Life that said Yes

In the 22nd and final episode of Life That Said Yes Conversations, I am honoured to be joined by my teacher Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, a movement artist, life-time explorer, and creator of Body-Mind-Centering. We explore how to meet ourselves in the present moment, the practice of embryological breathing, yielding through change and suffering, the importance of touching another without interrupting...

In the 21st episode of Life that Said Yes Conversations Ivan is joined by Susan Aposhyan.

In the 20th episode of Life that Said Yes Conversations, Ivan is joined by Patty Townsend, a yoga teacher and the creator of Embody Yoga. Patty opens up about her incredible journey, from teaching Transcendental Meditation to meeting Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen which has made a profound impact on her. In this episode, we explore: - Why hierarchy is "the poison of embodiment" and how to pract...

In the 19th episode of Life that Said Yes Conversations, Ivan is joined by somatic educator and author Abigail Rose Clarke. We move beyond the buzzword of "nervous system regulation" to explore what it truly means to come home to our bodies. Abigail offers a powerful critique of how capitalist narratives of control and calm productivity have co-opted healing spaces, and instead invites u...

In the 18th episode of LIFE THAT SAID YES conversations, Ivan is joined by Satu Palokangas for an exploration of how somatic practice serves as a vessel for supporting profound change. They delve into creating shared learning fields where discovery happens in the moment, the principle of "support preceding movement," and the vital repatterning of our relationship to knowledge itself. The...

In this guided somatization, we explore the profound connection between our breath, our body, and the space around us. This practice is a journey inward, beginning with grounding and setting an intention. We will bring mindful awareness to the cycle of breath - feeling the inhale as we receive oxygen-rich air from the outer world into the "inner universe" of our bodies, and the exhale as...

This is a somatization from the Living Body Online Series which took place on June 22nd, 2025. This somatization was a part of a live Zoom class, where we discussed the following topics:- healing & wholeness - embryological journey - undifferentiated cells - stem cells - what is health? - finding layers of support- acceptance & hope- Source vibration (the Spark) & quantum perceptionYou...

This is a somatization from the Living Body Online Series which took place on May 11th, 2025. This somatization was a part of a live Zoom class, where we discussed the following topics:- waters of the world and internal waters- fluids of the body - support of the Earth - amniotic fluid - embryonic breathing - digestive tract and embryonic nutrition - inner and outer fluid space- membrane supportYo...

This is a somatization from the Living Body Online Series which took place on May 4th, 2025. This somatization was a part of a live Zoom class, where we discussed the following topics:- spirals of the bones - embryological spiral of humerus and femur - bone marrow - front and back body - connection of bones and glands - cellular breathing - mitochondria - the cosmic jokeYou can watch the recording...

This is a somatization from the Living Body Online Series which took place on April 13th, 2025. This somatization was a part of a live Zoom class, where we discussed the following topics: - sternum, manubrium, xiphoid process as the tail in the front - organs and bones of the thoracic cavity - countermovement of the lungs and the heart (ball and socket joint) - lungs embracing the heart - connecti...

In the 17th episode of LIFE THAT SAID YES conversations Ivan is joined by Olive Bieringa in a lovely exchange about awakening the senses and opening the perception, new ways of learning, rewilding of the human spirit, performance art and resisting extinction through ecosomatic practices. Olive Bieringa is a dance maker, somatic movement therapist and cultural producer who grew up in Wellington, Ne...

This is a somatization from the Living Body Online Series which took place on April 6th, 2025. This somatization was a part of a live Zoom class, where we discussed the following topics: - Being overwhelmed by the world and its events- Healing- Transformation & Repatterning- Allowing rest- Nature as support- Finding the roots- Regeneration & restoring energy- External & internal breath...

This is a somatization from the Living Body Online Series which took place on March 30th, 2025. The topic was Being Present and Facing the World (Pelvis-Heart-Brain connection). It was a part of a live Zoom class, where we discussed the following topics: Glands and glandular chainAttention and being presentImportance of lower glands and rooting for being present and coming into momentGlands and pe...

In the 16th episode of LIFE THAT SAID YES conversations Ivan is joined by Linda Hartley , in a rich conversation about our relationship to nature and our own embodied being, hearing the voice of Earth, slowing down, Authentic Movement, connection of personal and transpersonal experiences, how to embrace both beauty and sadness, holding the healing space, redefining relationship to dying, and many...

In the 15th episode of the LTSY Conversations Ivan is joined by Lisa Clark. Lisa offers an embodied experience of yoga and movement. Her approach explores the many layers of our form, the deepening of consciousness through ongoing inquiry into the body, and embodiment as a pathway of liberation. She is Program/Educational Director of the School For Body-Mind Centering® Yoga Immersion Series. She i...

This is a somatization from the session 15 of the Living Body Series (December 22nd, 2024). The topic was Nourishment, Regeneration and Vitality. It was a session to end the year, calm down and land in our body, and feel the regenerative and nourishing power of our fluids and our cellular consciousness. A big thank you to all the participants. What is a somatization? Somatization is form of guided...

In the 14th episode of the LTSY Conversations Ivan is joined by Marina Tsartsara, in a conversation about the connection of arts and somatics, and how it reflects to our wellbeing. Marina is a Somatic Movement Therapist (ISMETA Registered), Body-Mind Centering® Teacher, co-director of ISTOS (Official BMC® training in Greece and Greek Cyprous), a Dance & Visual Artist (MSc). The interdisciplina...

Everything is VIBRATION. An emanating essence leaving its imprint in space. A drone tone radiating and modulating, touching other vibrations, making infinite varieties of creation. Frequencies making love. Creation is vibration. Sound and movement. Alive and palpable. Ranging from the finest, subtlest and rarefied, to the densest, condensed into matter. What is your drone? What is your essential t...

This is a somatization from the session 14 of the Living Body Series (July 28th, 2024). The topic was Lymph, Lymphatic (Immune) System. We were exploring the fluid of lymph, how it flows through the body, from the interstitial fluid around the cells (our inner sea), all the way to the neck area of subclavian veins where it enters the bloodstream and the heart. Exploring specific directionality and...

This is a somatization from the session 13 of the Living Body Series (July 21st, 2024). The topic was Embracing - Rooting - Balancing - Connecting. We started the exploration by becoming aware of our body and personal energetic space. Then we were playing with the Embrace Reflex (Moro), the reflex of opening our arms/body/perception to embrace the world, and its polarity of embracing ourselves, ta...

This is a somatization from the session 12 of the Living Body Series (July 14th, 2024). The topic was Endocrine Glands as Connection of Heaven and Earth. We were exploring endocrine glands from the Body-Mind Centering perspective, from the lower ones in the pelvis, all the way to the glands of the head. We were using sounding to activate the vibration of the glands (unfortunately, this hasn't...

This is a somatization from the session 11 of the Living Body Series (June 23rd, 2024). The topic was Support of Space & Skeletal System. We were exploring the support of Space (external & internal), how we can move through Space, but also how Space can move us. Releasing the weight into the ground, and establishing the support of the Skeletal system as our basic bodily architecture throug...

This is a somatization from the session 10 of the Living Body Series (June 16th, 2024). The topic was Receiving (Deep listening) & Giving/sharing. We explored our brain as an organ, and then went into the nervous system, opening the back of our brain and the spinal cord, practicing how to receive incoming impulses from outside and inside of our body into that area and deeply listen (exploring...

This is a somatization from the session 9 of the Living Body Series (June 2nd, 2024). We are again exploring the wonder of our lungs, this time not from the lens of embryology, but experiencing our present lung tissue and all the beauty and pain that it holds. We started the exploration by going into the three lobes of the lungs - upper, middle and lower lobe. Sounding and moving from each lobe, s...

This is a somatization from the session 8 of the Living Body Series (May 26th, 2024). We are exploring our the wonder of our lungs, from the embryological perspective and how it developed from our yolk sac; we explore how our LUNG BUD is formed, out of which our lungs eventually develop; we were playing with sounding this time as well, to embody the vibration of our lung bud and our lungs, feeling...