Review of Embodied Peacemaking
by Judy Warner
http://www.journeytocenter.net
http://www.judywarner.com
In our workshops at Aiki Works we strive for simple hints that people
can draw upon in times of stress to center themselves. In his new
e-book, Embodied Peacemaking, Paul Linden has come up with a
great one – the soft tongue. That’s right. Simply take a moment and
relax your tongue in your mouth. The result is impactful. Immediately
your throat relaxes, your breathing slows, and your shoulders soften a
bit. Now isn’t that amazing? And, it is quite discreet. If you want to
take the lesson a step further, spend a day or two actually paying
attention to what you are doing with your tongue when you are not
speaking. I took the time to observe and discovered that at times it
seems like my own tongue is in a bit of perpetual motion, beating out a
tempo to the latest chaos at the office or dojo. That is an
enlightening piece of information about a totally unnecessary use of
energy by my body.
Of course, Paul’s book deals with far more
than a soft tongue. It is a quite thorough treatise on using your body
to repattern how you respond in conflict. Paul promises early on that
“You will learn to improve postural alignment, stability, and mobility
as a pathway toward calm alertness, power, and love. Then you will
practice using this state of mind body integrity as a foundation for
responding peacefully to the challenges in the movement experiments”
[that he lays out in his book]. You will actually find an amazing
number of exercises for you to explore. Paul has been a leader in the
mind/body field for many years. An accomplished Aikido instructor, he
uses movements from the art to create many of his exercises.
This
is truly a worthwhile book for anyone who is interested in mind/body
work or teaches workshops in conflict resolution and would like to add
some kinesthetic exercises to reinforce concepts.
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E-mail received from
Maya Durie M.Ed.,CMT
Hello Paul,
i just taught an Embodying Peace class for International Peace Day in Mill Valley, CA using your Throwing Tissues, Soft Tongue and Soft Belly movement experiments. There were 8 students and I broke them into 2 groups of 4 so there would be 2 observers. It was a delight to watch their self-discoveries from the material! I told them this was your work from your ebook and gave them your name and website so they could see more of your work.
I am a bodyworker, a Feldenkrais practitioner and I have developed an embodied awareness class series that I have taught a few times in the past. For the last 3 years I have done something for Peace Week and this year I came upon your ebook and loved it so it was perfect for Peace Week!
Thank you for your wonderful work! I hope to teach more from your book in the future.