for individuals, organizations, and communities across sectors, both in her home country (USA) and internationally. Nkem is particularly interested in working alongside people most impacted by violence and marginalization.

You can find out more about more about Nkem’s work at lumostransforms.com and resiliencetoolkit.co. And Liberated Being at liberatedbeing.community

Ep 78: Stories and Sensation with Pete Blackaby Oct 30, 2020

In today’s episode this is a talk that is an excerpt from a guest teacher gathering with Peter Blackaby which originally took place on August 28th, 2020. Pete Blackaby is a yoga asana teacher and osteopath, and is the author of the book Intelligent Yoga. His interest comes from a loosely humanist perspective firmly rooted in the here and now, and his view has shifted over the years from a largely physical view of yoga to a view that encompasses the complex relationship between things, and the way perception influences everything. What do we make of the impressions that come in through our senses, and how do we respond to those impressions?

You can find out more about Liberated Being at liberatedbeing.community, and more about Peter’s work at peteblackaby.co.uk and intelligentyoga.co.uk

Ep 77: The Merging Pattern with Isha Vela Sep 30, 2020

This talk is an excerpt from a guest teacher gathering with Isha Vela that happened within the Liberated Being embodied practice community. It took place on April 6th of 2020. To give you some context, you’ll hear Isha talking about various survival patterns- you can read more about that via Steven Kessler’s book The Five Personality Patterns. You can find out more about Liberated Being at www.liberatedbeing.community, and more of Isha’s work at www.revolutionaryrompereglas.com.

Ep 76: Moving to the HeartMind with Loch Kelly Sep 23, 2020

This talk is an excerpt from a guest teacher gathering with Loch Kelly that happened within the Liberated Being embodied practice community. It took place on April 27th of 2020. Just to give you a little context, he is talking about moving from locating in the head, to what he refers to as the heartmind. Locating lower down in the body which he is about to guide you through in this recording. You can find out more about Liberated Being at liberatedbeing.community, and more about Loch’s work at lochkelly.org.

Ep 75: Beliefs Are What Our Bodies Are Doing with Bayo Akomolafe Sep 15, 2020

This talk is an excerpt from Bayo Akomolafe's guest teacher gathering on Liberated Being which took place on May 26th 2020. You can find more of his work at www.bayoakomolafe.net and more about the embodied practice community at www.liberatedbeing.community.

Ep 74: Rock My Soul with Jeannie Zandi Sep 10, 2020

This talk is an excerpt from a guest teacher gathering with Jeannie Zandi that happened within the Liberated Being embodied practice community. In this gathering, Jeannie brings deep embodied presence to the question of how we meet this moment in history. It took place on March 27th of 2020. You can find more of Jeannie’s work at jeanniezandi.com, and more about Liberated Being at liberatedbeing.community

Ep 73: Embodying Safety and Capacity Jul 30, 2020

This is a recording of a free class that I taught on July 26th 2020. In the class I talk about why the ability to deeply experience and know safety is so foundational to any shift being able to take place in us and in how we relate to the world. We work with an embodied approach, and go through two practices for coming into embodied presence- both in time and also locating in the body.

The full Embodying Safety and Capacity course begins August 4th and is open for registration at

https://www.liberatedbeing.community/course

Ep 72: What is Embodiment? May 19, 2020

As we all spend time at home these days, I've been reflecting on where Liberated Body took me. So I wanted to record an episode that traced that. It all boils down to one question I think: That question is: What is embodiment? It's an exploration from my own experience- certainly not the final word on anything- and I hope it's interesting and useful for you.

Ep 71: Living Your Body's Intelligence: A Homeplay Episode Jul 11, 2018

This episode functions like a little embodiment gift, courtesy of myself and Liam Bowler, who is the creator of the podcast The Body Awake. It is also an appetizer, a teeny tiny appetizer, of our upcoming weekend course: Living Your Body’s Intelligence, this July 28-29 2018 in Seattle.

So many of you have gotten in touch with me over the years to say how much you liked the “home play” part of the Liberated Body episodes- i.e. the body-based explorations at the end of each show- so you can think of this as one long home play episode! I hope you enjoy it.

If you have listened to Liberated Body and to The Body Awake you know Liam and I are kindred spirits. For both of us our work is dedicated to the larger, and I would say unanswerable inquiries around what is a body? How do we really connect with our bodies and from there with our lives? What gifts does the body have to deliver if we learn how to have an intimate and reciprocal relationship with it?

Over the course of our parallel inquiries it becamse clear that it would be really fun and also uselful to do a class together where we can lead people deep into landing in their bodies, but also to bridge the questions around what you do from there? How does becoming more embodied translate in our lives? How do we change our orientation from concepts and thoughts to being led by our felt experiences and why would we undertake that?

We get into depth with that in our weekend workshop. In this episode there is taste of that- a somatic meditation led by me, and an embodied movement exploration led by Liam. It’s some “land in yourself” assistance- which is where it all starts.

Ep 70: The Farewell Episode Oct 03, 2017

For the past 3 years I have talked with somatic visionaries about new paradigms of understanding about the human body- and today is the final episode of the show. I have had the great honor of exploring inner space with the exceptional people I got to interview, and with all of you listeners who have formed such a warm and inquisitive community. For the final episode my dear friend Vanessa Scotto- who is also my co-host over at my new show Bliss and Grit- is talking to me about the whole Liberated Body journey. How it began, how it evolved, what some of the biggest a-ha highlight moments were for me, and why my work is now focused on embodied spirituality.

Ep 69: Posture, Perception, and Presence with Mary Bond Jul 25, 2017

It is my great good fortune for this to be my second interview with Mary Bond. Mary has an MA in Dance from UCLA, and studied with, and was certified by, Dr. Ida Rolf, the originator of Rolfing Structural Integration. Mary is currently Chair of the Movement Faculty of The Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration in Boulder, CO. She also teaches workshops online and in person tailored to the movement needs and interests of various groups such as runners, dancers, Pilates and yoga instructors, and massage therapists. Mary is also a prolific writer whose articles have appeared in numerous magazines and she has written several books. You may know her best for her book The New Rules of Posture, and in today’s conversation we’re talking about her forthcoming book: Your Body Mandala: Posture, Perception, and Prescence. And her mission, which, much to my delight, is to contribute to humanity’s deeper embodiment.

Ep 68: The Realization Process with Judith Blackstone May 16, 2017

Today I’m talking with Judith Blackstone. Judith is the creator of The Realization Process, which is an integrated approach to embodiment, psychological, relational, physical healing, and spiritual awakening. That maybe sounds like a tall order, but I’m here to tell you as someone who has been in the somatic fields for 20 years and who just finished my certification in The Realization Process, it’s the most accessible and glorious embodiment work I have come across. So it’s a delight for me to be able to introduce one of my teachers here on Liberated Body. Judith is a clinical psychologist and a meditation practitioner and student of contemplative traditions with more than 40 years of experience. She is the author of several books including Belonging Here and The Enlightenment Process, and she is also the co-founder of the Nonduality Institute which is dedicated to the science and practice of non-duality. In today’s conversation we’re talking about “the issues in the tissues”, or how emotional pain gets bound in the body- and also how it can be released, what fundamental consciousness is and why it’s useful to attune to it, how your experience of gravity and your fluidity of movement changes with this embodiment work, what happens when people bypass their stuck emotional pain, and how this work can help what I call the “senseys” of the world- the empaths- to do their work and to live fully without feeling overwhelmed much of the time.

Ep 67: Your Movement is Your Lived Experience with Peter Blackaby Mar 28, 2017

Today I’m talking with Peter Blackaby who is the author of the book Intelligent Yoga which he is currently writing the 2nd edition for. Pete started practicing yoga in 1978 and began teaching in 1986. He then went on to become an osteopath. In 2002 he became involved in the British Wheel of Yoga (which is the governing body in England), and ran a two-year teacher training program for them. Since then, Pete has been running courses for teachers and teaches functional anatomy and biomechanics in the UK and internationally. His interest in the last 15 years has been to put some scientific underpinning to the practice of yoga, both in the biomechanical sense and in the mind/body relationship. In today’s conversation we’re talking about moving away from the Western reductionist view of anatomy, what a bottom up approach to yoga looks like vs. a top down approach, how the whole person’s lived experience is tied into how they move, and how yoga teachers can approach working with students who have chronic pain.

Ep 66: Breath, Inquiry, and Individuality with Leslie Kaminoff Mar 21, 2017

Leslie Kaminoff has been a yoga educator for the last four decades and is an internationally recognized specialist in the fields of yoga and breath anatomy. He leads anatomy and yoga methodology workshops for many of the leading yoga associations, schools and training programs in the world. He is the co-author of the bestselling book Yoga Anatomy, and the founder of The Breathing Project, Leslie has also helped to organize international yoga conferences while serving as Vice-President of Unity in Yoga, and was part of the committee that established national standards for yoga teacher training. In today’s conversation we’re talking about what it was like to have a front row seat for the birth of the fitness and yoga industries in the United States, concepts related to breath and breath anatomy, the art of teaching and the importance of creating an atmosphere of inquiry in yoga classes and how that can honor students’ individuality and allow for deeper insights.

Ep 65: Personal Agency, Movement, and Teaching with Amy Matthews Mar 14, 2017

Today I’m talking with Amy Matthews. Amy Matthews, has been teaching movement since 1994. She is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst, a Body-Mind Centering® Teacher, an Infant Developmental Movement Educator, and a movement therapist and yoga teacher. Amy is also the co-author of the best-selling book Yoga Anatomy, and together Amy and Leslie teach The Breathing Project's Advanced Studies courses. I will also be moderating a symposium called Beyond Anatomy with Amy at The Breathing Project soon- the first weekend of April. In today’s conversation we’re talking about Laban Movement Analysis and body mind centering, developmental movement work, and what that means for infants- how they can get a solid foundation for personal agency and emotional regulation through movement, and how developmental movement work helps adults as well. We also talk about embodied teaching, how teaching is its own art form and how it can call forth student’s personal agency.

Ep 64: Movement Matters with Katy Bowman Mar 07, 2017

Katy Bowman is a biomechanist and the founder of Nutritious Movement. She is the author of several books including Move Your DNA, Whole Body Barefoot, and her most recent collection of essays, Movement Matters. In today’s conversation we’re talking about the ecology of movement. How does your movement affect not just your health but also humans everywhere, even ones you’ve never met, and how does it affect the health of the planet as a whole? We discuss the real impact of our sedentarism and our drive for convenience, and how movement can be a very profound and impactful form of activism.

Ep 62: Beyond Anatomy Jan 17, 2017

I’m talking with Leslie Kaminoff, Amy Matthews, and Peter Blackaby about our upcoming somatic symposium in New York this April called Beyond Anatomy. There is a vast amount of information about the body out there (and in here within the show)- so how do we discern what's applicable and useful and not simply make ourselves crazy with information overload? And what is ""beyond anatomy"" to each of us? For me this is a fantastic way to kick off the whole of season 4 as I am dedicating that season to interviews related to what happens- what happens inside yourself, in your life, in your community- when you dive deeply into the body experientially, rather than simply intellectually. This doesn't mean we're chucking the importance of learning critical things like anatomy- but it does mean there's more to the story. Much, much more!

Ep 61: How Liberated Body Changed Me with Brooke Thomas Aug 16, 2016

Bo Forbes turns the tables and interviews host Brooke Thomas with her own and listener questions. Brooke's personal path with her own body, how learning through the podcast changed the way she sees the body, how she parents based on what she's learned, her current practices (particularly in natural movement and somatic meditation), and what the road ahead looks like are all covered in this closing conversation for season 3.

Ep 60: How Mindful Body Awareness Heals with Cynthia Price Aug 02, 2016

I’m talking with Cynthia Price. Cynthia describes herself as a bodywork researcher, and is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Washington in the Biobehavioral Nursing Department. Her clinical and research expertise is in the development of body awareness, or interoception, to improve health and well-being. She is the creator of an approach towards educating people in body awareness called Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy or MABT for short, and is the founder of the Center for Mindful Body Awareness. Her research studies have focused on the use of MABT for multiple health conditions including Substance Dependency, PTSD, chronic pain, and HIV. Interested in the processes involved in learning mindful body awareness, Cynthia studies qualitative aspects and underlying mechanisms of the MABT approach. She is an author of two scales to measure interoceptive awareness: the Scale of Body Connection (SBC) and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). Committed to increasing health care access to underserved populations, Cynthia works with local and international programs to provide and improve complementary and integrative health care through her research, teaching, and service. Cynthia’s work is essentially getting at the heart of what I’m most excited about in approaches towards the body. Cynthia and I talk about what MABT’s components are and how it helps people with a diverse range of challenges in clinical settings, how and why she came to do this work, and, more broadly, why we disembody, how individual that is, and what we gain when we cultivate a relationship with our bodies.

Ep 59: The Architecture of Living Tissue with Jean-Claude Guimberteau Jul 19, 2016

Today I’m talking with Dr. Jean-Claude Guimberteau. Dr Guimberteau practiced for many years as a hand surgeon specializing in microsurgical replantation and transplantation. He is the co-founder and former scientific director of The Aquitany Hand Institute, and was the director of research at the French Society of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery. Many of you know him best for his groundbreaking work exploring and defining the movement of tissues beneath the skin using an intraoperative endoscopic camera to record living tissues, and to develop concepts related to the new paradigm of biological structure in human beings. You can view some of those videos on YouTube, and the DVD and illustrated book, The Architecture of Human Living Fascia, explores the subject very deeply. In our conversation today we talk about how he transitioned out of performing surgery and into this discovery of form. We talk about the multimicrovacuolar collagenous absorbing system, or MVCAS for short, and what it has to do with form, how we are volumes, that the traditional anatomical view point of movment happening in 3 planes is incorrect, how each movement is unique, and that structurally we are an apparent, yet intelligent, chaos.

Ep 58: Parkour with Julie Angel Jul 05, 2016

Julie Angel received her doctorate researching Parkour, and she has a new book out, Breaking the Jump, which chronicles the birth of this movement. The book, and our conversation, wind up tackling the larger issues that have emerged out of Parkour- like how the origin and effects of this movement is about something so much bigger than athletics or physical training; Really how it was and is a way to evolve as a human. We also get into our cultural biases to, on the one hand, abuse ourselves with physical training, and on the other hand be so obsessively careful and terrified of movement or of leaning into the edges of one’s capabilities that we wind up without much middle ground. We also discuss Julie’s personal journey from a sedentary academic to someone who also does Parkour and how that has changed her and how she sees the world.

Ep 57: Your Body Is Your Soul with Jaap van der Wal Jun 14, 2016

Jaap van der Wal is a phenomenological embryologist who is looking for the soul via the embryo and teaches about this all over the world through his Embryo in Motion project. In our conversation today we talked about the dualistic time we are living in and how we make the brain and/or the genes the most important “parts” of the body- how we conceptually consider the body a machine that comes in parts, and the way we separate the soul from the body. Jaap discusses how the embryo challenges the notion that we are our brains, that genes do not cause what happens in a body, that motion is primary and form is secondary- or that we are always a present tense alive process that is performing, and hence creating, the body , what fascia has to do with all of this, and that the body does not have a soul, it IS a soul.

Ep 56: Embodied Cognition and Its Effect on Health with Cathy Kerr May 31, 2016

Cathy Kerr is the director of the Mind In Body Lab at Brown University. Her research focuses on whether brain rhythms underlying body awareness and movement are actively modulated by mindfulness and movement practices such as Tai Chi and Qigong. Her hope is that understanding how these therapies work will have a positive impact on conditions like aging and chronic pain or functional disorders where these approaches have shown the clearest therapeutic benefit.

She joined me today to talk about the focus of her research broadly, but also to discuss a specific research study that is in progress which is looking at the effects of qigong on distressed female cancer survivors, and tells us a great deal about qigong’s effect on inflammation.

Ep 55: A New Paradigm of Anatomy with John Sharkey May 17, 2016

In this episode I am talking with John Sharkey who is a Clinical Anatomist, Exercise Physiologist, and European Neuromuscular Therapist. He has developed the worlds only Masters Degree in Neuromuscular Therapy which is Accredited by the University of Chester, he is on the editorial board for the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, the International Journal of Osteopathy, and the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.. He is also a member of the Olympic Councils medical Team and a founding member of the B.I.G, otherwise known as the Biotensegrity Interest Group). He has also authored several books including the 3rd edition of The Concise Book of Muscles which we talk about in the interview.

John and I are talking here in great depth about the old paradigm of anatomy and biomechanics and what the new paradigm holds. This is critical stuff here. We are on the brink of a new understanding of the living human body and it’s time to look at the old models, look at where they come from, and to look at why they are outdated. So if you’re interested in living tissue vs. cadavers, biotensegrity vs. biomechanics, continuity of form vs. origin insertion, and how individual human anatomy is and what that changes about our often dogmatic approaches to the body this episode is for you.

Ep 54: The End of the Structural Model with Eyal Lederman May 03, 2016

Dr. Eyal Lederman joins me to talk in particular about his paper titled “A process approach in manual and physical therapies: beyond the structural model" and his controversial view that the structural model is outdated and needs to be replaced. We discuss what he sees it replaced with and how patients are treated at his clinic, and what the benefits are to people when we expand beyond structural explanations for things.

Ep 53: Interoception in Practice with Bo Forbes Apr 19, 2016

Bo Forbes is a clinical psychologist, yoga teacher, and Integrative Yoga Therapist. We’re following up on the last two episodes which are pretty interoception based- first with Will Johnson and then with Norm Farb. A central guiding theme of Bo’s work is with interoception, and she has put together the Interoception Tribal Council which is bringing together researchers, primarily neuroscientists, who are looking at interoception and its effect on the whole person’s health both physically and mentally. In this conversation we talk about some of the amazing research that is coming out these days, but we also talk about her own experience putting her interoceptive abilities to the test when she underwent hip surgery this year- which was her 4th hip surgery in 8 years. It’s a really beautiful story of living one’s practice.

Ep 52: Interoception, Contemplative Practice and Health with Norm Farb Mar 29, 2016

Ep 51: Discovering The Line with Will Johnson Mar 15, 2016

Wil Johnson is the founder of the Institute for Embodiment Training. In today’s conversation we dove into what Dr. Rolf’s original concept of “The Line” was, and discuss its implications for both finding delicious support in our bodies and also for its ability to evoke our evolutionary potential.

Ep 50: Stop Mindless Stretching with Steve Gangemi Mar 01, 2016

Dr. Steve Gangemi, aka The Sock Doc, has ruffled more than a few feathers with his proclamations that stretching is for Bozos... these days he's tempered his statement to "stop mindless stretching". He joins me in this conversation to talk about what stretching even is, what flexibility is really a reflection of (hint: it's not your stretching regimen), why we might feel the need to stretch, and more.

Ep 49: Inflammation and Connective Tissue with Helene Langevin Feb 09, 2016

ep 48: Biotensegrity and Fascia Research Congress Oct 06, 2015

I give my take on the 7th Biotensegrity Interest Group, the 1st Biotensegrity Summit, and the 4th Fascia Research Congress all of which recently took place in Reston, Virginia.

ep 47: Born to Walk with James Earls Sep 08, 2015

James Earls, author of Born to Walk, takes a very whole system approach to understanding walking.We talk about how the whole body walks, different schools of thought that have looked at walking in “parts” instead, how we are seduced into seeing anatomy with the same eye that we look at the manmade world around us, his homage to Robert Hooke who was a contemporary of Newton’s,understanding ground reaction force, the essentialness of efficiency in our evolution, the debate about whether or not walking is controlled falling, fascial wrappings as hydraulic amplifiers and oh so much more.

ep 46: The Spark in the Machine with Dan Keown Aug 18, 2015

Dr. Dan Keown, who is both a Western medical doctor and a Chinese medicine doctor joins me for a conversation about his book The Spark in the Machine. We talk about many of the crucial things that Western medicine ignores- things like fascia, extracellular fluid, how an embryo knows how to organize around a seeming blueprint, and how your spirit affects your health. We talk about how fascia explains chi, how and why jing and shen are better predictors of lifespan and health than a person’s genetics, what cancer has to do with fascia and chi, how we are all built like crystals and what that has to do with piezoelectricity, and so much more.

Ep 45: How We Form and Move with Joanne Avison Aug 04, 2015

Joanne Avison, author of Yoga, Fascia, Anatomy, and Movement, talks with me about fascia and why it has been overlooked historically (which includes a fascinating tour through the history of anatomy and its relationship to the Catholic church), how we form embryologically and what implications that has for biomechanics vs. biotensegrity (or biomechanics vs. biomotion), what that changes when we think about movement and the language we use about movement and the body,

ep 44: Stand Up Kids with Juliet Starrett Jul 21, 2015

Juliet Starrett talks about the non-profit she and her husband Kelly have founded, Stand Up Kids, which aims to spread movement rich classrooms throughout the nation. They've started with their children's public school in California, which this August aims to be the first chair-free school in the United States. How can standing desks create a movement-rich classroom environment instead of just replacing old furniture with new furniture? Hear the key details that make that possible. How is a movement rich classroom environment and equality issue for boys and/or children with ADHD?How can you make this happen in your community?

ep 43: Making Classrooms Movement Friendly Jul 07, 2015

ep: 42 Physical Disempowerment of Infants and Children with Kathleen Porter Jun 23, 2015

How have our "advances" physical disempowered infants and children? What long terms costs does that have? How might the epidemics related to poorly functioning nervous systems be linked to or influenced by this? How do we send the message that what is "out there" is more important than what is "in here"?What are some of the movement-related predictors and therapies for autism spectrum disorders?

ep 41: The Long Body with Frank Forencich Jun 09, 2015

Frank Forencich and I talk about "the long body". A Native American term about how we are massively connected with the biological and social world around us. Where does the human body begin and end? Why is our perception of ourselves as isolated units dangerous? Why do we have nervous systems?Are we currently living in an alien environment?What are some of the features of our culture that make is a "short culture"?How is technology changing our nervous systems and our relationships? How has stress changed since paleo times?

Ep 40: Navigating Pain with Neil Pearson May 26, 2015

Ep 39: Natural Born Heroes with Christopher McDougall May 12, 2015

Ep 38: The Bliss of Your Biology with Ged Sumner May 05, 2015

Ep 37: Embodied Mindfulness with Jamie McHugh Apr 21, 2015

Where are we teaching critical sensing skills (instead of just critical thinking skills)? What is true physical education? Are classical meditation forms incompatible with modern life and the modern mind? How do we use the expressive capacity of our bodies to connect as communities of humans?

Episode 36: Barbara Loomis: Uterine Wisdom Feb 10, 2015

Barbara Loomis talks about the surprising symptoms that can spring from uterine malpositioning- urinary incontinence, constipation, fertility issues, and even knee pain with ovulation. We also talk about the normal movement of the uterus, what we can do to keep it in as happy a position as possible, and some of the cultural things that contribute to a malpositioned uterus. Additionally we talk about the risks of hysterectomies, and the controversies that spring up around whether or not women should lift- if that affects uterine issues or contributes to problems in pregnancy. .

Episode 35: Dr. Stephen Levin: Biotensegrity Feb 03, 2015

I am talking with Dr. Stephen Levin about what biotensegrity is, the many ways that we are not like skyscrapers, how the difference between the bicycle wheel and the wagon wheel can illustrate the concept of how we are “pre-stressed”, what viscoelasticity is, the shoulder as a sesamoid bone, some examples of the many tensegrity structures we can find in nature if we know what we’re looking for, what the ichosahedron has going for it and why we should care, and more!

Episode 34: Judith Aston: Our Relationship to our Bodies and Their Relationship to the World Jan 27, 2015

I talk to somatic pioneer Judith Aston about the Aston Kinetics paradigm and how it integrates seamlessly with other paradigms like yoga, Pilates, and personal training, how seeing the body is taught in those disciplines and what seeing the body even means, our bodies not just as self-contained units but also about their interactions with the physical world, thoughts on the impact of product design on our bodies, what the early days of co-creating with Dr. Rolf and other pioneers was like, and the meaning behind her quote, “sometimes we just need help interpreting ourselves.”

Episode 33: Eyal Lederman: The Myth of Core Stability Jan 20, 2015

Dr. Eyal Lederman talks about his paper, The Myth of Core Stability. We get into the assumptions that were pulled out of the research which have lead to the core stability model, how dividing muscles into “core” and “global” groups is a reductionist fantasy, why the focus on the transversus abdominus is faulty, and the problems training for core stability can create.

Episode 32: Steve Gangemi: Raising the Bar for What “Healthy” Means Jan 13, 2015

Dr. Steve Gangemi, aka The Sock Doc, is a chiropractic physician and MovNat certified trainer who is merging functional neurology and nutritional biochemistry into mainstream natural healthcare. We talk about foot health as a gauge of a person’s overall health, the recent Vibrams 5 Fingers lawsuit, orthotics, the dangers of stretching, why you want to move your ass often but not quickly, long term effects of doing only high intensity workouts, and much more.

Episode 31: Gil Hedley: Exploring Inner Space Jan 06, 2015

Gil Hedley is an ethicist and anatomist who runs unique human dissection labsthat are much more about discovering the reality of our connectedness than about finding the separations between things. We talk about how our model of the body determines our relationship with it, the superficial fascia and what’s up with everyone ignoring it?, different tissue layers as different antennea of the body, insights into the famous “fuzz speech” and more.

Episode 30: Carolyn McMakin: The Resonance of Repair Dec 23, 2014

Dr. Carolyn McMakin talks about Frequency Specific Microcurrent, our bodies as electromagnetic systems, the history of electromagnetic medicine, and the dramatic results of Frequency Specific Microcurrent on a diverse range of things from inflammation to shingles. As an expert in Fibromyalgia and chronic pain syndromes she also talks about the range of causes of fibromyalgia, and how we must understand what prompted an individual to develop fibromyalgia in the first place if we ever hope to resolve it.

Episode 29: Amanda Joyce: Parkinson’s Disease and Movement as Powerful Medicine Dec 16, 2014

Amanda Joyce talks about her work as a Parkinson’s Disease Movement Disorder Specialist. We get into how powerful movement can be, even in progressive disease processes, and Amanda also talks about her own journey with scleroderma.

Episode 28: Mary Bond: Posture is an Exploration Dec 09, 2014

Mary Bond, author of The New Rules of Posture, talks about how and why the word “posture” is problematic, how poor posture becomes chronic, what muscular armoring is and how it interferes with our functioning, the distinction between support and stabilization, the relationship between facial and spinal tension, and what it means to be a tongue gripper and how that affects people.

Episode 27: Michol Dalcourt: What Training the Whole Body Really Means Dec 02, 2014

Michol Dalcourt is the director of the Institute of Motion. He and I talk about what “farm kid fit” means and why it matters, how are we are upright if our bones don’t touch?, how fascia moves the body- not just muscles- our body as a fluid organism and why we need to pay attention to its fluid dynamics, tensegrity! (one of my favorite subjects...), what he means when he says the body is a lever-less system and other concepts in the “new” biomechanics, why we need to zoom out and not just focus on the nervous system’s effect on muscles, and how the fitness industry’s go to approach of training for speed via more strength is actually slowing people down.

Episode 26: Self-Care, Movement Scavenger Hunt, Holiday Giveaway Spectacular! Nov 25, 2014

This being the week of Thanksgiving in the US, I am talking about Liberated Body’s self-care, movement scavenger hunt, holiday giveaway spectacular which kicks off on the facebook group (www.facebook.com/liberatedbody) on Friday the 28th. For 9 days I am giving away my favorite self-care gifts for 2014. Each day we will have a different movement to “find” as many times as possible throughout our day, and whoever uploads the best photo or video will win the self-care goodies of the day! In this episode I explain how it works and what will be given away.

Episode 25: Todd Hargrove: Pain Science and How to be a Happy Mover Nov 18, 2014

Todd Hargrove is talking about what happy movers have in common, how learning better movement is more like sculpture than painting, the feather-ruffling information that posture does not predict pain levels- and how posture still matters and why. We also dig into motor control, cortical maps, the neuromatrix model, and all kinds of wild things about how perceptual tricks affect our brain and our perception of our body which gets us asking, “What is pain really?”. Of course we also discuss what our nervous system wants from us in order to keep it from creating pain and dysfunction in the first place so that we can all be happier in our bodies.

Episode 24: Jill Miller: The Roll Model Nov 11, 2014

I talk with Jill Miller, co-founder of Tune Up Fitness Worldwide and creator of the corrective exercise formats Yoga Tune Up and The Roll Model Method about her recent book by the same name (The Roll Model), the current pain epidemic in our culture, why self-care is health care, the difference between good pain and bad pain, and what it takes to remodel your “fascia suit”. We also talk about many of the profound and touching stories of people who recovered themselves through this method, including Jill’s own journey.

Episode 23: Gary Ward: What the Foot? Nov 04, 2014

I’m talking with Gary Ward who is the founder of Anatomy in Motion, and the author of the book What the Foot?. He talks about how Anatomy in Motion is based on understanding how the body moves- or what the body does and when it does it, why change can happen in minutes instead of months, why Gary is not a fan of stretching, redefining “neutral” as “center”, how we need to learn how to have better posture in a subconscious way, what nobody-ever-moved-me-itis is, and of course, plenty about the feet as the gateway to appropriate movement everywhere else.

Episode 22: Anne Tierney: Ki-Hara Resistance Stretching Oct 28, 2014

Anne Tierney and I talk about Ki-Hara Resistance Stretching,what the advantages are of this kind of eccentric training, why alleviating global imbalances is the name of the game, how all of this can lead to a pain-free life, the dangers of overstretching, and why the results of this kind of work are more lasting.

Episode 21: Sayonara Short Hamstrings Oct 21, 2014

This episode includes outtakes from interviews I did with Jules Mitchell, Dr. Dawn McCrory, Jillian Nichols, and Rachel Bernsen for the Liberated Body Guide to Short Hamstrings. We get into the what and the why behind persistently unyielding hamstrings including why they feel like an emergency brake, how your nervous system is the limiter, why strength training is more effective than static stretching, what posture and alignment have to do with it, what some of the important things are to rule out, and how more global patterns- including but not limited to butt gripping and knee locking- create a heavier workload for your poor, put upon hamstrings.

Episode 20: Katy Bowman: Move Your DNA Oct 14, 2014

Katy Bowman, biomechanist and founder of Restorative Exercise talks with us about her most recent book. Move Your DNA. We get into what diseases of mechanotransduction are, the profound ways our environment shapes us, why exercise and movement are not synonymous, how cardio can be harmful in our sedentary times, and how we are animals who have put ourselves in our own cages. Plus much, much more.

Episode 19: Constance Clare-Newman: Alexander Technique Oct 07, 2014

Constance Clare-Newman and I talk Alexander Technique, the difference between un-doing vs. doing (or relaxing into expansive support vs. propping oneself up), tensegrity concepts, the support relationships within our body, and (hey, why not!) what makes for good sex vs. “meh” sex.

Episode 18: Jonathan Fitzgordon: Psoas Release Party! Sep 30, 2014

Jonathan Fitzgordon, creator of the CoreWalking Method, talks about the uniqueness of the psoas muscle, how its connected to trauma and uprightness, and how and why to release it. He also gets into gait patterns, what the most common dysfunctional gait patterns are these days, and how changing your walk can actually resolve your pain and discomfort issues (and more). Last but not least we also get into one of my favorite topics- why we all need to stick our butts out more and what that means.

Episode 17: Bo Forbes: Mindfulness Expressed in the Body Sep 23, 2014

Bo Forbes, clinical psychologist, yoga teacher, and integrative yoga therapist talks about what Integrative Yoga Therapy is, interoception, relaxing rather than corralling into expansion, why vinyasa and restorative yoga fit together on a continuum, and how using momentum when we get uncomfortable can get us onto some pretty slippery slopes.

Episode 16: Darryl Edwards: Primal Play Sep 16, 2014

Darryl Edwards, founder of the Primal Play methodology and author of Paleo Fitness, talks about some of the research on inactivity, the subtle yet proliferating messages in our environment that warn us that movement might be dangerous, how his acronym PRIMALity spells out a thoughtful take on what our movement programs should address, and what a play-based lifestyle looks like.

Episode 15: Steve Haines: Body Maps and Interoception Sep 09, 2014

Steve Haines talks about Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, body maps and how they become strange or distorted, interoception and why there is more pain in areas that we have less interoception about- or are more poorly mapped, and the huge role the vagal nerve plays in our bodies and our sense of well-being.

Episode 14: Judith Hanson Lasater: The Power of Restoration Sep 02, 2014

Judith Hanson Lasater talks about being one of BKS Iyengar’s first students and, especially in light of his recent passing, some of his teachings that have stayed with her the most through the years. We also discuss why she has become one of Restorative Yoga’s biggest proponents, what her take is on the explosion of yoga today and how it differs from the yoga she first studied, the how and the why of anger, anxiety, and depression being our most pervasive cultural issues, and, last but not least, why we all need to stop tucking our tailbones!

Episode 13: David Weinstock: Neurokinetic Therapy and Motor Control Theory Aug 26, 2014

David Weinstock, founder of Neurokinetic Therapy, talks about motor control theory, how we create healthy and dysfunctional patterns, what our scars can tell us about ourselves, how eye movements facilitate muscle movements throughout the body, and TMJD including the hips/pelvis/jaw connection.

Episode 12: Valerie Berg: Structural Aging At Any Age Aug 19, 2014

Picture the standard old-person shuffle that we have come to assume is the norm. Why do we assume this is what happens to a body over time? What are the beginnings of these patterns and how can we catch them in their early stages? And, of course, how can we avoid them? Valerie Berg talks about the precursor signs, symptoms, and outcomes of structural aging, and how it can begin to happen at any age (and more and more is happening at young ages). We get into how a gradually increasing fear of movement contributes to this, what the most common symptoms are to show up first as the structure begins to age, how visual perception affects everything, and how we can get more multi-planar movement into our daily lives.

Episode 11: Tom Myers: Mapping the Anatomy of Connection Aug 12, 2014

Tom Myers, founder of Anatomy Trains and Kinesis Myofascial Integration, talks about the history of Anatomy Trains and how he came to chart connections through the fascial fabric, where Newtonian biomechanics fall short, fascia as the 3rd big autoregulatory system, what Kinesthetic IQ is and why it matters, common misconceptions about fascia, and more. Phew! Lots of good stuff!

Episode 10: Matthew Lacoste: Journeying Through the History of Massage Aug 05, 2014

www.liberatedbody.com/matthew-lacoste-lbp-010 Matthew Lacoste of www.thetouchtrail.com talks about the epic journey that he is kicking off next month. He’ll be traveling the world following the history of massage. On a bike. That converts into a massage chair. Using massage as his primary currency. Wow! He’s sure to get an up close view into how massage affects many different kinds of people’s lives, as well as charting how touch has influenced society throughout history.

Episode 9: Jules Mitchell: The Science of Stretching Jul 29, 2014

http://www.liberatedbody.com/jules-mitchell-lbp-009 I get a chance to talk with Jules Mitchell right after she turned in her Master’s thesis in the science of stretching. Jules’ work blends biomechanics with the tradition of yoga to help people move better, and while looking into the research on stretching she discovered some pretty eye-opening things! For example, the idea that we can persistently stretch a muscle and have it grow longer, it turns out, is not exactly true. We get into many other myths of stretching- and it seems there are plenty- what really works, what’s really risky, and what a better model of viewing the body might be when we put aside the “stretch tight bits to make them looser” paradigm.

Episode 8: Nancy DeLucrezia: How Bodies Change Jul 22, 2014

Nancy DeLucrezia, founder of Neuro-Structural Bodywork and of The Kali Institute, talks about the importance of connecting fascial release with neuro-muscular re-education, or how to address both the hardware and the software of our bodies. She also talks about breathwork and somato-emotional release, and her own process of becoming embodied and of healing.

Episode 7: Britt Johnson: Thriving From a Chronic Patient’s Perspective Jul 15, 2014

Britt Johnson of The Hurt Blogger talks about life with autoimmune arthritis, how movement helped her to rehabilitate her body, her work to facilitate more patient-centered care as a bio-consultant and e-patient scholar, and her ambitious training to meet her mountaineering goal of one day climbing Denali.

Episode 6: Matthew Remski: What Are We Actually Doing In Asana? Jul 08, 2014

www.liberatedbody.com/matthew-remski-lbp-006 Matthew Remski discusses his WAWADIA (What Are We Actually Doing In Asana) Project. We get into if yoga was ever really intended as a physically therapeutic practice, what the Hatha yogis may have actually been after, injury rates in asana practice, the bias towards flexibility, and what a yoga practice can offer us.

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