This is the short list of the modalities and people who are my blessed teachers. I have found these listed, particularly practical and effective in supporting the evolution of my moving, spiritual practice. I list them here as contributors to my life’s work- learning to find spiritual solutions for meeting fear, and extending that learning to the community by living consciously and compassionately. I list them here as reference to the influences on my practice, as well as a resource in exploring and testing tools for holding the question of coming to faith.
Jennie Marlow The combination of Jennie Marlow’s personal experience using and teaching the Human Design System, along with her extensive study and application of Spotted Eagle’s models, has brought significant focus and meaning to my spiritual practice as well as clearer understanding of my service in the world. Jennie’s teaching is intelligent, humble, generous, and absolutely pragmatic. I recommend her teaching.
Emilie Conrad’s Continuum is one of the most holistic practices I have come upon to date. Her model is mature, clear and practical, addressing and engaging both the inner and outer worlds of human being. The awareness and integration of these two worlds is the focus of my own work in reconciling the mind and body through updated spiritual models and practices for 21st century man. I have found strong support for this pursuit in the Continuum community.
The Human Design System is a combination of several different philosophy's. Astrology, I Ching, Kabbalah, and the Chakra System. It is not a belief System. It is a map to the nature of your being. A logical system to see and understand more clearly, the way you were designed. This system provides a framework for understanding human interactions and very specific knowledge about each individual, their health, their personal psychology, their vulnerabilities, as well as their talents, strengths, and gifts.
A Course in Miracles is a spiritual self-study curriculum teaching forgiveness as the means to inner peace and the acceptance of the unconditional love of God. The 1st part of the book is text and the second half has daily lessons for the year. There is no author listed on the publication. Helen Schucman who describes in her own words the process by which the material came to fruition, claimed to have written the material, with the help of William Thetford, based on the dictation of an inner Voice, which she identified as Jesus.
The Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi
Dr. Jahnke workshops promote essential principles for health and well being using updated models for presenting the ancient practices of Qigong and Tai Chi. Dr. Jahnke's books, The Healer Within, and The Healing Promise of Qi, are both on my list of One Body text books for essential living.
Tai Chi Master Benjamin Lo whose primary training method is the 37-posture sequence created by Professor Zheng Manqing provided me with profound new awareness about essential posture in just one weekend at Esalen. I had not studied Tai Chi before and did not know anything of Mr Lo’s experience. In a word- Amazing!
The Painting Experience is a model for exploring creative process as catalyst for personal transformation and growth. The goal is free expression, emphasizing process rather than technique or expertise. It provides an opportunity to plainly engage the greatest of all human journeys – embracing your own path and confidently following it.
Art as a Spiritual Process Paul Heussenstamm teaches Mandala painting from the ancient eastern tradition of transmission where the painting comes through the artist. He provides tools, guidance, and support for transmitting all the necessary skills for painting sacred art and mandalas at home in just a few days.
Ann Randolph’s workshops create an environment for diving deep into personal narrative. Through improvisation, writing exercises, and group discussion, access to authentic voice is uncovered, along with a way to express it. Ann creates a supportive, fun, and dynamic space to create and gain insights and self-understanding that can bring increased peace, healing and clear direction.
Susan Harper teaches a wide range of skills, and inquiry in the fields of movement, emotions, shock and trauma resolution, dreams, perception, and relationship. These experiential contexts are relevant for professional therapists, somatic educators, bodyworkers, and anyone interested in the creative art of living. An amazing teacher, one of the most humble and present I have met.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain:
Based on the pioneering work of Dr. Betty Edwards, this workshop invites participants to see and think differently by tapping into the non-verbal (non-dominant) side of the brain. I had not drawn since college and it surprised me how much reawakening this capacity has helped to re-open up my body’s capacity to move more freely.
Cortical Field Reeducation. Harriet Goslins the creator of CFR, is an intelligent, pragmatic, experienced, and generous teacher. She names her study with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais as the most pivotal in her life saying “he taught me how to create a space in which people choose to learn.“ She does just this, using the foundation set by Moshe along with the contributions and influences of Dick Price (co-founder of Esalen institute), Jack Rosenberg, developer of I.B.P.R., Dr. John Upledger (CranioSacral Therapy) as well as Lansing Barrett Gresham the creator of Integrated Awareness®.
The Gyrotonic Expansion System® has been a passionate study of mine since 2000 when I first saw a pulley tower at a physical therapy in LA office where I was studying Feldenkrais. I have attended dozens of courses since that time earning certifications on the Pulley Tower, the Jumping Stretching Board, The Ladder, The Archway, and the Leg Extension Unit. I was also certified a Master Teacher in Gyrokinesis®. I have not been involved in the system since 2009, and I continue to count the Gyrtonic community as a partner in intelligent teaching relative to essential principles of movement.
Soul Motion: Unity Inquiry What happens in the dance room is a microcosm of what happens in the everyday dance. Soul Motion dancers practice seeing themselves and others as one essence knowing that all people desire happiness; all people wish to alleviate suffering. With consciousness of our unity as a strategy for more purposeful living, we look for those excluded from the dance and weave them in through landscapes of creative expression, relationship, and dialogue with divine nature.
Holotropic Breathwork is a powerful approach to self-exploration and healing that integrates insights from modern consciousness research, anthropology, various depth psychologies, transpersonal psychology, Eastern spiritual practices, and mystical traditions of the world. The name Holotropic means literally "moving toward wholeness" (from the Greek)
Rolfing, is a method developed by Ida Rolf with the goal of organizing the human structure in relation to gravity. Rolf theorized that 'bound up' fascia, or connective tissue, often restricts opposing muscles from functioning in concert with one another. Her practice aimed to separate bound up fascia by deeply separating the fibers manually to loosen them and allow effective movement patterns.
The Feldenkrais Method developed by Moshé Feldenkrais is an educational system centered on movement and awareness. As a process for gaining awareness, the system claims to expand a person's choices and responses to many aspects of life: emotions, relationships, and intellectual tasks; and it applies at any level, from severe disorder to highly professional performance. The Method holds that there is no separation between mind and body, and so learning to move better can improve one's general well-being.
The Rubenfeld Synergy Method is an alternative healing method which combines touch and talk together to help people deal with the stresses in their lives. It uses the body as the starting point, because the body is home to our thoughts, our feelings, and our spirit. By exploring these relationships, we can claim a greater role in our own physical and emotional wellness.
Self-relations Psychotherapy: Motivated by his experiences as a therapist, a teacher, and by his own quest, Stephen Gilligan developed a new practice of radical awakening incorporating Ericksonian psychotherapy, Aikido, Buddhism, meditation, and the performance arts. His work, known as Self-relations Psychotherapy, reconnects mindbody processes and encourages and supports radical change. The cornerstone of Self-Relations Psychotherapy is the understanding and processes of Sponsorship.
