Background & Approach

Blanche Mulholland

 

My journey with  Shiatsu and Yoga has led me to find joy in getting to know myself and others, an ever-deepening process. I find great freedom and peace in allowing the body and breath to flow mindfully and spontaneously, exploring both traditional form and a more deconstructed, 'freestyle' approach.  Embodiment and a strong Earth connection are the roots of my practice and teaching, which I offer as my gift to you from the heart. 

With 12 years of yoga practice in various styles and a deep grounding in Vipassana meditation (Buddhist Insight practice), I began sharing my practice in 2012 after training with Still Flowing Yoga. My interest and passion for bodywork and Oriental Medicine also led me to study Zen Shiatsu for 3 years with my wonderful teacher Tamsin Grainger at the Shiatsu School Edinburgh. I am currently studying for an MA in Dance and Somatic Well-being, grounding this work in the body further and working towards facilitating Somatic Movement Education with individuals and groups.

 

I offer a therapeutic and mindful approach to all of the bodywork and movement practices I like to explore and share. The practices, or forms, are used as tools to cultivate awareness and open up the body, heart and mind.  Enquiry into what we are experiencing in the moment allows us to come closer to our tensions and habitual patterns of movement and reaction, so we can release any contractions and resistance, so we can lighten up and live a little more freely!

 

Mindfulness meditation offers a profound framework within which to explore and contain these practices.  It offers a chance to (dare to!) slow down in the midst of our lives. By getting quiet with ourselves and developing a deep inner listening we can start to explore how we inhabit the body, the nature of mind and our feelings...  There are a variety of ways in which to approach meditation creatively (walking meditation, restorative yoga postures, therapetutic touch, breathwork and other practices that cultivate somatic awareness `felt sense´), as often the body is not ready to sit comfortably in meditation without unwinding our tensions and releasing some stress first. With deep relaxation and increased focus we can learn to dissolve tensions, and discover who we are when these tensions start to drop away.

 

The liberating potential of the practices rooted in the ancient wisdom traditions allows us a glimpse of our natural state, our potential and wholeness. Join me on this journey if you feel drawn.