Sometimes yoga and meditation aren’t enough to de-stress and make us more tolerant of people whose political views and opinions drive us nuts or who drive too slowly on the freeway. Sometimes we need martial arts as well.
Matthew Cohen is bringing his unique style of sacred energy arts to Malibu with three month-long workshops that will include yoga and meditation, along with tai chi and qigong.
Cohen is a fifth-degree black belt in Shaolin kung fu and travels the world teaching yoga and martial arts. The topic for the April workshop at Malibu Healing Center’s new Kinetic Center is “visionary,” where participants will be inspired to develop insight, set goals and follow through.
Each class will have a sub theme.
“There’ll be something fully formed from each class that students can walk away with,” Cohen said. “That might be the difference between being a warrior and a mercenary. We have to be tolerant right now, whether we’re coming from the left, right or center. Acceptance and love is part of it, but tolerance is first.”
There are many benefits to yoga.
“Yoga brings stress reduction, a sense of self and vitality. More range of motion and flexibility,” he said. “What are you feeling? Is that something positive? Do you want to keep feeling that or do you want to shift it to something more in line with a purpose? What might that be for you? Then there’s the chance to be radiantly healthy.”
Think of it as decluttering, he added. “Getting rid of the things that no longer serve us.”
Cohen has been teaching mind/body disciplines since 1981. He also instructs yoga teachers how to teach. “One way to make the world a better place is to teach people to be more conscious,” Cohen said.
Cohen has this tip for when you’re feeling stressed: “You need to recognize when you’re moving from calm to agitated and what that might look like. It could be a racing pulse, eyes becoming fixated, breath shortening. One thing to do if you’re standing is to widen your stance and bend your knees. If you’re sitting, relax your heart. If you’re driving, have a sticker on the windscreen, just a little red dot, that when you see it, you slow your breathing down.”
Yoga has helped Cohen deal with health challenges of his own. He broke his back in a martial arts accident and couldn’t move for years.
“I’d spend several times a year flat on my back for days at a time. I took pain killers and muscle relaxants, but I also did yoga and qigong once I was vertical again,” he recalled. “It helped me so much as a patient I wanted to share what worked for me. I still have twinges that might last a day, but the work I’ve done has kept me strong and flexible.”
These ancient healing arts also help with emotional issues. “Yoga has helped me and people I know who have depression and some ‘crazy’ in the family,” Cohen said. “I also tended to lean toward anger and violence when I was young. I think if I didn’t have an outlet, I’d have been in a lot more trouble in my life. I have a healthy curiosity for mythology and man’s search for meaning. Why are we here and what’s it all about? These practices are really interesting and entertaining for me.”
For more information about Matthew Cohen’s teaching courses and his mixed-level workshops on Monday and Wednesday evenings at the Malibu Healing Center in April and June, visit sacredhealingarts.com
