Embody Freedom

A two-hour journey into the body, using embodied practices from East and West to cultivate presence, connection and self-expression

This workshop, led by bodyworker and yoga teacher Jamie Griffiths, brings together movement, breathwork, meditation, self-massage and deep relaxation practices to help you access more of the sensation in your body, release blockages and free up energy for living more vividly.

Once we open up to the flow of energy within our body, we can also open up to the flow of energy in the universe.

Wilhelm Reich 

Healing the mind-body split

Have you ever felt like a stranger in your own body? Like ‘you’ are an entity that exists in a little space behind the eyes, pulling levers and hitting buttons to move your limbs, make noises with your mouth and nod your head? Have you ever felt trapped inside your own skin, unable to express your true thoughts and feelings through an impenetrable wall of tension?

The sensation which corresponds to the image of ourselves is a chronic muscular tension which has absolutely no useful function whatsoever.

Alan Watts

You've probably also felt the opposite on occasion - that your consciousness was not only permeating your entire body, but also extending beyond into space, into other objects and other beings - that you were free to express yourself completely.

What if there were a set of practices that could help you slowly and consistently heal this split between mind and body, that could help you move from a dominant feeling of being trapped in your head towards a predominance of self-expression, connection, presence and joy?

Well, there are! And Embody Beyond would like to share some of them with you.

Integrating the fourfold Self

Many traditions view the Self as being made up of different aspects, activities or bodies which work together in dynamic harmony in the healthy individual.

All this Universe is the Eternal Brahman, this Self is the eternal, and the Self is fourfold.

Mandukya Upanishad: Verse 2

We view the Self as consisting primarily of four activities: being, feeling, thinking and willing. In this workshop we'll explore each in turn. We'll use practices new and old that will immerse you in the the distinct feeling tones of each aspect and then bring them all together into an integrated, healthy whole.

Grounding

We'll connect with the element of Earth through practices which cultivate our connection to the support of the ground and our lower bodies.

Centering

We'll explore our core and the element of Fire, connecting to the strength that resides within and using the breath as a potent tool for distributing our core energy throughout the body.

Opening

We'll bring awareness to our heart centre and the element of Water, creating the space we need in the body to hold the big feelings that come with reaching out to others.

Facing

We'll connect with the element of Air to get comfortable with movement, change and impermanence, allowing us to see reality as it truly is, not as distorted by our hopes or fears.

We'll hop about a bit between these four modes as we seek to integrate them but the general shape of the workshop will be moving from lying on the floor, to sitting, to standing, to moving about. We'll then end with a guided relaxation in the style of yoga nidra to help our bodies assimilate all the work we've done.

Laying foundations for further practice

By the end of the workshop you'll have been introduced to a variety of practices you can use for grounding, centering, opening and facing on a daily basis, helping you access deeper levels of sensation in your body and preventing you from getting stuck in that ‘heady’ place for long periods of time. You can use some of these, and related practices, to go deeper and further - you'll be surprised how much energy becomes available to you when you start dissolving the blocks held in muscular tension.

Please note that this is a fully-clothed workshop. Any touching must be consensual. (There may be a short opportunity to partner up to practice and receive bodywork, but this is entirely optional.)

About your facilitator

Jamie Griffiths is a bodyworker and yoga teacher with an intense interest in energy and its role in life processes at every scale. He works primarily as a massage therapist in Hackney, drawing on the influences of Wilhelm Reich, Sivananda yoga, traditional Thai massage, bioenergetics, Barry Long and Western occultism to create spaces and foster states in which the body's natural healing capacities can come online. He is alive to the uniqueness of each individual and is careful not to push people further than they're ready to go.