Will Johnson

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Will Johnson began his return to the body in 1974 with the Sufi Faraji Dance Troupe and the poetry of Rumi. For more than 30 years, he's taught Buddhist meditation and, as a trained Rolfer, applied Ida Rolf's somatic healing principles. He is the author of Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient: The Physical Foundations of Mindfulness, Yoga of the Mahamudra, The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, and many other books.


Listen to Tami Simon's interview with Will Johnson: Awakening the Body

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Awakening the Body

Tami Simon speaks with Will Johnson, the founder and director of the Institute for Embodied Training. For more than 30 years, Will has taught Buddhist meditation and practiced Rolfing, and has developed a unique blend of these two techniques for having a fully embodied meditation practice. He is the author of the books The Posture of Meditation and The Spiritual Practices of Rumi, and with Sounds True he has created the audio learning course Awakening the Body: The Path of Somatic Surrender. In this episode, Tami speaks with Will about how his work as a Rolfer has shaped his approach to meditation, how we can balance all of our perceptions to open ourselves to a complete experience of life, and how the Sufi practice of gazing can lead us to embodied awakening. (63 minutes)

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