DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
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DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

  Don Hanlon Johnson

 

Thursday, January 26, 2012, 10:30 am Pacific, 11:30 am Mountain, 12:30 pm Central, 1:30 pm EST, 2:30 pm Atlantic, 6:30 pm Zurich, 7:30 pm Istanbul

 

 

Aging is not just an inevitable force of nature to be put up with, but a unique and ultimate invitation to exercise our creative imagination in shaping ourselves. The crucial role of exercise in maintaining quality of life in late years is commonly accepted and widely researched. Without maintaining a vigorous program of bodily activity, physical and emotional health are endangered. And yet, the creeping realities of muscle-bone deterioration and joint impairments make it difficult to sustain an active regimen. Only with great effort, can one tough out exercises to keep muscle mass and avoid the disastrous effects of a fall, or the pathologies from collapsed organs.

 

All too often, however, well-intentioned exercise classes, designed on the basis of experiences of younger people and hoping to encourage playful enjoyment, approach elders in ways that infantilize us. There is a possibility of a different approach to nurturing our vitality, more similar in concept to older traditions in India, China, and Japan, where advanced aging is valued as a positive achievement. Unique approaches to nurturing body vitality, flexibility, and balance are possible for elders in ways that are not available in earlier years of life.  Over my nearly 80 years of dealing with my own severe physical restrictions, I have cobbled together, with the help of some marvelous teachers, specific strategies of movement, body awareness, breathing awareness, and balance exercises that are appropriate for the advanced experience and subtle intelligence of elders.

Bio


Don Hanlon Johnson is a professor of Somatics in the School of Professional Psychology at CIIS, founder of the first graduate degree program in Somatics, and co-director of the Center for Somatic Reseach.  He is a practitioner of various approaches to body cultivation, and author of several books on the body, the latest of which is Everyday Hopes, Utopian Dreams: Reflections on American Ideals.

 

Breathing Exercise


While you are reading this, you might turn your attention to your breathing. As you turn, let out a full exhale waiting perhaps a few seconds before the next inhale is ready to come. When it does, notice if it moves into any unfamiliar regions of our body:  upper corners of your torso, lower back, shoulders, neck, etc.  When you find such a region, settle your awareness in it, and let yourself remain there during the next few breaths.  

 

Additional Material


My website lists a number of links to various schools of bodywork from which I have synthesized these practices. My collection, Bone, Breath, and Gesture, which appears on the publications page, is a good introduction to these kinds of approach to the body.  You will also find there many other sources of literature and schools of work.
View: http://www.donhanlonjohnson.com/

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Introduction


Don Hanlon Johnson is a professor of Somatics in the School of Professional Psychology at CIIS, founder of the first graduate degree program in Somatics, and co-director of the Center for Somatic Reseach.  He is a practitioner of various approaches to body cultivation, and author of several books on the body, the latest of which is Everyday Hopes, Utopian Dreams: Reflections on American Ideals.


DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Interview Questions

 

  1. You are a professor of Somatics. Could you define "Somatics?"  What areas does Somatics cover?
  2. It's a relatively new field of study, especially at a graduate level.  What role did you have in developing this field?
  3. Most of Careerwell's listeners are career counselors and other career practitioners.  Why should they be interested in Somatics?  How can a knowledge of Somatics benefit our work and personal lives?
  4. How did you get into a study of Somatics?
  5. In your Careerwell interview summary, you say, "All too often, ... well-intentioned exercise classes, designed on the basis of experiences of younger people and hoping to encourage playful enjoyment, approach elders in ways that infantilize us."  What do you mean "infantailze us" and what do you suggest to rectify this?
  6. You have written several books on the body, the latest of which is Everyday Hopes, Utopian Dreams:  Reflections on American Ideals. Can you tell us something about the book and why you wrote it?
  7. Could you guide us through the breathing exercise that you gave me to post on your Careerwell Web Page?

 

 

 

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.