Ecology of Movement

I sometimes view my early-twenties self as an inflamed mess who lacked a movement practice and was almost completely sedentary. Yet I realised recently that I’d spend several hours every weekend dancing in clubs, warehouses, loungerooms, kitchens or the bush. The dance became a necessity for my mental health, an essential experience of embodiment, and an integral part of my development as a human. I became completely obsessed with DJing, threw away some of the culturally-imposed restrictions on my body, and danced my ass off.

I love the power of music to inspire movement and explore emotional states, so I’ve been immensely happy to return to regular DJing as part of facilitating a monthly Ecstatic Dance event in Launceston. It’s an opportunity for me to give back, and allow participants to have their own experiences.

Every session is different – a new opportunity to unwind, go inward, shake out and completely unleash. All without the use of alcohol, chemicals, phones or cameras. It can be a huge challenge for some. The music itself moves through 5 energetic stages – Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical and Stillness (the 5 Rhythms model). If you feel heavy, you move through the weight. If you’re feeling anxious, you move through it and observe the changes. The dance offers an avenue to find freedom in your body and self.

If you’re interested, check out the link in the bio and come dance with us.

Nothing like a multi-day hike to recharge the batteries.

We have deliberately crafted our home environment to be movement-rich.

This means leaving resistance bands hanging on bannisters, pull up bars in doorways, kettlebells in corners and yoga mats permanently on the floor.

The idea is to incorporate movement into our day rather than movement being confined to a specific place, at a specific time, requiring specific clothing (I still enjoy doing this too).  

Even without specialised equipment, our homes offer so many movement opportunities when we transition to floor sitting and use a little creative thinking.

Just like any new healthy habit, removing as many barriers to participation as possible and incorporating a little bit each day can be the best way to make lasting change.

Welcome, 2022.

For me, I hope this year is full of movement, community, lovemaking, time in nature, deep reading, tasty food, enlivening discussions, crude humour, new music and plenty of dancing. 

I also hope 2022 contains the right kind of barely-surmountable challenges, discomfort and inconveniences that help us grow as individuals and as a collective. 

Thanks for reading; and know that you are important to a lot of people. 

Eric. 

I absolutely love teaching yoga.

Landing in a new place this year, I was a little nervous to bring my teaching out of the nest of my home-town and into a city studio.

The community at The Yoga Loft Launceston have been so welcoming, and I’ve found my feet as a regular teacher in this beautiful space.

It’s been a huge change from teaching 8-10 group classes per week in Cowra to teaching just one per week here. But it has given me the space to refine my goals as a teacher and bring an arc of skill development over several weeks into my classes.

Currently we are working on shoulders and how they tie into core musculature in standing poses, inversions and arm balances. Along with current sport science and top-notch humour, I’m weaving functional movement and myofascial mobilisation into alignment-based yoga asana under the moniker “Yoga +”.

If you’re interested in refining poses, learning a little anatomy and getting a sweat on, you can find me every Saturday morning at 8:30 .



+

Super excited to be teaching a free pop-up class this Wednesday at 12pm.
This class will focus on the hips and spine with lots of fun myofascial mobilsation.
Bookings through their website.

Happy International Women's Day.
This one goes out to the many powerful women in my life - you are forever my teachers.
Thanks for your love, your patience and your wisdom.
Navigating gender relations and structural imbalances is an ever-evolving process.
I'm here to listen and learn.
This is my Mother, Sister myself at a roaring Koorawatha Falls, NSW - a place on Wiradjuri Country where Mother Nature continually held us.

Ecology of Movement updated their phone number.