Gallery | Kendra Renzoni

kendrabrirenzoni

SHOULDERS AND THE HEART: Our hands and arms are th

SHOULDERS AND THE HEART: Our hands and arms are the way we get what is inside of our heart out into the world. I have never forgotten the moment my Shiatsu teacher linked circulation issues with with someone having a hard time getting their heart to express in the outside world. Can the blood flow all the way through the shoulder, elbow, wrists, and fingertips? Can it get from inside to outside? ANNND can it get back in?? Can love and connection from the outside world make it all the way back in from the fingertips, to the wrists, through the elbows, armpits and to the ❤️? .... This pic is of me doing a shoulder trace from Foundation Training. Often folk’s shoulders roll forward, internally rotating towards a downward collapsing chest. The shoulder is a ball and socket joint which means it has incredible range and movement potential but when the joint isn’t aligned, movement is limited and pain results. Proper shoulder functioning relies on a rib cage that can expand so these very mobile joints are positioned optimally in the structure. Shoulder tracing takes the shoulder through a full range of motion while you maintain an actively expanded rib cage through decompression breathing. With practice it can drastically change any rotational imbalances. Often times, it literally gives me goosebumps as I feel how much freedom ensues. Last night, in my Intro to Foundation Training series, I introduced shoulder tracing for the first time and I am really excited for all of them to practice and feel what begins to happen! Balancing out the body and positioning these joints optimally can free up neck, jaw, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff injuries, and more! 💥💥💥 #foundationtraining #shouldertracing #heart #neck #jaw #shoulder #wrist #rotatorcuff #frozenshoulder #hips #mobility #strength #endurance #creativity #expression #love #circulation #heal #posture #balance #chinesemedicine #shiatsu #meridians #heartmeridian #pericardium #selfexpression #beyourself #qi #chi #energy

SINGLE LEG SQUAT INTO WOODPECKER HINGE: I gave thi

SINGLE LEG SQUAT INTO WOODPECKER HINGE: I gave this homework to my Level 2 crew and then watched the whole class explode into chaos when we tried to do it together. I was confused about what was going on so I scheduled 30 minute check-ins with most of them, individually, today... apparently it’s just insanely hard and that’s what’s going on. But, what I found the most satisfying was seeing how much everyone’s body has changed, the way they can hold themselves, the confidence in the way they are carrying themselves, the way they are applying it to everything they do, the way they are sharing it with their friends and educating their people... and I was gawking at how strong they all look..... this practice is so powerful!!! AND this particular movement is definitely changing my life. Lately, my practice has been breathwork to warm up, long holds of the decompression positions with long exhales, then more dynamic work with reps of 10/8/6/4 (founder hinges + squats) (woodpecker hinges + single leg squats into the hinge) (archer + reverse archer) and then I lay down and work on the anchored bridge... it’s really changed everything about my legs, fast. #foundationtraining #anchoredbridge #archer #reversearcher #singlelegsquat #woodpeckerhinge #decompression #bööty

SALTO MORTAL: salto (leap) mortale (deadly) Italia

SALTO MORTAL: salto (leap) mortale (deadly) Italian phrase meaning a dangerous and daring jump with a possibly lethal outcome. I was listening to @sethgodin on the @aubreymarcus podcast and he was talking about the feeling of being an imposter and how that stops a lot of people from putting themselves out there. He said that if you don’t feel, a little bit, like an imposter, that you aren’t at your edge. Wisdom really comes from experience, from taking the jump... I notice my tendency to stay near the diving board and ramp up my intellectual knowledge and practice and practice... perfecting... for maybe a little too long! Taking the jump, though, is the only way to gain wisdom... gain experience... the ego death is worth it. And... the risk of it releases a lot of energy... lots of inspiration and passion. #saltomortale #impostersyndrome #meaning #purpose #energy #passion #foundationtraining #squats #movement #movementculture #glutes #glutesquat #noquads #springy #foundationtrainingsquats #decompression

COMMITMENT: I know from the clock’s ticking,

COMMITMENT:
I know
from the
clock’s ticking,

from the
very act
of breathing,
that everything comes
and everything
goes.

I know
from loving
each moment

and hating
each moment
endlessly,

that everything
ends.
I know
from seeing
my feet
on the
edge

and from
feeling
a racing heart,

that
you can’t
push a river

there will
be a jump,
first steps,
another
beginning... I know
the irony
of what
I least want
in my life

being the
very thing that

wakes
me
up.

But
what if
the bottom falls
out?

I know
the lure
of my habits

I know the
mountain
of resistance,

I know
awakening
to my heart

is the work
of a lifetime. — (Poem from today’s work... With love, K) #foundationtraining #breathwork #mobility #biohacking #yoga #practice #writing #byronkatie #relationships #movementculture #emotions #therapy #messingup #startingover #committment #create #heart #thework

THE PATRIARCHY: Tonight, a talking stick went arou

THE PATRIARCHY: Tonight, a talking stick went around with the “ask” that each of us say something about the patriarchy and I felt this “oh no!” ...sort of dread come up inside of me... I have always had a preference not to speak about it because I don’t think I know enough, intellectually, about it and I’m afraid of getting into an argument that I don’t want to be in because I don’t feel any urge to fight about it...but I realized tonight that most of my wounds have come from that ideology and most of my healing has too. I realized that getting into Shiatsu was one way of healing that for me... it’s a system that teaches you how to feel and how to listen and doesn’t put you in the position of being the fixer, but more the listener and what you do is bring awareness to what the being that is laying with you, actually, already knows how to do. Just by listening and being there you amplify that... then all action stems out of listening, you become a facilitator to the natural process that is already there. I am so grateful to have learned this because I have ideas and judgements about what “success” and “health” look like and imposing those ideas usually is not helpful. Learning to listen has given me a framework to look without forcing or imposing the junk my mind can come up with but instead brings my entire capacity of awareness forward... to observe the way of things... that’s a beautiful thing. #fortwilliam #scotland #scottishhighlands #shiatsu #facilitator #awareness #naturecode #healing #divinefeminine #movementculture #feelings #ki #therapy #emotions #body #wounds #healing #patriarchy #empowered #innerhealing #knowfear

STUCK: This morning, waking up with some anxiety,

STUCK: This morning, waking up with some anxiety, some unidentified feelings and doing breathwork really really helped... new training, new people, being in California and heading to Scotland today... all of it is so positive and I can feel the ways that I have kept myself small being threatened and I wanna cry about it. A part of me wants to cocoon up instead of going out to be in the sunshine and ocean even though... it’s lovely out there! “...feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away. They’re like messengers that show us, with terrifying clarity, exactly where we’re stuck. This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it’s with us wherever we are.”
- Pema Chödrön #ego #cocoon #safety #foundationtraining #movement #movementculture #breathwork #fear #knowfear #emotions #therapy #center #chigong #practice #acceptance #resistance #identity #pemachodron #energy #vibes #california #transformation #goodnews

RESISTANCE: Do breathwork... especially if you are

RESISTANCE: Do breathwork... especially if you are triggered and attached to being upset... use it to help clear the residue of stress chemistry and trauma out and soften the attachment to the pain body...notice if the upset and the pain is a form of resistance...if it's the type of bracing that comes out of fear of something that happened in the past is / could be happening again...? Open up to new people responding differently, new responses to you... open to the mystery and chaos and not knowing... open to the possibility of things going differently. Stay clear on what you want for yourself, don't give up on that, do your best to let go of the resistance. Feel your energy coming back to you as you let go of the resistance and focus on what you want for yourself. (resistance takes a lot of energy) .... I found myself writing this as part of some home practice that I gave to my students this morning... it’s definitely what I personally need too! Oh resistance ❤️ #foundationtraining #gorilla #movement #movementculture #yoga #practice #centralchannel #getwhatyouwant #letgoofresistance #safety #protection #breathwork #shiatsu #meridians #channels #painbody #mystery #chaos #possibility #shadowyoga #love #selfcare

SELF PROTECTION: “When you get courageous and fo

SELF PROTECTION: “When you get courageous and follow your fears, you find that the areas of greatest fear are also the areas most associated with your purpose and power.” #mastinkipp I’ve really been looking at these old protection patterns that are from childhood because they feel like my survival is dependent on them... meanwhile staying “safe” is getting old and I can feel a really strong urge to jump into the sea of uncertainty and mystery... take the risk.. because it’s worth it for my heart to feel! It’s really easy to pull back because there are fears that what happened before could happen again... but... that’s just a fear... and it’s stuck and stagnant feeling... Kipp writes, “The Saboteur is the part of us that is afraid that change, transformation and growth will destroy you, rather than set you free. Why? Because your saboteur compares what’s possible in your future with what’s happened in your past and says....’if you really make this change, if you really become big, if you really let go, then it will all be over.’.... Where is the area of greatest resistance in your life?What fears are you afraid to name? What outcomes do you fear most? What courageous action could you take in your romantic life? What would the ultimate benefit of that be? In your financial life? And the benefit of that? In your business, career, vocation? Ultimate benefit of that? In health and well being? The benefit of that? With family? And the ultimate benefit of that?! Eeeee!!!!!💪🥴 #yoga #hathayoga #yogaeverydamnday #practice #shadowyoga #warmups #foundationtraining #founder #breathwork #power #fear #financialfreedom #careergoals #health #well #family #winter #waterelement #kidney #bladder #powerhouse #risk

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS: There is a truth of li

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS: There is a truth of life, that we can take any experience or circumstance (whether we like it “good” or don’t like it “bad”) and use it for transformation. “In the world of the feminine, encountering rupture is not about survival; it’s not about making lemons into lemonade. It’s about using breakdown as our cue to take an even deeper sense of responsibility—to acknowledge that we, ourselves, are the creators of our own stories. In other words, we actually CREATED THE LEMONS. We drew in the perfect circumstances to help ourselves unfold into more layers of who we are. We created this situation to step more powerfully into who we were born to become.” #regenathomashauer 🍋... how can we, from a “soul” perspective, look at our life and own that everything that happens has something to do with us. No victim... no perpetrator... predator / prey, violator and violated... in the grand finale, the death, the end.... while not killing ourselves from the super ego perspective that judges, blames, shames, says this is right, that is wrong... things should have gone this way... but from a way bigger perspective of being a part of the oneness... all the unfolding of nature... all the zillions of things coming together to land us here in this moment... and to feel somewhat held... protected... a part of it all... the total interdependence. #empowered #lemons #transformation #foundationtraining #decompression #spine #backpain #fear #responsability #yoga #practice #movement #movementculture #posture #soul #love #awareness #presence photo credit: Kathleen Dugas

Bought a brand new hatchet today and came home to

After getting new glasses I realize how much MORE

After getting new glasses I realize how much MORE inner peace I could use... how much I still worry about what others think about me and how I am perceived... which I knew, BUT it became louder than usual. In Ode to that. ——- Symptoms of Inner Peace: “ - A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experience - An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment – a loss of interest in judging other people - a loss of interest in judging yourself – a loss of interest in interpreting the actions of other people – a loss of interest in the ability to worry (very serious symptom) – frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation – contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature - frequent attacks of smiling – and increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen – and increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.“ ANNNNND as Byron Katie says: “other people’s thoughts are none of my business!” #peace #byronkatie #nvc #therapy #glasses #identity #yoga #human #practice

DEFINITION OF INTUITIVE PERCEPTION: "If we look at

DEFINITION OF INTUITIVE PERCEPTION: "If we look at the world as not being composed of physically separate objects, but as fields of interconnected consciousnesses then we’re getting at a theory of the mechanism of intuitive perception. If I am a field of consciousness within a greater field of consciousness that includes all living things, then I can communicate with other living things through the connection of consciousness. Whatever the “substance” of consciousness, it is the nature of it to be connected and intra-communicative. Note that this means that intuition is a natural part of being conscious and is not a gift limited to some...So as a conscious being it is natural to be able to communicate, through the perception of consciousness itself, with other conscious beings. This is my definition of intuitive perception." - Maris Bergrune #shiatsu #bodywork #movement #movementculture #yoga #hathayoga #yogapractice #martialarts #boundaries #strength #foundationtraining #hara #haraculture #fascia #mycelium #space #ki #tao #intuition #heart #horsestance

SELF WORTH: YA AZIZ “Ya Aziz means divine streng

SELF WORTH: YA AZIZ
“Ya Aziz means divine strength. It is the strength that one has because of their value. It’s literal meaning is rare and precious strength. Its pictorial image is of a baby eagle.
Ya Aziz is a kind of divine strength or power that is beyond the dualism of praise and blame. It is the strength that naturally flows from intrinsic, essential worth. The power of Aziz is sweet and it actually carries an inner meaning of sweetness. It also means precious and rare, like a baby eagle among birds.

The strength of Aziz is the power of God itself. It is the true worth, upmost dignity and strength that manifests directly from God without an intermediary. It can be contemplated in the incredible previous value of the human soul. Invocation of Aziz brings freedom from restrictions without limitation and is a remedy for our experience of being powerless and under great restraint due to restrictions that may be real or imagined.
It is remedy for feeling undervalued in the world. It is the marriage of strength and self-worth.” — I’ve been doing this Sufi prayer / mantra and just letting myself contemplate this and it’s totally changing my experience of life... what does it mean to be the baby eagle? So much potential.. nothing to over-do or under-do, nothing to prove, nothing to make up for.... just to BE the insanity of what we are and sit in that limitless potential... ❤️ the breath training I joined in September @effijibreath, the teacher gave me this Sufi mantra to work with... and also said that so often, we are wounded in exactly the place our strength and purpose live... #breathwork #yoga #foundationtraining #martialarts #meridians #bodywork #shiatsu #backpain #practice #shadowyoga #movementculture #emotions #therapy #healing #worth #sufi #prayer #becoming #eagle #heart

Pretty hike! My favorite one! Starts with walking

Pretty hike! My favorite one! Starts with walking through a stone trail that’s lined with golden-leaved trees and big farm fields on both sides... then the trail is so “up” that you begin to sweat within minutes and it’s kinda like that the whole way up... and then the top view is amazing... AND it’s a circle, no back-track... Yaaas. @dr.rainwater was the best company.... I was so nostalgic... first time I did the trail was 11 years ago when I first got out here after living in Colorado. Much happier now than I was then. ❤️

INTUITIVE PERCEPTION: "When I was in graduate scho

INTUITIVE PERCEPTION: "When I was in graduate school for neurobiology I had a conversation with one of my professors about the brain and consciousness. One of the big questions in neuroscience is how the brain creates consciousness. At the time the research on this question was very limited with no resolution in sight. I was not yet in my “spiritual” phase of life so what I was about to ask my professor was somewhat unusual for me: I asked him if he had ever considered that the brain may be receiving consciousness rather than creating it. I was a little apprehensive about asking this non-materialist question, but to my surprise my professor said not only had he considered it he thought it was likely.

What does it mean for the brain to receive consciousness?

If we look at the world as not being composed of physically separate objects, but as fields of interconnected consciousnesses, then we’re getting at a theory of the mechanism of intuitive perception. If I am a field of consciousness within a greater field of consciousness that includes all living things, then I can communicate with other living things through the connection of consciousness. Whatever the “substance” of consciousness, it is its nature to be connected and intra-communicative. Note that this means that intuition is a natural part of being conscious and is not a gift limited to some.

So as a conscious being it is natural to be able to communicate, through the perception of consciousness itself, with other conscious beings. This is my definition of intuitive perception." - Maris Bergrune #intuition #imagination #real #yoga #internalmartialarts #shiatsu #movement #movementculture #bodywork #emotions #therapy #spacialperception #awareness #oneness

MANIFESTING: I have a journal practice of listing

MANIFESTING: I have a journal practice of listing 6 impossible things (that are possible)... as a way to identify what I want from a limitless view... can I get out of the ego box and let my soul be in charge?! Then someone said to write the things as if they are happening in the present instead of as something I want for the future... and then @shamandurek said that when manifesting, you want to imagine it as having happened already... write about it as if you are looking back on it... then I heard @jodispenza saying to do it as a gratitude practice... look back on it having already happened with gratitude! Jo was talking on the @aubreymarcus podcast about epigenetics (how we can turn genes on and off based on our environment, community, relationships, food, practices etc...) and he was mapping peoples brains and their bodies while they were doing this practice of having gratitude for the life that they want as if looking back on it as already having happened AND their bodies and 🧬 started to change as if they were living out of the life they described.... he said that most of us wake up in the morning and think about our problems and then we go on living as an expression of the problems and our past... and I am just realizing again, in another way, how we can perseverate and loop... or impose walls where there aren’t any... creating a stop in the natural unfolding of our lives or we can flow WITH it.... so, I’m giving Shiatsu sessions from that place... not a pathology model, but, listening to the intelligence of the body in its natural cycle and teaming up with it, trusting it, interesting... help a contraction contract better and it releases into expansion... help an expansion come into fruition and it facilitates balance in the entire system... giving Shiatsu to each individual as their future self, from understanding that everything is a cycle with a beginning, middle and end... not giving a treatment as a remedy for past problems, but giving a treatment as an expression of the natural cycle of things. #shiatsu #bodywork #manifesting #vision #movement #movementculture #yoga #foundationtraining #breathwork #chi #energy #teamwork

DEATH: “Death is a ceremony in which one takes o

DEATH: “Death is a ceremony
in which one takes off one pair of clothes
and adopts a new one.
That’s from the soul perspective.
From the ego,
death is a stopping point,
it’s the end of the ego.
The ego sees death as suffering.
And the soul
sees death as the awakening
of a new world,
a new perception.

So you should identify
With your soul in life.
That will be the best thing for you to do
to anticipate death.

It’s your Sadhana in life

Your Sadhana prepares you,
prepares you for an upbeat dying.” -Ram Dass #ramdass #yoga #yogapractice #hathayoga #goatpose #internalrotation #death #ego #soul #shadowyoga #spacialperception #awareness #emptinessdancing #empty #mind #space #movement #movementculture #emotions #therapy #breathwork #foundationtraining #tao #perspective

PREPATORY FORMS: As a beginner yogi and a 21 year

PREPATORY FORMS: As a beginner yogi and a 21 year old, I started with a vinyasa practice, found ashtanga for a brief moment and then went hardcore Iyengar...and I did my practice from a very athletic place... experiencing each new posture from a place of enforcing alignment from the outside in... it’s 14 years later and I’m just now learning my way out of that... After studying Shiatsu and feeling what it’s like for the energy to move and how the body flows when that is happening, I began to get frustrated by the experience of “holding” myself in alignment because that actually seemed to cause stiffness and pain too, so I got really involved in taking everything I knew about yoga apart and learning how to move... Then in this breath work training I just joined, we started doing a practice called “Xing Yi” which is an internal martial art form that Tai Chi comes from and just doing the warm ups has changed the way my body moves, it moves in the aligned way without me forcing it to be aligned... that’s a crazy thing to witness! It’s only been a month and it’s changing everything. “Preparatory forms are essential for the learning of and the unfolding of the energetic principles of the yoga practice. Although they have been utilized in disciplines over the ages, they are no longer found or known about in the popular styles of modern day yoga. This lack of basic preparatory activity leaves a beginner wide open to confusion, injury, and empty promises.… reflection on the nature of these inner fields will make it clear that activity imposed by the mind on the body will not bring these energies under voluntary control. This control can only be achieved through natural patterns of behavior. This means one must start with preliminary movements like squatting, lunging, and various movements of the arms and hands in order to uncover the natural pattern of motion latent in the physical form.“ - Shandor Remete #shadowyoga #foundationtraining #internalmartialarts #taichi #xingyi #yoga #yogapractice #yogalife #yogalifestyle #breathwork #squats #preparation #foundation #beginner #hathayoga

LIFE PURPOSE: I joined a year-long breath-work pro

LIFE PURPOSE: I joined a year-long breath-work program in the beginning of September called Effiji Breath and the teacher talked about how often “...we are injured in the exact place where our gifts and purpose resides.” I love that part of the Teacher of Foundation Training, Eric Goodman’s story... when he showed us all an x-Ray of his back and how there was basically no discs and the vertebra were shrinking and disintegrating, we all were really quiet... he is an incredible athlete now, totally pain free, and there is a way that his presence fills the room, it’s like he is so present in his body, there isn’t a single pore that he isn’t filling up, he is a bit fierce about going for it, (I think, because he had to, the choice was grim) but extremely kind... compassion... compassion is so powerful because it connects us and there is no power dynamic or performance thing getting all junky in the relationship between teacher and student or in between where we are now and what we are in the process of learning. Another thing the breath-work teacher spoke about was faith and the kind of faith it takes to stand in something like a life’s purpose... there is a certain risk to choosing to live in alignment with that because there are consequences... we lose certain things and gain others... #foundationtraining #woundedhealer #yoga #practice #committment #lifepurpose #faith #breathwork #effijibreath #injuries #recovery #integration #synthesis #movement #movementculture #emotions #trauma #longgame #backpain

NO PREFERENCE: “The great way is easy for those

NO PREFERENCE: “The great way is easy for those who have no preference.” - 3rd zen patriarch Sosan.... Abhyasa, Sanskrit for practice, means having an attitude of persistent effort to attain a state of stable tranquility... the persistence comes from practicing against all odds and obstacles, ups and downs, and for a long time... so one works towards practice being a consistent effort without breaks...Vairagya means non-attachment and is the steady companion of practice. It is the letting go of attachments, aversions, fears, and false identities that cloud the true Self....Practice leads you in the right direction, while non-attachment allows you to continue the inner journey without getting side-tracked into the pains and pleasures along the way.... “The trouble with craving and aversion is that if you follow it then you are a prisoner to having yourself get the experience you want at the expense of what might be best for your growth.” Quote from @effijibreath training.... I’m finding a lot of aversion in my practice lately, aversion to starting and aversion to doing certain movements... the big epiphany I keep having is that the aversion comes and goes and if I get started it generally goes away and especially with fatigue, which is a sensation I really don’t like, that often a wave of fatigue comes through and if I find a way to continue to move and just watch the sensation with a curiosity, not pushing through or backing off, just staying with the movement, that it changes and sometimes opens me up to a vast supply of energy, and sometimes it just comes and goes... instead of attaching to my fatigue I let it move just by watching it and that is equanimity, which.. is such a stabilizer. #yoga #foundationtraining #practice #lettinggo #foundation #stable #philosophy #mindfulness #yogasutras #nopreference

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