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.
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E-mail received from Quentin Cooke, a British Aikido instructor:
Hi Paul, I'm just getting ready to give my relaxation class and have been reading 'Embodied Peacemaking' for a little inspiration. I just wanted to let you know how easy it is to read. It is one thing to possess great and useful knowledge and quite another to be able to pass it on in a meaningful way. I go back to what I told you when we first met, which was that it's like reading about ki aikido but in English.