For the past fifteen years, Hope Martin and David Rome have been bringing together eastern and western mind–body practices in a program they call Embodied Listening. In this recent interview with Shambhala Mountain Center, these two teachers explain how the Alexander Technique and Mindful Focusing can help people discover a greater sense of ease and naturalness in their lives, and how these practices are especially potent when engaged alongside traditional mindfulness–awareness meditation. Enjoy the full video interview below, or scroll down to stream or download the audio. Stream audio below.  To download, click here. About the Authors Hope Martin has taught the Alexander Technique for 30 years, trains Alexander teachers at the American Center for the Alexander Technique and operates Hope Martin Studio in New York City.  She is a meditation instructor and a Focusing trainer. Her particular passion is in helping her students discover how easeful, upright posture is an expression of their human dignity, confidence, and innate wakefulness. // Hope Martin Studio David I. Rome is the developer of Mindful Focusing, an integration …

By David Rome & Hope Martin ~~~ Our bodies hold our lives. They hold wisdom and energy for living and growing—and they hold the things that get in the way of living and growing: fear, anxiety, stress and more. When negative holding patterns are not recognized, tensions build up and space for living constricts. Awareness and acceptance of the body’s holding patterns allow their release and transformation into positive energy for living. Human beings are hard-wired with the “fight or flight” reaction, an evolutionary inheritance that served us well when the everyday environment was more physically dangerous and instant reaction could make the difference between life or death. In the safer but far more complex world of the twenty-first century, we face multiple challenges that can’t be solved either by fighting or running away. This leads to chronic stress and anxiety and what psychologists call “experiential avoidance”—disconnecting from the fight-or-flight-based signals our bodies are still trying to give us. To reverse the stress and anxiety, first we have to allow ourselves to really experience what’s …