The Living Process. Practices in Experience and Existence

Awakening to Embodied Living. The Living Process with guest Russell Delman and host Greg Madison. Episode 30

Mar 7, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Russell Delman, a respected Zen Buddhist meditation teacher and Feldenkrais expert, explores the transformative journey of embodied living. He emphasizes the importance of physical awareness and the power of 'not-knowing' in personal growth. Listeners learn about Moshé Feldenkrais's influential methods and the delicate balance between outrage and constructive action in activism. Delman also highlights compassionate listening and navigating life's uncertainties, urging us to embrace both joy and suffering on our paths to self-discovery.

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INSIGHT

Body Awareness Grounds Presence

Awareness of the physical body grounds fuller presence beyond thoughts and emotions.
Feldenkrais challenged primitive notions of energy, focusing instead on brain patterns in human behavior.

ANECDOTE

Meeting Gene Gendlin Inspired Growth

Russell connected with Gene Gendlin after encouragement from Rabbi Zalman Schachter and a focusing teacher's suggestion.
He found Gene's listening and ability to articulate experience profoundly deepening his own work.

ADVICE

Embody Presence Before Focusing

Use a focusing attitude as a way of living beyond formal sessions.
Begin with embodied presence, appreciating the physical body as the gateway to deeper awareness.

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Awakening to Embodied Living on The Living Process

In this episode Russell and I share a heartfelt discussion about the importance of the ‘physical body’ and of going ‘beyond’ it.

Russell talks of the development of his teacher Moshe Feldenkrais, his method and how ‘freedom’ was his main goal. Russell emphasised the important of ‘not-knowing’ and how this helps to navigate the edge between Guided Inquiry, Feldenkrais, Zen meditation and their integration into the practice of The Embodied Life. This is a learning programme offered by Russell and his wife Linda, influenced by over 50 years of immersion in these practices and his direct relationship with Feldenkrais, Gendlin and principle teachers in the Zen tradition.

Episode 30, The Living Process with guest Russell Delman

The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links:

https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/

YouTube video channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0TgN6iVu3n9d9q2l43z1xBMYY3p9FQL

The Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel:

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Russell Delman

Russell Delman is a well-known and valued teacher within the disciplines of Zen Buddhist meditation and Feldenkrais. He is also known in the Focusing world as a unique embodiment practitioner who integrates all three of these practices in his international training of The Embodied Life. He and Gene Gendlin also shared a warm friendship and Focusing partnership for many years. Russell’s exploration of the crucial importance of awareness in body/mind perspectives and psychology began in 1970 .His subsequent journey included gestalt, yoga, the first Feldenkrais trainings, work at The Esalen Institute, Focusing, and many mind-body experiences and teachings. Russell and his wife Linda introduced Feldenkrais method to India where they worked with Mother Teresa and brain-injured children at her Mission in Kolkata. Russell says his life learnings are greatly enhanced by his long and loving relationship with Linda his wife and their journey as parents to their daughter, Liliana.

For more information on Russell’s extensive training programmes see The Embodied Life: https://theembodiedlife.org