Calendar of Events

“Meditation and Poetry 2025
Receiving Inspiration from Evocative and Beautiful Words“

Dates: January 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th (Thursdays)
Time: 18:00-19:15 Europe, 12:00-1:15 pm East US,
9:00-10:15 am West US
Location: online
Sliding scale tuition for entire series:
€ or $ 10.00 – € or $ 100.00, (includes recordings).
No one refused for inability to pay.

Register and read more
The Zoom link will be sent upon registration.

This is a time to deepen/widen/expand your practice or, for some, to start on a transformative journey.

Tender Words

Tender words we spoke
to one another
are sealed
in the secret vaults of heaven.
One day like rain,
they will fall to earth
and grow green
all over the world.

–Rumi

Dear Friends,

Last January, I offered the first series of classes dedicated to Mediation and Poetry. Recently, we have received numerous requests to offer this again. Using new poems, we will explore how beautiful/evocative words can open our inner world, empower our lives and vitalize meditation.

I hope you will join me…

Russell

As two participants from last year wrote:
“I have been meditating for years. Much to my surprise, the poetry/meditation class last January opened something that has stayed with me all year. Please offer this again. In Gratitude, Danke”
Monica, Munich, Germany

“Russell, The poetry-meditation class started me on regular meditation. For years, I have been trying to meditate, starting and stopping, but these poems went straight to my heart and motivated my regular (mostly) meditation. I still repeat the poems often, especially the Lakota Prayer. Thank you”
Roger, Vancouver, Canada

Here are two articles on Meditation:
PDF – Embodied Meditation Click Here
PDF – The Essentials of Embodied Meditation Click Here

* This retreat is open to students enrolled in this Embodied Life Mentorship Program (ELMP).

Read more about the Embodied Life Mentorship Program.

The Embodied Life Retreat: Awareness through Meditation, Guided Inquiry and the Teachings of Moshé Feldenkrais

Dates: February 13th – 16th (Thursday to Sunday)
Time: 6:30pm Thursday to 2:00pm Sunday
Location: ZIST Penzberg
Tuition: €470
Read more and register

* This program is open to all.

All methods devoted to human potential emphasize the importance of awakening to the present moment. All that we long for – love, joy, peace, harmony, truth – require the fundamental capacity for PRESENCE. This seminar uses ancient and modern methods for directly and simply uncovering this natural capacity.

Simply said, we need the capacity to:

1) Sit quietly with our own thoughts,
2) mindfully welcome our feelings/emotions and
3) find comfort in our own bodies.

The meditation we will practice is a bare-bones approach to experiencing the present moment As It Is; this is the basis for being at home in ourselves. Chairs are available and help is given to those who find sitting challenging.

Guided Inquiry includes a variety of awareness experiments based in the Focusing method of Eugene Gendlin. Learning to bring a warm, caring, curious presence to our feelings/emotions is truly transformative.

The movement lessons of Moshé Feldenkrais are perhaps the most neurologically sophisticated and effective ways of transforming our motor patterns and self-image; these lessons are also interesting and fun.

Through meditations, awareness practices, movement lessons and conversation, we anticipate a meaningful and joyful time of learning together. This retreat is open to all people who are interested in living an awakening life.

Embodied Life Seminar “Revisioning Your Life: Embodiment, Awareness, and Fulfillment”

Dates: March. 22nd – 23rd (Saturday and Sunday)
Time: Sat 10:00am – 5:00pm, Sun 10:00am – 4:30pm
Location: Shared Visions Retreat Center, Durham, North Carolina
Tuition: $235, earlier bird (register by February 28th): $195.

Register and Pay

Local Contact:
Lisa Werness: werness@gmail.com Text: (919) 306-4340
Cathy Pascal: cathypascalnc@gmail.com

* This retreat is open to all.

Dear Friends,

You have a unique life, filled with both gifts and challenges.

In the busyness of daily life, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters:

• What is your life calling for?
• How can you bring your gifts into fuller expression?
• How can you listen more deeply to the wisdom within you?

This seminar offers an opportunity to step back, listen freshly, and reconnect with your true self.

Fresh awareness is the key to transformation.
When we embody this awareness, it blossoms. And from this deeper listening, fulfillment naturally emerges.

What to Expect:
Through movement practices based in Feldenkrais, awareness exercises, guided meditations, and group discussions, you will discover new guidance and insight in ways that may surprise you.

Whether you are looking to enhance your physical, emotional, or relational life, this seminar will help you access clarity and direction that supports all levels of your being.

Please join us for a joyful and enriching journey into the heart of the matter: Creating a more meaningful, satisfying and fulfilling life.

With warmest wishes on your path,

Russell Delman

Practices

Embodied Meditation will take you through the body to your whole self, where you can sense who you are before thought, self-image, self-stories, and inner dialogue. Sensing the self as larger than the physical body is a key..

Embodied Movement includes Feldenkrais lessons and other Embodied Practices. We will experience the ever-present support of the earth and an uplifting connection to the sky. These movements affect and harmonize our whole nervous system. Spatial Awareness is a key element.

Embodied Inquiry will help you cultivate the neural networks of life-giving states.  You learn how to be present with our own thoughts, feelings and memories in ways that promote a deep sense of wholeness. These inquiries include: writing, conversation, partner practices and talks.

Please join us for a deep, playful, expansive and restorative journey into the Ground of Being.

* This retreat is open to students enrolled in this Embodied Life Mentorship Program (ELMP).
Read more about the Embodied Life Mentorship Program.

Embodied Life Johanneshof Germany Public Retreat

Dates: May 1st – 4th (Thursday to Sunday)
Time: Registration begins Thursday at 15:00, retreat ends Sunday at 12:15, lunch ends at 14:00
Location: Zen Center Johanneshof
Tuition: €350 or $350 (€100 or $100 deposit to hold a place)
Register and pay
Book your lodging

* This retreat is open to all.

Join Russell and Linda at the serene Johanneshof Zen Center. This is a Public retreat so all are invited.

“Who are you before your parents were born?” This illuminating Zen question, usually spoken as “Original Face”, opens an inquiry into a quality of Being before, within and beyond our usual self-identities. Can we both value and be free from our historic self-identities?

Returning to Essence: Points directly to knowing ourselves before our thoughts, feelings, stories and inner dialogue.Deeper than our cultural conditioning, this essence never goes away.

Ground of Being: When grounded in our bodies and sensing the support of the earth, we can open to the moment, “just as it is”. This ground of Being gives us great confidence for learning from our life challenges.

This Embodied Life stands on three legs:
1) Embodied Meditation – sitting and walking meditation,
2) Embodied Movement – Feldenkrais movements, Spatial Awareness and other original somatic practices,
3) Embodied Inquiry-Awareness explorations based in Focusing, Non-Violent Communication, life-giving memories and deep listening.

ELMP Retreat at Anubhuti Center, Novato CA

Dates: June 5th – 9th (Thursday to Monday)

Time: Arrive Thursday after 15:00. Dinner 18:30, program at 19:30. Ends on Monday after breakfast.

Location: Anubhuti Center

Tuition: $450 ($100 deposit to hold a place)


Register and pay

Accommodation for 4 nights (included meals and venue fees):
Single room: $720
Double room: $580
Commuter rate: $320

You will make your lodging payment once we confirm the room your are assigned.

* This retreat is open ONLY to students who have graduated from an Embodied Life Mentorship Program (ELMP).

Embodied Life Seminar: “Embodiment: Grounded-ness and Spaciousness in Everyday Life”

Dates: June 28th – 29th (Saturday and Sunday)
Time: 10am to 5pm
Location: Pôle Nautique, Concarneau
Tuition: 230€, tarif adhérents Orthophonissimo: 200€
Register and Pay (Inscriptions)

Local contact: Sylvie Devaux
orthophonissimo@gmail.com or +33 621786953 (text only)

Traduction française

*This program will be taught in English, with interpreter.

Embodiment means being present and at home in your body, your relationships, and your world. This presence is essential for living fully, authentically, and harmoniously. Embodiment opens the door to the present moment.

Grounded-ness refers to sensing your connection with and support from the earth. Gravity is your friend! Grounded-ness gives us the “I am HERE” experience and serves as the foundation for being fully present.

Spaciousness is the experience of openness within the body. Spatial awareness means sensing space both within your physical body and in the environment around you. This awareness invites the experience of inner freedom and helps reduce chronic tension and pain.

PRACTICES

Embodied Meditation is a direct, simple way of entering the present moment. Based on Zen meditation, this practice benefits both experienced meditators and beginners alike.

Embodied Movement includes Feldenkrais lessons and other embodied practices. Common results include a deeper connection to the earth, ease in breathing, greater freedom in movement, and the harmonization of the nervous system.

Embodied Inquiry consists of simple yet powerful reflections, often including writing. You will learn ways to access your “wisdom body,” which helps your brain connect with life-giving, healthy memories. You already have experiences of excellent functioning; making them more accessible is not difficult.

Please join us for a deep, playful, expansive and restorative journey into the Ground of Being.

Traduction française

*Enseignement en anglais avec interprète.

La présence à votre corps, c’est être présent et “chez vous” dans votre corps, dans vos relations et dans votre monde. Cette présence est essentielle pour vivre pleinement, authentiquement et harmonieusement. La présence à son corps ouvre la porte au moment présent.

La présence à la terre, l’ancrage au sol, c’est sentir votre lien avec la terre et le soutien qu’elle vous apporte. La gravité est votre amie ! L’ancrage au sol nous donne l’expérience du « je suis ICI ». C’est la base sur laquelle se bâtit la pleine présence.

La présence à l’espace, c’est faire l’expérience de s’ouvrir à partir du corps. La conscience de l’espace consiste à percevoir l’espace à la fois dans votre corps physique et dans l’environnement qui vous entoure. Cette conscience invite à faire l’expérience de la liberté intérieure et aide à réduire les tensions et les douleurs chroniques.

LES PRATIQUES

La méditation est un moyen direct et simple d’entrer dans le moment présent. Basée sur la méditation zen, cette pratique profite aussi bien aux méditants expérimentés qu’aux débutants.

Les pratiques de mouvement comprennent des leçons de Feldenkrais et d’autres pratiques corporelles. Elle amènent une connexion plus profonde à la terre, une respiration facilitée, une plus grande liberté de mouvement et un système nerveux harmonisé.

L’écoute incarnée consiste en des réflexions sur soi-même simples mais puissantes, y compris par écrit. Vous apprendrez à accéder à votre « corps de sagesse », qui aide votre cerveau à se connecter à des souvenirs porteurs de vie. Vous avez déjà fait l’expérience de moments durant lesquels vous avez fonctionné excellemment. Il n’est pas difficile de rendre ces moments plus accessibles.

* This retreat is open to students who have graduated from an Embodied Life Mentorship Program (ELMP).

Tuition: €450 (€100 deposit to hold a place)
To register contact the Office.

The Embodied Life Retreat: Awareness through Meditation, Guided Inquiry and the Teachings of Moshé Feldenkrais

Dates: July 10th – 13th (Thursday to Saturday)
Time: 6:30pm Thursday to 2:00pm Sunday
Location: ZIST Penzberg
Tuition: €470
Read more and register

* This program is open to all.

All methods devoted to human potential emphasize the importance of awakening to the present moment. All that we long for – love, joy, peace, harmony, truth – require the fundamental capacity for PRESENCE. This seminar uses ancient and modern methods for directly and simply uncovering this natural capacity.

Simply said, we need the capacity to:

1) Sit quietly with our own thoughts,
2) mindfully welcome our feelings/emotions and
3) find comfort in our own bodies.

The meditation we will practice is a bare-bones approach to experiencing the present moment As It Is; this is the basis for being at home in ourselves. Chairs are available and help is given to those who find sitting challenging.

Guided Inquiry includes a variety of awareness experiments based in the Focusing method of Eugene Gendlin. Learning to bring a warm, caring, curious presence to our feelings/emotions is truly transformative.

The movement lessons of Moshé Feldenkrais are perhaps the most neurologically sophisticated and effective ways of transforming our motor patterns and self-image; these lessons are also interesting and fun.

Through meditations, awareness practices, movement lessons and conversation, we anticipate a meaningful and joyful time of learning together. This retreat is open to all people who are interested in living an awakening life.

* This retreat is open to students enrolled in this Embodied Life Mentorship Program (ELMP).

Read more about the Embodied Life Mentorship Program.

Embodied Life Seminar “Returning to Essence and the Ground of Being”

Dates: October 11th – 12th (Saturday and Sunday)
Time: 10:00am Saturday to – 17:00pm Sunday
Location: Feldenkrais Institut Wien
Taborstrasse 71/1a 1020 Wien, Vienna, Austria

Tuition: € 245 / students: € 220
Payment by June 30^th: € 205 / for students € 185
ELMP participants: € 150
(Please contact us if your financial situation is limited)

To register: Contact Johannes Zemanek
Tel: +43 (0) 676 701 8298 info@achtsam-atmen.at

* This program is open to all.

The Embodied Life School™ is an integrated teaching developed by Russell Delman that is based in the Zen practice of “Just Sitting” (Shikantaza) and more than fifty years of studies in human potential.

This work stands on three legs:
1) Embodied Meditation – sitting and walking meditation,
2) Embodied Movement – Feldenkrais Method and original standing movements,
3) Embodied Inquiry– which includes various awareness practices based in Focusing, Non-Violent Communication and deep listening.

The Embodied Life teachings are a path of Awareness and Loving-Kindness, which are seen as the most essential qualities for human beings. Moving from habitual patterns of fear to a natural openness to and celebration of life – Fear to Love as our basic operating principle – is the direction of this study.

This potent seminar is of interest to both those experienced in these practices as well as those who are completely new. Each seminar is unique, changed by the presence of the people in the room. In this way, each person has their most important questions addressed. 

Most people find the seminars both joyful, with much humor, as well as deeply moving and even transformative.

Embodied Life Eisenbuch Germany Public Retreat

Dates: October 15th – 19th (Wednesday to Sunday)
Time: Arrive Wednesday after 15:00. Dinner 18:00, program at 19:30. Ends on Sunday after breakfast at 8:05am.

Location: Eisenbuch Zen Center

Tuition: Sliding scale between €325 and €450, or $325 and $450.

Register and pay

Arrange and pay for your lodging

* This program is open to all.

Join Russell and Linda for this annual retreat in Eisenbuch, Germany. Eisenbuch is a precious place for an Embodied Life Retreat. The intimate setting in the idyllic woodlands of upper Bavaria, not far from the Black Madonna of Altotting, lends itself to deep inner work. It is a pleasure to return each autumn. Those in residence support our practices with food to both energize and harmonize the body and mind. This is a Public Retreat, so all are invited to attend.

The Embodied Life explores: “Returning to Essence and the Ground of Being with Russell and Linda Delman”

“Who are you before your parents were born?” This illuminating Zen question, usually spoken as “Original Face”, opens an inquiry into a quality of Being before, within and beyond our usual self-identities. Can we both value and be free from our historic self-identities?

Returning to Essence: Points directly to knowing ourselves before our thoughts, feelings, stories and inner dialogue.Deeper than our cultural conditioning, this essence never goes away.

Ground of Being: When grounded in our bodies and sensing the support of the earth, we can open to the moment, “just as it is”. This ground of Being gives us great confidence for learning from our life challenges.

This Embodied Life stands on three legs:
1) Embodied Meditation – sitting and walking meditation,
2) Embodied Movement – Feldenkrais movements, Spatial Awareness and other original somatic practices,
3) Embodied Inquiry-Awareness explorations based in Focusing, Non-Violent Communication, life-giving memories and deep listening.