Advanced Studies: Yoga Anatomy Courses
Somatic Synthesis Weekend Workshops
with Amy Matthews
Workshop Descriptions
Embodied Mind: NeuroEndocrine System #1
How do we see?
How do we describe and name what we see?
How do our expectations affect the way we share and learn?
The NeuroEndocrine System plays many roles, including that of receiving, analyzing and interpreting the sensory feedback we receive from our internal and external environment. By observing our own habits and preferences in our perceptions, we can begin to expand our understanding of how others learn and process information.
In this workshop we will explore how pre-conceived expectations shape how our Nervous System gathers information and gives meaning to it. These expectations have a profound effect on what we perceive in ourselves and in others, and on our observation skills and language choices.
Recommended reading for this weekend is Bone, Breath & Gesture, edited by Don Hanlon Johnson.
Building Blocks: The Bartenieff Fundamentals
What are the basic building blocks of movement?
Are there fundamental movements that can be applied in any situation?
The Bartenieff Fundamentals are the building blocks of movement, the basic actions of our spine and limbs that underlie any physical practice and our activities of daily life. With the Fundamentals we can observe and analyze any movement, cultivate awareness of habitual patterns, and develop strategies for repatterning.
In this workshop we will look at the basic movements that make up the Fundamentals, and explore the different ways they can be used to clarify pathways in the body, to cultivate dynamic alignment and to maximize our ability to move efficiently.
Recommended reading for this weekend is Taking Root to Fly, by Irene Dowd.
Inner Landscape: The NeuroEndocrine System #2
How do we respond to feedback from our inner environment?
From the outer environment?
How do we modulate between them?
The Endocrine System and the Nervous System work together to maintain homeostasis in our internal environment, in response to fluctuating circumstances in the external environment. Through our fluids the Endocrine System regulates cycles of activity, recuperation and growth.
In this workshop we will explore the basic anatomy of the Endocrine System, its embryological origins and the ways that it interacts with the Nervous System to help us maintain balance, responsiveness and equanimity.
Recommended reading for this weekend is Molecules of Emotion, by Candace B. Pert.
Exploring the Container: Bones & Ligaments
How do we create a container for experiences?
How can the fluid support of our bones give us structure without being rigid?
How can our ligaments help us find directness, specificity and flexibility?
The Skeleto-Ligamentous System provides structure and directionality for our bodies in movement and stillness. In this workshop we will look at the relationship between bones and ligaments in our adult bodies and the embryological progression from fluid to structure that happens in utero and through our first years of life.
Recommended reading for this weekend is The Second Brain, by Michael D. Gershon.
Starting from the Contents: Digestive System
What happens when we initiate movement from the organs?
How do the digestive organs help us take in, integrate and release our
experiences?
What happens when we teach from a sense of embodying these organs?
The contents of our body are essential for nourishment, growth and survival. When we embody our organs we find volume and fluid movement, and explore questions of desire, choice and survival.
In this workshop we will explore the anatomy, embryology and embodiment of the organs of the Digestive System and will observe how we ingest and then digest, absorb and assimilate what is nourishing and eliminate what we can't use.
Recommended reading for this weekend is A Book of Twelve Winds, by Karl E Geis.
Starting from the Contents: Lungs & Heart
How does embodying the heart and lungs change our experience?
What does the flow of blood through the tissues of our body give us?
How do the heart and lungs give us fluid support for movement?
What happens when we teach from a sense of embodying these organs?
The contents of our body are essential for nourishment, growth and survival. When we embody our organs we find volume and fluid movement, and explore questions of desire, choice and survival.
In this workshop we will explore the anatomy, embryology and embodiment of the heart and lungs, and how these organs and their blood vessels circulate fluid and movement through the tissues of the body.
Recommended reading for this weekend is Getting in Touch by Christine Caldwell.
Starting from the Contents: Kidneys & Bladder
How do we support the organs that provide our resources?
How can we use the kidneys and bladder to balance and ground our movement?
What happens when we teach from a sense of embodying these organs?
The contents of our body are essential for nourishment, growth and survival. When we embody our organs we find volume and fluid movement, and explore questions of desire, choice and survival.
In this workshop we will explore the anatomy, embryology and embodiment of the kidneys and the bladder, and how we maintain a fluid balance of resources in our body and movement.
Recommended reading for this weekend is The Thinking Body, by Mabel Todd.
Shifting Consciousness: Embodied Breathing
How do we experience breath on a cellular level?
How can we find the right balance of letting in and letting go?
How do we experience self and community?
When the breath moves from external respiration (in the lungs) to internal respiration (in the cells), a shift in consciousness happens as well. In this workshop we will explore the physiology of cellular respiration and its implications in our experiences of self and other.
Recommended reading for this weekend is The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge.
Embodied Space: Spatial Pulls, Planes and Space Harmony
How do you relate to the space around you?
Can you yield to space in the same way you yield to gravity?
How does feeling harmonic relationships in space help us experience ourselves more clearly?
Rudolf Laban said, "Space is a hidden feature of movement, and movement is a visible aspect of Space." He explored how the spaces around us shape our movement choices, and articulated through the principles of Space Harmony how important our relationship to space is as a vehicle and inspiration for movement.
In this workshop we will explore what it means to have a relationship to space, and the ways that the fluid and dynamic qualities of that relationship affect our experiences of our selves and our movement.
Recommended reading for this weekend is Job's Body, by Deane Juhan.
Return to main Somatic Synthesis Weekend Workshop page.
REGISTER: Click here for a downloadable Somatic Synthesis Application Form.
Questions? Please email register@breathingproject.org.
