Beginner's Body

Writing on bodywork, breathwork, sport and psychology.

Alongside my practice I write about bodywork, breathwork and the nervous system. Sign up for my mailing list — my writing covers a range of themes including sport and psychology. Below are some quotes that continue to inspire me to learn more about the body — its functions, its forms and its rhythms.

“What is split off, not felt, remains the same. When it is felt, it changes… If there is in you something bad or sick or unsound, let it inwardly be and breathe. That’s the only way it can evolve and change into the form it needs.”
— Eugene Gendlin

“When you touch the person you are with, that’s the moment in which the person feels himself. He then knows what’s going on inside him, what he’s like — a kind of knowledge that precedes thought.”
— Ruthy Alon

“As I often tell my students, the two most important phrases in therapy, as in yoga, are “Notice that” and “What happens next?” Once you start approaching your body with curiosity rather than with fear, everything shifts.”
— Bessel van der Kolk

“The powers within the patient’s body are more potent and accurate than any force that can be safely brought to bear from outside.”
— Anne Wales