HOLLY SWEENEY-HILLMAN is a TTM faculty, Anatomy and Biomechanics, academic coordinator and Co-Director of the Teachers Academy USA.  Holly has a degree in dance and graphic arts from The University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA and a Masters degree in orthopedic biomechanics from New York University. She is a certified Alexander Technique teacher and practicing CranioSacral therapist. 

 She has written numerous articles on the biomechanics of tai chi for the International Journal of Tai Chi Chuan. In addition to tai chi, she practices the movement arts of horse riding and recurve bow archery. She was inducted in 2015 as a direct disciple of Grandmaster Yang Jun, receiving the name Yang Yahui. She currently resides and teaches tai chi in New Jersey.

In this episode we discuss:

• Her background in dance and biomechanics
• Alexander Technique and the nervous system
• Tai Chi Chuan and fascia
• Salutogenesis & how to cultivate it through movement 
• Fibroblasts & fascia healing 
• How different types of movements affects fascia differently

To learn more about Holly please visit https://taichistrong.com.

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Lawrence Gold is a Hanna Somatic Educator. Initially Lawrence begin studying physical therapy before being drawn to the work of Ida Rolf following an injury. Impressed with the structural integration he was taught he wanted to find out more and eventually began studying Rolfing with Emmet Hutchins, Ida Rolf's first appointed teacher.

He was part of the first and only Hanna Somatic Education Training Course taught by Thomas Hanna. Having completed the course he was asked to continue on as an instructor on the Hanna Somatic Education Training course in Novato California. 

In this episode we discuss:

• How he discovered somatics
• Ida Rolf's structural integration
• Pandiculation 
• The first Hanna Somatic Education Training Course and his Experience on it
• The etymology and meaning of Somatics
• Tetraseed awareness practice
• Tension patters

Lawrence  has created an advanced handbook of practice for professional practitioners and continues to develop the technique.
Links:
Lawrence Gold's Website: http://somatics.com
Pandiculation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUHwNbR7qYY
Thomas Hanna's "Clinical Somatic Education" article: https://somatics.com/hannart.htm

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Ryan is a Feldenkrais teacher from Texas now living in Mexico. He’s been studying and teaching the method since the early 2000’s. He is a long time meditation practitioner having studied with Thích Nhất Hạnh, the Vietnamese monk who founded Plum Village.  Ryan uses Feldenkrais as a way to develop awareness. He uses the sensory motor learning process as a way help students organize their physical movements to discover their own ease and freedom.  

In this episode we discuss:

• How he discovered Feldenkrais
• His background in meditation
• His time as an academic
• The importance of embodiment 
• Pros and cons of certification programs
• The similarities of various somatic modalities 

You can visit Ryan's website ryannagy.com where he publishes his Feldenkrais lessons and an insightful blog about the work and history of the method.

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On this episode I had the pleasure to discuss the Alexander Technique with Jeando Masoero. Jeando is a master teacher and translator of F.M. Alexander's work, having translated all of Alexander's books into French. While working on these translations Jeando discovered that Alexander had studied and was a teacher of the Delsarte Method of Movement which is remarkably similar to Alexander's early approach to his Technique. Realizing this connection Jeando focused on this early work and created his own version of the Alexander Technique the Initial Alexander Technique.

His special interests are:
1.teaching Conscious Control of the postural mechanism,
2.studying self-speech (instructions or orders) as a means to develop the executive functions and the higher mental functions,
3.experimenting how using a conception (a psycho-mechanical representation) can change the use of the self.

 If you’d like to find about Jeando you can visit https://www.initial-alexandertechnique.org 

In this episode we discuss

• Why his method is challenging for new practitioners 
• How habits play a role in the use of the self
• A new way of moving through directing the bones
• Creating experiments to discover new movements
• How the hyoid bone affects breathing and the use of the thorax

Remember to subscribe to the Somatic Primer Podcast  for more engaging conversations. Please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show. You can find out more about Jeando  on our website somaticprimer.com. Thank you!

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Georges Dreyfus is  Professor of Religion at Williams College, Massachusetts. His focus is in the fields of Tibetology and Buddology, with a particular interest in Indian Buddhist philosophy, philosophy of mind, and cognitive processes. 

At the age of 20, Dreyfus left his native home of Switzerland and backpacked across Eastern Europe through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to India. He traveled to Dharamsala where he first encountered Tibetan Buddhism. Captivated by its philosophy, he entered a monastery and began the studies that lasted for 15 years. In 1985 he would be the first Westerner to receive the Geshe Lharampa degree, the highest available within the Tibetan scholastic tradition.

He is author of several books including, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk, and Recognizing Reality: Dharmakirti's Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations.

Dr. Dreyfus and Bryson discuss:

• His journey from Switzerland to India
• How he came to be a Buddhist monk
• The daily life of a Buddhist monk
• The Philosophy of Conscious in Buddhism
• Meeting the Dalai Lama
• The Path of Meditation vs. Scholarship
• Tibetan Debating System
• and much more...

Remember to subscribe to the Somatic Primer Podcast  for more engaging conversations. Please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show. Thank you for listening!

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This episode of the Somatic Primer Podcast features Tim Cartmell. Tim  has over 30 years of experience in martial arts including Kung Fu San Su, Xing Yi Quan , Ba Gua Zhang, Tai Ji Quan, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Tim is the author of the best selling book "Effortless Combat Throws," and "Passing the Guard." He is the translator of the several books including  "The Method of Chinese Wrestling" and "Chin Na Fa: Traditional Chinese Submission Grappling." 

He teaches full time in Huntington Beach CA, where he has combined the stand-up fighting of Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, and Taijiquan with the ground work of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to create his Shen Wu curriculum.

Tim and Bryson discuss:

• History and development of health concepts and traditional marital arts in China
• Tim's studies in China 
• Biomechanics in the martial arts and the similarities to Western Somatic practices
• Traditional approaches to teaching and studying different disciplines
• The interconnectedness of meditation and somatic practices 

Remember to subscribe to the Somatic Primer Podcast  for more engaging conversations. Please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show. You can find out more about Tim at http://www.shenwu.com/index.html. Thank you for listening!

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Eleanor Criswell is emeritus professor of psychology and former chair of the psychology department, Sonoma State University. Founding director of the Humanistic Psychology Institute, she is editor of Somatics Magazine, the magazine-journal of the mind-body arts and sciences, and director of the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training. Her books include Biofeedback and Somatics: Toward Personal Evolution, How Yoga Works: An Introduction to Somatic Yoga, and she is editor of Cram's Introduction to Surface Electromyography. She is past president and board member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, president of the Somatics Society.  She is the originator of Somatic Yoga and Equine Hanna Somatics. Her research interests include biofeedback/neurofeedback, psychophysiology, yoga, mind-body practices, somatics, and meditation.

To find out more about Dr. Criswell's work please visit, somaticsed.com

Dr. Criswell and Bryson discuss:

• The life of Thomas Hanna
• Hanna's introduction to the Feldenkrais Method and working with Moshe
• How he developed Somatic Education
• Dr. Criswell's interest in Embodiment
• What is Somatic Awareness
• How to live an embodied life

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This episode of the Somatic Primer Podcast features Alfons Grabher.

Alfons Grabher is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner from Vienna, Austria. His Youtube channel "Improving ability” ranked #1 on Feedspot’s Top 20 Feldenkrais Youtube Channels in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. He is author of several books including "My Feldenkrais Book”, a workbook with movement lessons.

Alfons and Bryson discuss:

• How Alfons discovered the Feldenkrais Technique
• Advantages & Disadvantages of online learning
• Methodology of the Technique
• Internal focus during the practice
• Experiences on the Training Course
• Spontaneity & Curiosity

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This episode of the Somatic Primer Podcast features Vivien Schapera. Vivien is an Alexander Technique teacher and teacher trainer.  In 1993, Vivien and her husband, Neil, founded Alexander Technique of Cincinnati, a school for training Alexander Teachers, and in 1999, Vivien founded FourWinds Academy for the Healing Arts & Sciences. Vivien teaches workshops in all her subjects from coast to coast in the USA, in London, UK, and in Cape Town, South Africa.

Vivien and Bryson discuss

• Growing up in South Africa
• How she discovered the Alexander Technique 
• Her fascinating journey from Cape Town, to London, and finally building her school for training Alexander Teachers in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Key ideas of the technique, such as the "Means - Whereby" and her insights into these practices
• How the Alexander Technique compares to other somatic practices
• and much more.

Remember to subscribe to the Somatic Primer Podcast  for more engaging conversations. Please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show. You can find out more about Vivien at schapera.com and on our website somaticprimer.com. Thank you!

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