“It’s not happiness that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy.” – Br. David Steindl Rast
A note from Erin & Carl: Friends – after many years in the making, it’s finally here!!! We’re thrilled. Drumroll please…… OUR PODCAST IS LIVE!!! WELCOME TO THE EMBODIMENT MATTERS PODCAST | WAKING UP & BEING EMBODIED Embodiment Matters is an ongoing, rich conversation about what it really means to be embodied, and why and…
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A note from Carl: A poem that I return to most frequently is this beauty from William Stafford: The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for…
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A note from Erin: What I most want to write about this morning is the gift and the calling of community, and our deep longing to belong. A photo of the amazing community of people who attended our Ghost Ranch Retreat last year. You can still register for September! I keep realizing what an extraordinary gift it…
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A note from Carl: Recently, Erin and I have been beginning our weeks with a Monday morning inner-listening practice. The practice, which has roots in Focusing and Embodied Life, in one that can be so simple it can be easy to miss the profundity. We sit across from each other on our couches, and while Erin…
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Good day! I woke up today pondering the Grief Tending Ritual my friend, Kinde Nebeker, and I are hosting at Great Salt Lake, likely in the rain, tonight, with an amused sense of “Wow. I never expected to be doing this. And yet, how perfect.” As I buzzed my coffee beans in the dark and quiet morning, with the…
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A note from Carl: Greetings! Before I head into this week’s reflections, I want to remind those in our local vicinity that we still have space in our Movement Immersion this weekend, exploring squatting on Saturday, and many other dynamic, functional, enlivening movements. You can come to either day or the whole weekend– it will be awesome and…
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A note from Erin: Hello! Here’s something important. We need beauty. Like a soul nutrient. We may be withering for want of it, or for beauty’s want of our deep attention. How can we bring more beautyto the world today? How can we stay determined to pause, to see, to praise the beauty that surrounds us? “Beauty is…
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A note from Erin: Good day! I’d love to share an excerpt I particularly loved from Michael Meade’s book Fate & Destiny: “We are each woven into the common world of time and space, yet we are also secretly tied to things eternal. We each have a foot in time and a toehold in eternity;…
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A note from Carl: Erin recently introduced me to Stephen Jenkinson’s book, Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul. This book will join the cherished collection of books in my world that I would call the life-changers. There have been many, many through the years, all held with immense gratitude. The “me” that entered this book is…
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A note from Erin: Hi Friends! I recorded a short video for you about Grief Tending which I want to share here. Locals, please mark your calendar as my friend Kinde Nebeker of New Moon Rites of Passage and I will be co-facilitating a Grief Tending Ritual at Great Salt Lake on the evening of Thursday, March 22nd.…
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A note from Carl: Recently, several clients have been asking me about exercise. They resonate with what they have learned through the Feldenkrais pedagogy – they no longer want to just push and crank on themselves, but also they also want to grow stronger, and be agile, and keep their bone density with aging. “Should I do yoga? Should…
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A note from Erin: As we prepare to begin our Fifteen Favorite Feldy Lessons online course on Monday, I wanted to share some more ideas about why this work is so timely and important. While many Feldenkrais professionals may have very different ideas about this than I do, I’d love to share from my heart why it matters…
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A note from Erin: Is it worth taking the time to slow down and learn from what poet Hafiz calls “the most insignificant movements of your own holy body?” I believe it is. I have a lot to say about why this work is important. For starters, here are seven perspectives in answer to the question: Why Feldenkrais?…
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A note from Carl: Greetings Friends, As we are so excited today to open registration for our home study series “Fifteen Favorite Feldy Lessons,” I wanted to share a great story we heard from one of our early Feldenkrais teachers. During the last training Moshe Feldenkrais taught in Amherst, MA, in the early 1980s, he had a stroke.…
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A note from Erin: Let’s start right off with a gorgeous poem for the new year, shall we? It’s from a beautiful poetry book by Mark Nepo, The Way Under the Way. Be A Circle I wish you the ability to breathe after pain, to begin again, though nothing else seems possible. I wish you resilience: to…
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A note from Carl: Greetings Friends! Happy Winter Solstice to you! Last weekend we had a small gathering of friends over, enjoying delicious whiskey, candlelight, and genuine connection. At one point, our dear friend, Nan Seymour, asked if she could share a poem. Personally, I think any social gathering improves when someone reads a poem, as…
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Since I got the call from life to tend the River of Grief over the summer, I’ve started doing some private mentoring with Francis Weller, who has been such an inspiration to me in so many ways – especially in how he holds space for the skill of grief. Last week when I spoke with him, I…
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It feels like many writings, and most conversations lately, begin with something like: “What times we are living in!” What times indeed. Just consider what realms we are taking in with one day of news headlines. As one of my teachers said in a note earlier this week “These are the times we have been practicing for.” If there…
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A note from Erin: Hello friends! What a wild time we’re living in. I’ve recently been rereading some reflections from Joanna Macy. Can I share a simple excerpt with you from the Work That Reconnects website? “Instead of giving sermons and pre-formulated analyses, the WTR invites us simply to look at today’s conditions and make our own choices. …
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A note from Carl: Before I begin this week’s writing, I want to remind you that there is still space in Erin’s Women Embodied Online course that begins next Wednesday. This is the first time that women outside of Salt Lake City will be able to gather together in the intimate circle of embodied learning that Erin has facilitated…
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Join me for my annual December retreat day – during the season when we need it the most. Join me for a day of intentional, nourishing, restorative winter hibernation. We’ll spend an afternoon engaging in practices to support embodied presence and mindful being. Practices will include: Silent meditation, poetic inspiration, restorative yoga, and…
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A note from Erin: I have much to share with you today! First – a few upcoming opportunities: My Women Embodied online course is currently open for registration!!! I’m so thrilled about this course! It will run from November 22 – February 14th and will offer powerful support for living more embodied, more aware, and more compassionately, in the midst of the mess…
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Please bear with my stream of consciousness post: This week, Carl gifted me a birthday treatment at a local spa, a place which, of course, is mainly available for people of privilege. The treatment that was booked for me was unavailable due to maintenance issues and I was kindly offered a free alternative treatment –…
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A note from Carl: Greetings. Before I begin, I wanted to remind you that Erin has recently created two free offerings that are incredibly valuable and beneficial. “Some Things to Do When You Can’t Sleep” (here), and “Women Embodied Free Taster Course.” (Access here for a limited time.) Feel free to share them with anyone who might benefit from them.…
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Good day! Before I dive into today’s writings, I’m so excited to share a few things with you. In addition to the “Things to Do When You Can’t Sleep” short free course I offered last week, this week I have a new free offering for the women among us, available for a limited time. It’s my Free…
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A note from Carl: Yesterday, as I was driving home from dropping our son off at school, I was in a hurry. I was trying to get to an online writing class that I deeply value, I was speeding, I noticed my phone didn’t have enough charge to make it through the class, my breath was…
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A note from Erin: Before I dive into today’s writing, here’s a reminder of a few upcoming events: Join us for an afternoon Feldenkrais Workshop on Dynamic Transitions October 28th. Details and sign-up link below. Women Embodied: Live and Online – registration will be opening soon. Women Embodied- the online version (which will include weekly live video meetings via…
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A note from Erin: some snapshots of The Encouragement of Light Retreat at Ghost Ranch I’d love to begin by sharing a poem, which is really a benediction perfect for these times, from Mark Nepo. Be A Circle I wish you the ability to breathe after pain, to begin again, though nothing else seems possible.…
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A note from Erin: I was rereading my journal this morning, reviewing some notes I took on a conversation I had with a wise elder in my life some months back. She asked, “So what are you going to believe, live and be shaped by? By the guidance that comes through you and to you? Or…
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A note from Erin: The western US on fire, more massive hurricanes and flooding, the first morning in a week we have a sky that’s blue and not white with smoke, a headache from breathing smoky air for days, distress at my son’s cough, heartache with more destructive policy coming from our president. It’s been a…
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