Russell Delman
Russell Delman began his study of body/mind perspectives and human potential in 1969 as an undergraduate student in psychology. His life long commitment toward awareness and freedom began consciously at this time, along with his practice of Zen meditation.
Through workshops at The Esalen Institute (1971), living at the Gestalt Institute of Canada (1972), travels in the jungles of South America (1973), being trained as a yoga teacher (1974) and studying Gestalt therapy with Dr. Robert Hall (1975-1978), Russell deepened his self-knowledge. His training and deep personal relationship with Moshe Feldenkrais began in 1975, during the first professional training program offered in the U.S. Starting in 2006, Russell was profoundly influenced by his very moving friendship with Gene Gendlin, the originator of “Focusing”.
In 1984, Russell became one of the first people in the world authorized to lead Feldenkrais® Professional training programs. Since that time he has taught in more than 50 of these programs internationally and directed/designed 10. Russell has helped in the training of more than 3000 Feldenkrais teachers around the world.
Watch this video clip of Russell as he masterfully elaborates on what he calls “the most important movement in the Feldenkrais methodology”. The movement of attention. We have compiled a collection of Russell’s writing and book titles that he recommends.
Along with his wife Linda, also a Feldenkrais trainer, he created the Feldenkrais-India Project that brought the method to India for the first time. Through work at Mother Teresa’s Missions, particularly in Calcutta, the Delman’s taught the “Sisters of Charity” to work with brain-injured children. During this time, they were blessed and influenced by numerous private meetings with Mother Teresa.
Perhaps the strongest influences on Russell’s life are his more than 45 years of marriage with Linda and the journey of fathering their daughter, Liliana. In indescribable ways, these relationships influence his entire life.
Personal Statement from Russell Delman
The formation of The Embodied Life™ School and Mentorship Program is the fruition of a life long trajectory. In a completely unexpected way, I stumbled on this path of Awareness, Awakening and Love as a young man in 1970. In hindsight, I can clearly see that many forces have acted together to bless me with the teachings I have received. For example, as a young man of 18, with no spiritual education I was given an article on Zen. There was a resonance was so direct that I immediately began practicing sitting meditation and have continued nearly every day for 50 years.
At a conservative university, in an experimentally based psychology program, I was guided by the one humanistic professor to explore the burgeoning human potential movement at the Esalen Institute. This led seamlessly to training at the Gestalt Institute of Canada, Yoga Teacher Training with Swami Vishnudevananda and my study with Moshe Feldenkrais, all by the age of 23.
While in Canada, my Gestalt teachers thought that given my deep interest in somatic psychology and meditation, I should contact Dr. Robert Hall, a psychiatrist who trained with Fritz Perls in Gestalt and Ida Rolf, co-founded the Lomi School and was a long time meditator. Three years later, Dr. Hall was sitting next to me on a plane- he subsequently became a mentor. All the methods that attracted me were approaching the same issue from different angles, “how does the human being become free of the faulty conditioning from the past and learn to meet life in the freshness of the present moment“?
I tell this little autobiographical tale to convey my sense that this school has been forming for more than 40 years. The original insight that cultivating the capacity for Presence is the key to freedom and fulfillment continues to guide my understanding. Though this insight has deepened and widened over the years, it has not changed. For this, I feel extremely lucky.
Around 1995, I began a parallel path of teaching Embodied Life Retreats alongside the Feldenkrais trainings. In a moment of deep reflection in 2005, I asked myself the question – “If I had five years left to live, where would I focus my energy?”. I saw clearly that, in addition to increased focus on my loved ones and my meditation practice, I would offer my life teachings – an integration of Meditation, Feldenkrais and Focusing, along with related awareness practices. This was the beginning of The Embodied Life School and The Embodied Life Mentorship Program (ELMP).
The Embodied Life
In recent years, Russell’s teaching has focused on the integration of: Embodied Meditation, Embodied Movement, Embodied Emotions and Embodied Communication. These programs, collectively called The Embodied Life™, reflect Russell’s deep interest in guiding people toward the living of everyday life with greater awareness, integrity, compassion and fulfillment. Programs are offered in the forms of residential meditation/movement retreats as well as workshops of varying lengths.
His highly successful CD and audio cassettes home study program, “The Embodied Life” and “The Embodied Life ll” are good introductions to his teaching style. His two DVD sets, which were professionally recorded during live events,”The Movement of Attention” and “Living the Embodied Life”” are excellent ways to go deeper into this work.
Business Consultation
Since 1995, Russell’s study of awareness, communication, teamwork and conflict resolution is being applied with large and small companies to help increase job satisfaction and productivity. His main interest is in supporting ‘healthy individuals interacting in healthy environments’.