Meet John McLane
Certified Rolfer™
In 2010 I began attending extended silent meditation retreats. I discovered the importance of embodiment and how, despite also practicing Yoga, it often proved difficult to access and be with certain areas and possibilities within the body. Mindfulness is now a ubiquitous term in our culture, yet for many the ability to be truly present is often compromised by deep invested patterns of holding in the body.
I was fortunate to be introduced to a Rolfer™ by a meditation teacher. Rolfing® gradually assisted me to challenge and change long-standing habits of bad posture,chronic pain and long-held emotional patterns of muscle tension in the body. These were the cumulative effects of historical trauma, injury, surgery and body misuse. However strong my intentions were to become more embodied, I now realise it was only made possible through transformative touch and the re-educational nature of the therapeutic Rolfing® series.
“Mr. Duffy lived a short distance from his body.”
– James Joyce, Dubliners
Rolfing® proved so rewarding and fascinating, that I decided to become a Rolfer™. I studied some courses at the London College of Massage to gain experience of bodywork in a therapeutic environment. I then undertook the full training with BARSI (British Academy of Rolfing® and Structural Integration) in London, a satellite school of ERA (European Rolfing® Association).I am inspired by the work of Giovanni Felicioni, Peter Levine and the Insight meditation teachers at Gaia House in Devon. In 2022 I graduated as a Community Dharma Leader and am accredited by the Gaia House Teaching Council to offer meditation courses and day long retreats.
As well as addressing and alleviating issues of specific discomfort and improving agility, I am intrigued by how our sense of verticality and presence, or lack of, is intrinsically linked to the current context and narrative of our lives. A baby never just gets up and walks. It is a journey towards verticality in gravity and one which, as adults, we often assume is over and somehow fixed. Through enquiry, touch and movement, it is possible to understand our patterns, let go of habitual tension and rediscover a sense of wellness and engagement with life in the only place we ever can, our bodies.
I studied further with Pedro Prado, Lael Keen and Abi Blakeslee at SOS Internationale to become a Certified Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP). This training provided a comprehensive in-depth understanding and appreciation of the neurophysiology of trauma healing principles .
I am committed to ongoing education, supervision and am inspired by the work of Giovanni Felicioni, Peter Levine and the Insight meditation teachers at Gaia House in Devon. In 2022 I graduated as a Community Dharma Leader and am accredited by the Gaia House Teaching Council to offer Meditation courses and day long retreats.
I look forward to working with you
John