Astrology Basics Workshop: Archetype & Narrative

Hi There Astro Friends!

The time has come for me to help you learn to read your own charts!

For those of you who have been enjoying your readings and monthly Astro-Counseling, I would like to offer you another way to deepen your personal and creative work. Knowing how to study your own chart is a highly valuable skill that you can use in a variety of ways, and is a different experience than a reading or Astro-Counseling session.

Studying your own chart is a meditation and internal adventure. It’s navel-gazing with intention. It’s creating with purpose. We spend a lot of time looking out at the world and investing our energies in the external environment, interpreting ourselves through our daily activities and relationships with other people.

Working with your own chart offers a space for deep exploration of the self…with tools! It provides a time to honor your complexity; to know, understand, and integrate the many parts of yourself that are sometimes in conflict with each other, hidden, or exaggerated. It’s a great way to situate yourself in nature, develop a unique relationship with time, and discover new ways of seeing.

I would like to teach a beginner’s workshop this summer in late August or early September. If you are interested, please get in touch with me, with preferred times/dates. I will select a date that works for most people.

About Astrology Basics:

·      We will study planetary archetypes and astrological signs.

·      We will touch upon a few lenses to help you begin to construct narrative in your birth chart.

·      I would like to keep these workshops small (no more than 6).

·      We will be using your personal birth charts (unless you don’t want to, we’ll make up a fake one).

·      Yes, I would like to do this regularly, going forward. If I hear from more than 6 of you I will add   another workshop date.

·      If you are one of my west coast or nomadic clients, I would like to offer you a free workshop and reading if you host me in your hometown for a few days. I will also be taking reservations for private groups and special/advanced topics, i.e. relationships, Saturn return, etc.

Please spread the word to anyone who might be interested. More info: here

 

Love, SPF, and Hydration,

Cory

Body Intelligence Summer Fellowship. Apply Now!

Happy Almost-Summer!

Educators and bodyworkers of all stripes,

I’m happy to offer a paid summer fellowship to one practitioner who’s looking to advance their teaching skills. Read on for more info:

Looking for one special practitioner to study with me this summer, July-September, and possibly work with a couple of clients when I’m not available.

I’m open to practitioners who work in a variety of body-mind modalities. In fact, my only hard and fast requirements are X-Ray vision, a psychic scalpel, and commitment to facilitating deep transformation in those you work with (also, please have 5+ years of teaching/therapy experience, a passion for educating people, and continuing to develop your personal teaching practice). That's all! Preference given to former mentees and teacher training students.

Examples of modalities that I’m open to, include:

Pilates, yoga, Alexander technique, Feldenkrais, Zero Balancing, Klein technique, Body Mind Centering, Rolfing, Crainiosacral therapy, DermoNeuroModulation, and students from The Breathing Project.

Fellowship includes:

·      Travel /food stipend (provided by SGF Foundation)

·      Observation and practical study with me on real clients

·      Mentorship

·      Possible clients after study is completed

Focal point of study:

·      How to identify, create, and implement a course of movement treatment

·      How to cultivate an intimate and safe environment for clients to work in (and do it very quickly).

·      Given the subjects we’ll be working with, you’ll get a closer look at conditions like Scoliosis, chronic pain, anxiety disorder, and PTSD

Please email bodyintelligence@gmail.com for an application

My week in a DermoNeuroModulation think tank. Two DNM poems. One DNM Testimonial.

So, I spent most of last week in a DermoNeuroModulation (DNM) think tank with some outstanding manual and movement therapists. These people are also some of the most inspired thinkers working in the field of…the field of healthcare? Not quite. Wellness? Ok, that might be a little closer. How about biopsychosocial change? Yeah. That’s just going to have to do for now.

After a couple years of flirting with the concepts of DNM, and applying them to the work I do with you, I finally decided to go all in and drink the damn Kool-Aid. I am so happy that I decided to do the formal course.

DNM is not a new modality, movement language, or tool. I think we’ll all agree I speak enough “movement languages.”  What DNM is to me, is a worldview that is backed by hard science regarding the needs of an individual human being for optimal functioning with other human beings. I know. I know. Huh???? Well rest assured; I will be talking your ear off about this in more detail. For now, mull over a few bullet points:

·      DNM treats physiology instead of anatomy.

·      DNM uses touch, talk, and movement to create a context rich environment for sensory

     experience, and re-mapping of the nervous system.

·      DNM privileges the rehabilitation of sensory awareness before motor function.

As far as brass tacks are concerned, I firmed up my grasp of neuro/biomechanics, pain science, and manual manipulation skills. And, I’m just so excited to recommit myself to work that I’m passionate about.

You all know I only refer you to the best people, well, here are a couple more. I encourage you to contact them if you’d like to learn more about DNM.

“Michael Polon and ReyAllen have done something very impressive in their teaching of the DermoNeuroModualtion Advanced Course. They have managed to teach the hard science of neurobiology and pain science and integrate it with the poetry of being alive in a human body. They also managed to take the science and ground it in practical approaches to working with clients who have complex needs. As a participant, I’ve been able to use what I’ve learned in every aspect of my business, from marketing my services, to more specific applications of touch during a session.  Perhaps the most special thing about Rey and Michael as educators is their willingness to challenge everything, and everyone, including themselves. Courageous and rigorous thinking during a time when it’s most needed.”

 –Cory Nakasue, Movement therapist, educator, DNM Practitioner

Here’s  a poem I wrote last year when my back wasn’t, ahem, cooperating with me. I went to see Rey, and he started busting out the books on the intercostalbrachials that he so adores.

The Vice’s Grip is a Trick

Strictures wrapped in a cast of every move I’ve made

based on every want I’ve wanted.

You’d think motion would beget motion. Full stop.

Tracing the ridge where dough meets crag is the most painful place

the most painful place, the most healing place, the most healing place

the most mystical place.

The back of anything’s the most mystical place.

No one knows nothin’ ‘bout what’s stuck in the back.

As much as it takes one good shove to make something stick….

It really doesn’t happen “just like that.”

These things start with a tingle that I manage to ignore—to move around

move around the idea that every fist must unclench

move the idea around to the back of my mind (where the truth lies).

Move into my imagination (where the truth lies).

Pick the wrong thing and I stick. I’m stuck

until I unravel the mystery, untie the bind, unfurl the mind and

let go of any ideas about how I move.

Here’s a poem by Wallace Stevens that reminds me of the ideomotor.

I am now working on a poem about the “critter brain” that begins:

Fight, flight, feed, or fuck.

I’m talking indirectly right at you.

Listen up...

Availability April 18th-May 1st + Service updates!

First of all, you’ve made this transition super easy for me, and for that I thank you so much. Here are some more spring updates:

The rest of April is completely booked. Please consider putting your name on the waitlist, or taking one of the group classes I’m guest teaching at Flesh & Bone. It’s all listed below. I’m also happy to book standing appointments in advance. We’re looking into May for those.

A reminder about booking: please continue booking your private sessions and private group sessions through me, just as you have always done. If you would like to take a Flesh & Bone group Pilates class with me or any other teacher, please contact the studio.

GEEKING OUT!

One of the activities that’s taking up a lot of next week is my DermoNeuroModulation workshop. I know, I know, DermoNeuro What?!  I’ve already talked to a lot of you about this, and I have been incorporating many of these principles in our movement work over the past couple of years…especially in my clinical work. Succinctly, DNM is a nervous system based approach to manual therapy. I really believe that it is the new frontier in pain management and creating neuro/psychobiological change. What does this mean for you? When I reach out and touch you, it’s going to be a lot more specific and effective. You can read more about it here.

Talk soon,

C 

Availability 4/18-5/1

Monday, April 18^th

6PM Tribeca Class

Friday, April 22^nd

6PM Lower East Side PARTY!

Sunday, April 24^th

Noon Mat Pilates Class @ Flesh & Bone

Monday, April 26^th

6PM Tribeca Class

Wednesday, April 27^th

10:45AM Greenpoint Tattoo Co. Class

7PM Group Reformer Class @ Flesh & Bone

Sunday, May 1^st

Noon Mat Pilates @ Flesh & Bone

Happy Spring! A quick guide to all things NEW!

First of all, I want to thank you for your patience and flexibility while I was making some transitions. I had a major growth spurt in 2015, and needed the time away from teaching and counseling to reorganize and streamline my services. So, here’s all the new stuff:

New Locations!

Fort Greene/Downtown Brooklyn

Those of you who see me for somatic therapy and astrology counseling can visit me at my new place. It should be easier for some of you. I get SO MANY subway lines! And, I still have an L train option--

Williamsburg

I am now taking my Pilates/PT/NMR clients at Flesh & Bone Pilates Studio. The team there is awesome, and they have always been incredibly supportive of my approaches to body-mind work. Some of them even continue to be willing guinea pigs for my mad science experiments. I will also occasionally kick down some old-school classical work for their group mat, reformer, and tower classes. I will announce these as they come up in my newsletter, which brings me to—

New Scheduling!

My volume has been pretty high, and I’ve been having far less availability for “open scheduling.”  I was starting to feel pretty silly sending a schedule every week that had no availability. So, I’m only going to send a sign up schedule twice a month. You are always welcome to inquire about a date or time, or add your name to the waiting list for a time that has been booked.

A New Way to Pay!

I don’t know why it’s taken me 10 years to do this, but I now accept electronic payment and credit cards via Square Cash.

What’s Not New:

I still have morning community class in Greenpoint once a week, and evening community class in Tribeca twice a week. We have space for new students in both locations.

That’s the short list of what’s new. I learned so much while I was away, and got the chance to clarify and redefine what I offer as your teacher/therapist. I’m so over California. It was just a fling. She means nothing to me! I really can’t wait to come home.

Love,

Cory

Winter News and Availability + Coming to Cali + Help me find an apartment in April

Hi All,

So this history-making snow-bomb that's coming for the east coast has grounded the flight that I was supposed to be on tomorrow, and put me on a Monday flight. Therefore, obviously, Monday sessions are canceled. I will be seeing clients again on Tuesday.

I will be leaving for my west coast "tour" on February 11th. Actually, my tour starts with a private gig in Tulum. But, if you're going to be in the LA/OC area between February 18th and March 22nd, please gimme a shout. During that time I will be teaching locally and doing readings via Skype. End of February into early March, I'll actually be in San Diego (neurobiology conference) and Joshua Tree (art project) and will be offline Feb. 26th-March 7th.

So, you'll get me fresh in the spring. I'm expecting to resume sessions in early April. Of course I will be reaching out before I return to set up new schedules and programming (oh yeah, a bunch of new stuff comin' at ya in April). A lot depends on when I find a new apartment. So, if any of you are aware of a sublet situation coming up in spring, let me know. I think it would actually be cool to try a couple neighborhoods out before I settle. Spread the word please!

Please contact me if you need help arranging for subs.

Massive warm hugs to all!

C

Here is what's left of the winter/Bushwick situation:

Wednesday, January 27th

Greenpoint Tattoo Co. Class 10:45AM

Tribeca Class 6:00PM

Thursday, January 28th

Open sign-up Noon

Friday, January 29th

Open sign up 5PM-7PM

Monday, February, 1st

Tribeca Class 6:00PM

Tuesday, February 2nd

Open sign up Noon-2PM

Wednesday, February 3rd

Greenpoint Tattoo Co. Class 10:45AM

Open Sign up 1PM-4PM

Tribeca Class 6:00PM

Thursday, February 4th

Open Sign up 6PM-8PM

Monday, February 8th

Tribeca Class 6:00PM

Wednesday, February 10th

Greenpoint Tattoo Class 10:45AM

Tribeca Class 6:00PM