In this week’s episode Will Johnson speaks with Joanna about: Rumi and the practice of eye gazing; remembering the great wide open through the felt presence of body and breathing; cannabis, an ally in waking up the vibratory presence of the body; cannabis and the spontaneous dance of Shiva; surrendering to breath and awakening the body; the real value of entheogens; the holding pattern of the egoic mind in the body; breath as the common practice to experience the sacred in the three Abrahamic traditions; Buddha’s instruction for breathing through the whole body; the somatic, palpable experience of Oneness of the founders of monotheistic religions; a somatic meditation.

Will Johnson received his B. A., magna cum laude, in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University in 1968. After graduation, he worked for several years as an art critic in New York before moving to the west coast of North America where he began actively exploring gazing, moving, and sitting meditations. He became a Buddhist practitioner in 1972 and was trained as a Rolfer in 1976. He began the formal sharing of the practices of Embodiment Training in 1995. He and his wife (and partner in the practices) Coco live in Delicias, Costa Rica, just outside the little bohemian town of Montezuma at the southern tip of the Nicoya peninsula where they have created Bambu Hueco, the Hollow Bambu Retreat Centre where they are currently receiving people to enter into intensive 7-21 self retreat. During these retreats, people will have the opportunity to work closely with Will in their meditation practices and receive deep bodywork and dream sessions as support for their intensive practice. He is the author of the audio program “Awakening the Body: The Path of Somatic Surrender” and several books, among them, “Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient: The Physical Foundations of Mindfulness”, “Yoga of the Mahamudra: The Mystical Way of Balance”, “The Spiritual Practices of Rumi: Radical Techniques for Beholding the Divine”, “Breathing Through the Whole Body: The Buddha’s Instructions on Integrating Mind, Body, and Breath”, “Cannabis in Spiritual Practice: The Ecstasy of Shiva, The Calm of Buddha” (2018), and his newest “Breathing as Spiritual Practice: Experiencing the Presence of God” (2019).

“I Can’t Sit Still”, original music by Evarusnik

Episode Navigator