Here’s where I’m supposed to tell you how special I am.

I’m not special.  I’m not enlightened.  Far from it.  Like Zaphod Beeblebrox, I’m just this guy, you know?  But I don’t want to be president (or cult leader) of anything.

I’m heavily influenced by Advaita Vedanta and have spent close to a year of my life meditating and just being around the Ramana Maharshi ashram in Tiruvannamalai, South India.  You can read a blog post about my experience of meditation in India here.

One odd quirk about me is that I have aphantasia.  I have no functioning mind’s eye and cannot visualize imagery.  From what I understand about the condition, you could pump me full of psylocybin and I would be fully capable of holding a rational conversation.  But because the brain compensates, I’ve learned to pay more attention to the somatic: how a person moves, what is communicated, the subtext of how someone speaks.  My acting and psychological training has added to this.

Essentially, when I ask someone how they’re doing and they say “I’m fine” with some extra tension around the eyes and mouth, a slightly raised and unvarying tone, and a quicker pace, the contradiction in the message feels something not entirely unlike scraping your nails on a chalkboard, like dissonant notes in music.  I’ve never learned to completely ignore cognitive dissonance, which apparently is an absolute necessity to be a “success” in many fields.

That quirk of my brain is, however, helpful when the goal is to lessen that cognitive dissonance, to learn to speak and move from one’s whole body.  As popular as Yoga is now, it is often forgot that the goal of yoga is union, which means the harmony of one’s entire body/limbic/cognitive system.  Harmony is our birthright.  Physio-psychic unity.

Training and Influence

I bring methods in Linklater and Fitzmaurice Voice trainings, which are designed to allow the voice and body to find their natural freedom without trying to “perform”.  I have completed the Candadian National Voice Intensive, a wonderful 5 week, 12 hours a day program where they don’t give enough space to allow old habits to continue.

I’ve done advanced training in Middendorf breath, which encourages discovering the free and natural breath through movement.

I’m influenced by both the Alexander technique and the idea of the “felt sense” in the Focusing methodology.  I encourage Authentic Movement.  I value Somatic Experiencing, though I offer something different.

I’ve done extensive Patchennko clown training with David MacMurray Smith at Fantastic Space Enterprises as well as improv with Vancouver Theatresports and Instant Theatre.  (Note: my classes are not about learning to perform at all!)

I’ve been meditating for over 2 decades, exploring traditions in Advaita Vedantha, Theravada Buddhism, Shambhala Buddhism, Zen, among others.  Some of my favorite influences are Ranana Maharshi, Jean Klein, J.K. Krishnamurthi, Ramesh Balsekar, Desikachar on Yoga, and Bessel Van Der Kolk for understanding trauma and blocks.

I’m also a practical joker who has been known to sneak a remote controlled fart machine into a meditational or yoga space where people are trying  HARD to be SO SPIRITUAL.  I consider it a great spiritual truth that even the Buddha farted.  What we need to learn is to be fully human – ourselves.  That means letting go of any idea of what “spiritual” is.

I’m also proud of making so many huge mistakes about meditation, growth, relationships, and life – and then learning to make real change.  I’ve learned the body is the best tool we have – it never lies.  It’s helped me get past so much of my own bullshit.

What I’ve also learned is that far too often spirituality and growth is considered an individual matter.  You meditate alone, or at least without interactions.  The same is for yoga.  But relationships are the measure of ourselves, and we are far more interdependant than we can possibly understand.  

Ultimately what brings me joy is seeing people finding new ways to enhance connections and relationships – both to themselves and to others.