A serendipidous harvest
It’s the end of the harvest season. And as such a good moment to pause and reflect what you’ve harvested so far this year. The basis for a serendipidous harvestI have come to the understanding that life is not linear. We don’t live in a tit-for-tat world. Sometimes...
What shutting down and re-booting means for the body
Are humans and bodies supposed to work like machines? Shut down what you don’t need, switch on what you want. And when the switch is on, the body (or human) is supposed to function like a cog in a system without fault. I can't say this mechanical way of looking at...
What is normal, anyways?
One of the things that has been on my mind is the question what “normal” really means. I have to admit that I’ve had reactions to the phrases “back to normal” and “returning to a new normal” that ranged from slight irritation to frustration as politicians kept...
Using ‘gap days’ to reconnect and set intentions
How has your week been so far? It’s Thursday already. And for many of us it’s a short week because Monday was a holiday. Isn’t it strange somehow, thinking in weeks? Being in this special stay-at-home situation due to the Coronavirus I have started investigating how I...
Dusting off the corners of your body
This is the last part of the Spring cleaning. Today I want to invite you to not look for elephants and the big issues and blocks that we are mostly busy with. When I do a Spring clean in the house, I mostly attempt to tackle the big and important pieces first:...
Wiggling out of an emotion
Now that most of us are staying home, it might actually be beneficial to not only use the time to do a proper spring cleaning of our homes, but also to do inner work that supports us in dealing with the current global developments, stress and emotional overwhelm. Last...
Letting go of useless thoughts
When I do spring cleaning at home, I not only get rid of the dust in the corners and clean the windows, I also move the furniture to see if there is something hiding behind it. I also take out the stuff from the shelves and see what I still need and what’s served its...
The boundaries of clouds
Whenever I'm preparing for a workshop or have a focus subject for myself, I'm exploring it in different aspects of my daily life. It’s natural that you start seeing connections when you maintain an intention for a while. On my Sunday walk in the Viennese Forest...
Thank you, body! Just because.
Have you already said thank you to your body today for doing a great job? Why not? You can show your gratitude by taking a deep breath and relaxing into how you are right now. Often, we only become aware of all the innumerable functions the body is carrying out to...
Do you have a monthly focus?
The year is still fresh and there’s plenty of time for you to shape your everyday life in small ways that can have a big impact over time. A couple of years ago I started having an annual theme or focus. This year it is ‘nourishing the essential’ as I shared in my...
The most basic of choices
Being aware that you have a choice is an essential element to embrace your leadership has a human being. Also knowing that when you don't make a decision, you've made a decision is key to embracing your own strength and individuality. Owning your choice takes away...
Your vocabulary for a good life
Is it odd that we seem to have more vocabulary for what is uncomfortable or doesn't work? And how does this tendency influence our experience of life? We are more used to feel the uncomfortable What I have observed time and again in my work with clients is that most...
What you learn shapes what you see
Yesterday morning, I attended the CreativeMornings event in Vienna. Lukas Paltram, the speaker, shared what inspired him and his team in the development of the font for the Austrian capital. (Super interesting, even when you’re not a typography nerd. You can check out...
Creativity and leadership
Being creative is an act of leadership. Leadership means bringing an intention into the space you share with others. Being creative is also an intentional act of bringing something new into the world. Creativity and leadership both allow for the unexpected....
A just distribution of energy and attention
I've been thinking of justice in the context of bodywork and embodied self-awareness. And what came up was this questions: How you can create a more just distribution of attention and energy for yourself, in your body? Very often, in the creative process we get...
Writing as an embodied practice
write down what is on your mind not to get rid of your thoughts well, maybe to get rid of the annoying ones but also to keep what you don’t want to forget the good stuff, the bad stuff there is a place for everything on a blank page to surface the thoughts that...
On information diet
Dieting is mostly spoken of in the context of food. To stay healthy and well, I think it's also important what information we feed ourselves. Actually, the journey starts not only with what, but how much. Since we've had the government crisis in Austria, I've...
Summer is calling
The summer season is full of life and energy. Everything is growing and expanding. The sun is at its most intense. It’s an inviting time to also show yourself, experiment and move. It’s a great time for outdoor activities and enjoying what life has to offer. ...
Moment of Presence: Touching Water
As we've had the first heat waves of the summer and water plays a vital element in staying refreshed, cool and mentally sane, I thought I'd share one day out of the Moments of Presence program with you. Before you get to it, I'd like to share what Moments of Presence...
Tense ≠ Intense
Tension is not the same as intensity. Tension is often equivalent with too much effort. We carry a lot of chronic tension in our bodies. By letting go of tension, we can discover new resources that emerge. Maybe you experience stillness, clarity, serenity, direction,...
Beyond to-dos: what to put on your list
The most common list is the to-do list. It’s useful. It saves your brain energy as you don’t need to remember things. But there are other lists that can also be helpful: The not-to-do list if you want to avoid falling into the same trap over and over...
Inquiry by touch … in a bodywork session
I don’t know if you’ve ever got a massage or a bodywork session of some kind. If you have, you have your own experience if you enjoyed it and if you had a personal learning from the session. If yes, when was the last time? Can you recall this experience? Was...
Mirror, mirror … what do I need you for
Are you depending on outside perspectives more than your felt sense? How many mirrors do you have in your home? How often are you watching your own reflection in a shop window? How often does looking at yourself in the mirror really make sense? I’m not at home right...
Getting Unstuck #3: List of Frustrations
A way of at looking at frustration: Being frustrated is a state of accumulated little annoyances whose energy hasn’t been used to resolve the issues at hand and instead manifest in a state of stuckness. Frustration is a bucket of ‘negative’ emotion that has...
Experimenting with Coherent Breathing
Three weeks ago I was introduced to the concept of Coherent Breathing by my friend Elisha who is, among other things, a great breathing and meditation teacher. (If you’re curious about what she does, check out her website.) Learning is always a full-body...
Tuning out with headphones
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. - Epictetus This quote was on my calendar a couple of days ago. On the way to work it struck me to see so many people wearing headphones in public. So am I occasionally, for that matter....
Energy follows attention, applied
Energy follows attention - applied to one-to-one bodywork sessions Energy follows attention is a universal principle. As with anything, you should try and experiment with it for yourself to see if it works for you and if it feels true to you and brings any...
Effective action
Effective action is a natural result of alignment. When your thinking, your emotions and your physical being are attuned to each other, it is clear if, how and when action wants to happen. I believe we are all doing too much. We definitely make too much effort...
Taking care of your personal space
There are visible and invisible aspects that form part of self-care. Some things you can see and touch and measure: the food you eat, your hours of exercise, the amount of water you drink, the hours of sleep you get, just to name a few practical ones. And then there...
Being emotional and seeing the world
An observation that I have made again and again is that when someone is emotional - feeling lost, alone, sad, overly joyful, or angry - they often do not stay connected - to themselves and the world. One way how I notice this is that their eyes are avoiding to look at...
Healthy habit building
Two parameters that make building healthy habits easyier:Build on an existing habitIt doesn't work to replace habits you'd like to get rid of. There are neural pathways engrained in your brain that your system is used to using. Instead of wanting to get rid of a...
Connect with your inner strength
aka strength isn’t force Being strong doesn’t mean using force to achieve what you think you need to do. Being strong means being flexible, in flow, receptive to life. It also means holding still, at times, and tuning in to yourself and what surrounds you so you can...
Defining Presence
Presence is a beautiful state of being. It means being fully in the here and now. Yet, it can also be this vague and abstract concept when you're not in the right space. It can seem like a distant place to reach when you are stuck. It is often said that all that...
Exercise vs Embodied Practice
Everything you do, any movement you make can be 'just' an exercise or it can be an embodied practice that invites growing awareness, more choices and presence. There are a few pointers that help you identify what kind of practice you are engaging in. Especially if...
In 2019, I commit to… being less of a consumer
I am committed to practicing a balanced way of taking in and integrating what I’m taking it. And I’m not only talking about food or other consumer goods. I am mainly focusing on information - verbal, emotional, physical. I have been practicing for a good while being...
Hugging the heart
Every time you take a breath, your lungs are hugging your heart. Isn’t this a beautiful visual for what happens in your body!? The inspiration for this illustration came from Leila Stuart who has given a session on Embodied Anatomy at the online Embodiment...
Effectiveness as the body knows it is not mechanical
In the world of mechanics, there are rules. More makes more. Faster is faster. Bigger is better. The machine is running longer, and it produces more pieces. You create a faster way of doing the process, you will be able to produce more. The body is effective in a...
How you move is how you see
Continuing from last week, I’m sticking with the subject of the eyes. I just finished ‘Embodied Wisdom: The Collected Papers of Moshé Feldenkrais.’ Chapter 5, Man and the World, tells about Feldenkrais' encounter with Van Foerster at an event, where Van Foerster told...
Give your eyes a break
As I am a body and book nerd, I read a lot about what it means to be human. My little home library covers diverse areas from business psychology, neuroscience to old bodywork literature and stuff on systems thinking and how people connect. I can’t remember what...
A rant about research, business and manipulation
A Guardian article with the title ‘Whisper it... ASMR videos are the quiet revolution going global’ found its way in my inbox this morning. And it nicely shows what happens with research and how it can easily miss its purpose. The problem I have with research and...
When stressed, do less
When it comes to stress, one of the main blocks I encounter - in myself and in my work with people - is the effort we make to not feel stressed. I have come to understand stress as a boost of energy that the body provides to make you awake and give you agency in a...
Expectation vs Intention
An expectation ... is what you bring into the situation that is based on old experiences. It is coming from your mind. It’s what you project onto others or the situation thus limiting the possibilities you can experience. You’re putting people and circumstances into...
The two ways of letting go
When we hold on to something for a long time, it goes all the way to our core. It can pervade every cell of our being. Letting go of ideas, fixed postures and patterns is a vital element in becoming more present and having your energy available for your goals in the...
Be like Alice
What if you didn’t have an idea of who you are? What if you weren’t limited by your self-image? What if there were no fixed ways of thinking, moving, feeling? What would you do? What would you wear? Who would you talk to? How would you move on the street? Would you...
Small is beautiful … and creates change
A way to deal with overwhelm, inspired by Leopold Kohr This blog introduces Leopold Kohr and how his “small is beautiful” could be translated into my kind of body language I spent the last days in my home town of Salzburg. In a conversation, I learned about Leopold...
Setting visual anchors
Change and transformation in a person involve the dropping of old and building of new habits. It's a process of becoming aware of elements that you considered 'normal' to realizing you can change them if you pay attention and integrate a new way into your being. When...
6 steps to become present
Simple steps to become more present - with the goal to have all your abilities and skills available so you can use them as needed in daily life. Presence is not a goal in itself, it's a means to an end: self-empowered individuals in community. 1 Take a moment...
Easy is right #4: integrating ease
Integration and integrity are related. This is the week for integrating what you've learned about ease in the past weeks. As important as integrating what supports you is letting go again of what you don't need. Maybe you have had a few new ideas, but you don't need...
Easy is right #3: move with ease
Easy is still right, right?! After having learned a bit more about what ease means to you in a very physical way and identifying situations when you have it or when you miss it and would like to be able to access this quality, it’s time to bring the experience even...
Easy is right #2: Reality check
June is my month of ease. Just because. And it can be yours too. In last week's post, I wrote about the fact that you need to know how something feels to be able to create and grow it. You need a felt definition to make it real in your life. A negative definition will...
June’s Theme: Easy is right
My motto for this month is “Easy is right”. I will use the coming four weeks to invite more ease into my life. I can’t say that it doesn’t feel easy right now. I’ve been spending the last week in beautiful Spain where I attended a conference called Body Wisdom. (If...
Getting unstuck #2: stop explaining
Do you know this state of mind when something happens that you dislike. And then your mind goes off ranting about the situation and moves into explaining mode: ‘Of course, he’s always late. ’ ‘Why does it always have to be me who...’ ‘If only everyone on the team...
Respect your rhythm
You cannot be not in flow Last week I listened to an audio by Richard Rudd (a man of many wisdoms - you can check out what he does here). And it was about moments of activity and pause, our natural rhythm. The essence I took from the piece was that it is impossible...
What would you call it?
What do you think? Is leadership just a fancier word for taking responsibility? I've been thinking on the subject of leadership for the last couple of months after I was invited to a panel on leadership. Somehow, when I try to pin down what leadership means in terms...
Strategies as crutches to living intentionally
Recently, I got some aromatherapy oils as a gift. Now, they sit on my bathroom mirror and each morning I see them when getting ready for the day. The choices I am offered are: happy, energy & focus. I take a moment and choose what my intention of the day will be....
Creating Simplicity by Letting Go
“In life we acquire responsibilities, habits, possessions, relationships, needs, etc., much more readily than we discard them. This is part of the richness and enjoyment of life, but it is also part of the complexity of life.” Edward DeBono, Simplicity Over a...
Harvesting
Autumn is harvest season. So the question arises: When we think about achieving our goals and having a good life, the focus is usually on the doing, on the active pursuit of the goal. Even if the goals are the 'right' ones and achieve them, there is one crucial...
Letting go
Letting go is not an active effort. It’s a choice. It involves a specific attitude and intention: that of agreeing to no know what will happen. Letting go opens up an opportunity for something new to happen. Letting go means embracing your embodied reality in this...
Two numbers for a successful journey
How do I structure an effective transformation process? How much do I have to deal with the uncomfortable? Those are important questions to ask. If you want to change a situation in your life, there's no way around looking under the carpet and cleaning up.. But does...
10 percent for unlearning
One number that can be helpful for anyone who wants to change a habit is the TIME MEASURE of 10 In a bodywork course, specifically the Dorn Method, I participated in recently, the very experienced and knowledgeable instructor with 25+ years of experience...
Reading the book of yourself
The answers come from within. You could say i'm a junkie for learning. My mind always wants to know more, understand better and figure out how everything is connected. I'm always curious, especially about how life and being human works. So I read a lot, I have a lot...
How to tell good rules from bad ones
In preparation for the one-to-one intensive on developing your own rules for success that I’m offering in a couple of weeks, I want to share with you three guidelines that you should take into account when building your own rules. Obviously I think that it’s important...
Why ‘fake it ’til you make it’ doesn’t work – and what you can do instead
I don’t know who coined this idiom or the real story behind it. Maybe if I knew, I wouldn’t disagree so much with it. In any case, I want to describe in this article my perspective on the idea of ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ and the possible problems it entails. I...
Moving with ease
FOCUS ON WHAT COMES EASY It's fascinating how much the body teaches us about having a good life. Doing something with ease has a particular elegance to it. And realizing that this is when you are at your natural best, is a delight and a gift. It shows you what kind of...
A short note from the book nerd
The books you see in the picture are the currents ones I'm reading. Some of them were added after browsing one of my favorite book stores during the holidays. Even a bit of fiction has snug into my book pile (not a common feat over the last years). I get a lot of...
40% off My Summer of Presence
The summer is still in full swing but occasionally you can already catch a glimps of the appraoching fall. If you want to add more moments of inspiration, fun and presence to the remaining summer, you can now get My Summer of Presence 40% off until August 25. You only...
Being before doing
Being is enough. Being comes before doing. Moving between being and doing is an artform. Doing can’t make up for the confidence that rests in being. You are your actions, but not only. They are a part of you, not everything. Doing too much? Get back to being so you...
The importance of non-productive time
I’ve been working in the field of bodywork, body awareness and stress management for almost seven years now, and there is a good reason why I called my website Bodies at Work. Whether you are aware of it or not, your body is always at work. And your body is...
Finetuning for change
Wanting change is natural. You want to move forward and grow. But how get started or take the next step? The situations we'd like to be different, are often not the easiest ones. They can be difficult or overwhelming. If you’ve worked with me before, you already know...
How to make the most of your summer
I'm sure you want to make the most of your summer. Who doesn't want to have a good time, right!? And a good summer is made up of special moments. So when your holidays start it's tempting to want too much for the time you actually have. And if you don't...
How big is your melon head?
I had an image in my head today that made me laugh. It looked kind of like the one above. If we were shapeshifters and would grow in the places where our attention and energy resides, we’d meet many watermelon heads walking down the street. Don’t you think? I love...
What’s your favorite flavor of summer?
A color A sound A feeling A sensation An atmosphere An emotion An activity A place A song Make this summer your own by adding your flavor(s) of choice! When you know what makes you feel more present and alive, it’s easier to find those ingredients and add them to your...
Why do an Intensive?
Benefits and Recommendations for an Intensive I will soon be giving an intensive weekend and want to use this occastion to tell you a bit more about this kind of journey so you can make an informed decision if it's something you can benefit from. What is an Intensive?...
Ring doorbell for attention
To get someone else's attention, you can ring the doorbell. How do you get your own attention back when you got distracted or lost in thought? Which button do you press? How do you remember that you can get it back? Sometimes life or other people push our buttons. If...
Connecting A to B
What is A and what is B? Body & Mind Doing & Being Activity & Passivity Thinking & Feeling Absorbing & Integrating Holding on & Letting go Eating & Digesting Input & Output Top & Bottom It's not so difficult o reach this peachy...
How to Choose a Coach for Body-Based Transformation
The professional world is getting faster and increasingly technological. Professionals are, however, still human beings. And human beings need movement, sufficient nourishment, social connections. They have a need to be productive and creative. Technology can be...
The two phases in a process
There are two essential moments in a process that I meet with clients that play a role in the use of a person’s resources and that reflects the current point of view. They are crucial because each of them is at the beginning of a new phase of transformation. It is a...
Why aim for normal?
Why aim for normal if normal is a static fictional line that doesn't exist in real life? PS: Who says what normal is anyway? Is what you consider normal anything more than norms and metrics imposed on you by society and culture? How could you measure a good...
Getting Unstuck: #1 Change Perspective
Life is movement. It has its ups and downs. And it moves sideways too. Movement is part of the natural process. There are moments for thinking, and moments for action. There’s time for activity and time for resting. The art is to go with the flow of life. In your own...
A relaxed way of finding solutions
... by connecting head to feet What happens from a holistic body perspective when you get stuck in the process of finding a solution to a problem? What does it look like when you usually try to find a solution? Like this? This will not only give you wrinkles,...
You are the only one …
who knows what's good for you If you don’t know what you want and feel disconnected from yourself and your body you have two options: check in with yourself (if you know how to do it). Or: find someone who enables you to gain back that quality, not someone who tells...
Decision-making is physical
Tapping into your body wisdom makes choosing simple. I have learned to approach all things in life as a body. Since I am my body all the time, it makes sense to use my innate faculties. They were designed to serve me well, not to make life hard. And the ability of...
Three reasons why being yourself can boost your business
Three reasons why being yourself can boost your business Before listing the three reasons why being yourself can boost your business, I have to briefly explain what I mean by “being yourself.” It is seemingly self-explanatory, but what I have found in myself and in...
Visionboard Essentials
#1: Du brauchst Ziele Um dein Visionboard kleben zu können, musst du dir erstmal klar werden, was du willst. Oft haben wir Gedanken im Kopf und glauben zu wissen, was wir wollen. Das kann sich dann zum einen mit vielen erlerten ‘Ich sollte…’ und ‘Ich muss aber...
Letting the Body work
body·work \ˈbä-dē-ˌwərk\ 00 Letting the Body Work from Bodies at Work on Vimeo.
At·ten·tion
Also: paying attention Based on the principle of energy follows attention, The body-based approach to awareness practiced and taught here at Bodiew at Work uses your physical being as an anchor in reality. Following the separation of body and mind according to...
Reaction
Re|action Compare: coping mechanism, default setting The repetition of a past behavior. You re-act the same way you did before, which indicates you are not using all your abilities in a fresh and spontaneous way. A reaction is a complex state that can be broken down...
Training
Training training /ˈtreɪnɪŋ/ Also: practice Once you got started on the journey to being fully yourself, body and mind, there are several ways how you can practice and implement in daily life what you have learned. Exercises: they aim at strengthening certain...
Stress and your imagined narrative
Stress is part of life. Historically, it is a natural response of your body to deal with dangerous situation to ensure survival. If you translate this into our times and life in the city, we call those situations rather difficult or important. They matter to us. Be it...
Where you put your attention matters
Energy flows where attention goes. This universal saying is the basis of attention and awareness training. It sounds nice, but what does it mean in practical terms during a busy workday. And how can this serve you to reduce your stress level and get closer to your...