Somatic Movement Project with Tara Eden
“Feeling and knowing your body is a portal into a much richer, clearer and calmer way of being.”
Tara Eden, founder of Somatic Movement Project in Chiang Mai talks to us about the importance of learning to heal your nervous system, how to align your internal system with your external body, why she chose to settle in Chiang Mai from NYC and why Chiang Mai is a haven for healers and wellness entrepreneurs.
Somatic Movement Project was founded by Tara Eden. It is an educational resource for movement and bodywork modalities that deepen awareness, provoke curiosity and promote personal empowerment and connectivity.
I met Tara last year in Taipei when she was in town finishing up her Feldenkrais certification course. It was my first time experiencing a Feldenkrais body movement session and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted Tara to share with our readers about her journey and what somatic movement is all about!
Curito:
Tara, could you introduce yourself to our readers please!
Tara:
Hello, my name is Tara Eden and I am a Somatic Movement Therapist/Educator and Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I help people feel good again in their body and learn how a healthy, adaptable, comfortable body supports a healthy, adaptable, comfortable mind.
Curito:
Can you share with us your journey from dance, yoga, to Feldenkrais Method?
Tara:
Dance, yoga, somatic movement and Feldenkrais have all been phases of the same important journey. I spent my earliest childhood in rural Canada so I think I got a download of some very crucial information early. I spent a lot of time playing outside with no technology and so my embodied experience was as significant as any other part of my life. I don't think enough people discover this. Feeling and knowing your body is a portal into a much richer, clearer and calmer way of being. It started for me running around in the grass with bare feet and evolved into dance, yoga and Feldenkrais but what you're doing is as important as the way you are experiencing what you are doing.
Curito:
Why do you think Feldenkrais Method hasn’t been commercialized yet? How can it be best explained in layman’s terms the benefits and practice of Feldenkrais Method.
Tara:
FELDENKRAIS. Look at that word. That is not sexy. That is why I think it hasn't been commercialized yet. That and timing. As the ethos of a society changes so do the actives a culture deems important. For example you have the slow practices of the 60s like traditional Hatha yoga, then the fast practices of the 80s like jazzercise and now there is clearly a new wave upon us again where people are getting over the "no pain, no gain" mentality and realizing that there is a bigger picture than fitness in their body health that they are missing.
“Feldenkrais Method is a kind of neuromuscular re-education that works directly with the nervous system to reduce tension, pain and anxiety by disrupting self-limiting habits of movement and breathing.”
Technically Feldenkrais Method is a kind of neuromuscular re-education that works directly with the nervous system to reduce tension, pain and anxiety by disrupting self-limiting habits of movement and breathing.
In my opinion Feldenkrais Method at it's core is an art of living. It is about choosing a lifestyle that is slower so there is more time to broaden your awareness, take in the big picture. In developing your awareness you realize all the ways your habits and conditioning put you on auto-pilot and often make life more difficult than it has to be. The practice itself manifests that intention with 1) group classes where students do a really pleasant, comfortable series of gentle movements that teaches the nervous system new, improved ways of self-organization and 2) hands-on bodywork done one-on-one with the practitioner that delivers the same message to the nervous system but through being the observer as you are gently moved and adjusted.
Curito:
Is Feldenkrais Method suited for everyone? All age groups? What kind of students or clients do you usually encounter? What does your student profile look like?
Tara:
FM (Feldenkrais Method) is for anyone that wants to move better, breath better and feel better, reduce anxiety, get out of pain and/or get a little help loosening their grip on needing to control every aspect of their life.
Curito:
Why did you decide to leave the US and find your home in Chiang Mai?
Tara:
I woke up one day and realized that I wasn't feeling anything. I knew I couldn't keep living at the pace I was in NYC and be in alignment with my deepest values. I wanted to live consciously, without the constraint of social pressures of appearances, achievement, status, to re-connect to my human-ness and intuition and honestly just to feel better, to have less body pain, to stop clenching my teeth, to breath freer, not to worry so much. That's the root intention of my work too - to help people realize the incredible amount of peace and freedom you can experience when you your internal world is in alignment with your external world and how much your natural ability to sense and feel can help you find that.
Curito:
Is there a large established wellness community in Chiang Mai? Could one take a trip (when travel is back to normal) out there to explore healing and wellness?
Tara:
Chiang Mai is an incredible haven for many different holistic health modalities, wellness and spiritual practices from yoga to reiki, contact improv, Qi Gong, Thai or abdominal massage, accupuncture, meditation, singing bowls, family constellation and TRE just to name a few. The Yoga Tree is a wonderful resource for a variety of modalities and WIld Rose Yoga is the go-to-place for yoga. There are also tons of gifted seasonal bodyworkers like Jade Wood who is a Cranial Sacral magician. The current offerings are posted regularly on the Chiang Mai Wellness FB group and some of the other ex-pat FB groups. We need someone like you, Jenn, to organize a database of all the wonderful offerings available…;)
Curito:
Who are some of your mentors, what are some organizations that you follow and collaborate with?
Tara:
As the only Somatic Movement Therapist and Feldenkrais Practitioner in SE Asia I have to admit I am a bit of a lone wolf. There is an incredible about of commercialism in the wellness industry so I am very leery about the latest and greatest thing that pops up on the internet. I don't believe in a teacher or modality until I know that the person is living their work. There's a lot of inauthenticity out there, it's exhausting. Kathy James is an assistant Feldenkrais trainer in Northern California. I think she is a genius and consider her a mentor. Ruthy Alon is one of the oldest Feldenkrais Practitioners still living and I am very inspired by her too.
“That’s the root intention of my work too - to help people realize the incredible amount of peace and freedom you can experience when you your internal world is in alignment with your external world and how much your natural ability to sense and feel can help you find that.”
Curito:
What are some of your own goals in this coming decade with the Somatic Movement Project?
Tara:
I have just launched my own program called "Somatic Resetting" and am starting to offer classes online with Zoom (check my website for current schedule and time zone). The work isn't new, just the presentation of it and I am excited where I can go with it. It's like a homecoming to the safety of your own body. It's a powerful, life-changing practice.
Curito:
How can one find resources in their city that can allow them to experience Feldenkrais Method practice if they can’t experience it with you in person or online?
Tara:
If you are interested in working with me personally then I am available for private sessions online. This is really the best way to customize the work to your own specific needs and interest. If you are looking for a more general experience there are so many Feldenkrais classes- called Awareness Through Movement lessons- available online for free or purchasable download. I have many available on my YouTube channel and you can also check out openatm.org for more freebies or this brilliant podcast kinesophics.ca. For high quality downloads by trainers and pioneers of the method check out feldenkraisresources.com
Curito:
How should we follow you to know what your offerings are and how to stay connected with Somatic Movement Project and other Feldenkrais insights and news?!
Tara:
That's kinda a loaded question for me right now! What I am good at is connecting to people and inspiring and empowering people to get out of self-limiting thoughts and behavior to start feeling a little more free and light and empowered. What I am NOT good at is marketing and being an online presence/brand! People can find up to date info on my Somatic Movement FB page or my website and Youtube page, but hopefully one of your readers is a patron to the Embodied Arts and will see this and be inspired to come work with me as a digital assistant... ;)
Curito:
That was very insightful, Tara, thank you for sharing your journey and breaking down what Feldenkrais Method ultimately means and how you hope to spread this teaching in Asia! Can’t wait to travel to Chiang Mai to immerse and engage more in the community over there with your guidance as well! Looking forward to hosting future workshops with you perhaps in Taiwan in the near future!
First published on May 12, 2020
