Embodied Yoga with Mark Walsh

 

Introduction of Mark and Embodied Yoga

2:04: Definition of Embodiment – Subjective aspect of the body

3:20 Mark came to embodiment yoga when he realised his life as a teenager was screwed up. With yoga and aikido, he realised there was a lot of beauty and richness in the movement and something in it for him. The next step how do I teach this to others.

4:25 Embodiment principles = life skills that can’t be learned from a book, i.e., leadership, yoga, stress management.

Practical life skills: breathe, peripheral vision, relax your tummy are skills to bring down your stress levels. The yoga teacher models relaxation and this flows out to the class and they also relax.

7:04  Yoga off the Mat - YouTube videos of Mark teaching embodiment principles. Asking students to take up space and being seen – spreading the arms and legs out and making yourself big and then bringing the limbs in and ducking the head to be small. People will feel comfortable in one of the opposing poses and not in the other. What is the emotion attached to being uncomfortable, is this a pattern of living are questions to ask to build a practice for yourself off the mat.

Can learn micropostures to do outside of the yoga class. Breath, extension, small movements of limbs that bring the essence of the pose and its emotional impact to daily life

12:00 Why and How does Yoga Change You?

Being with positive ethical people in a yoga class Mindfulness of body, breath, emotions, posture Chemical mechanisms Practice gives you tools like persistence, dedication, etc.

Mark’s aim is to make that transfer of change off the mat more effective and efficient

14:02 What is the biggest change you have made because of yoga: he’s alive, sober, and in an intimate relationship. Need self-awareness, self-care, an self-regulation to be in a long-term, happy ,intimate relationship.

15:25 Embodiment is looking at how you are feeling in this pose, not the perfection of the form. Teaches that the postures are good enough – safe and can use as an enquiry. Doesn’t obsess about the form, but rather the emotions generated by the pose.  “Where do I need this pose in my life?”

17:29 What as yoga practitioners can we learn from other movement modalities?

First acknowledge that yoga is very dense and could be a life-long study. Other disciplines an provide off the mat benefits Can look at cultural bias Why are students choosing this type of movement; is it a good or bad pattern for them?

19:38 Students come to Mark to explore themselves through movement. Each teacher has to decide what their aims are and fashion the practice to meet the aims. Using whatever movement modality is best. Mark has developed a system for confronting and exploring oneself and how to change the things the student wants to change.  As an example, Mark may do svasana in the middle of a workshop since the purpose of the pose is to explore what the student is dead to in their life or as a hard-core death meditation. It is inappropriate for the end of the class.

23:10 Modern yoga has evolved into the guru, hippy, Gordon Gecko model. Each has its positive sides: guru has tradition, Gordon Gecko is based on evidence-based, logic, exploration and the hippy questions hierarchy, lack of equality, acknowledging feeling in the somatic body. They each have a negative side.

27:13 Yoga in the 21st Century – yoga for everyone and flexibility of approach.

28:00 Resources: Free - E-books (e.g., Making Yoga Meaningful), Embodiment podcast, YouTube videos for those who have been in yoga for awhile and wanting something deeper. Teacher Training: Embodied Yoga Principles Training, Deepen Knowledge: Embodied Facilitator Course

Embodied Conference in mid-November 2018. Free, online with a wide variety of speakers.

 

Contacts:

Instagram: warkmalsh

FB: @leadership.coach.training

YouTube: Integration Training

Websites: www.embodiedyogaprinciples.com

www.embodiedfacilitator.com