Gil Hedley

Gil Hedley has created the word "somanaut" to describe those who explore the inner space of the body, and who discover there the rich terrain of themselves. Gil teaches in a field which he calls integral anatomy. Participants in his dissection workshops and lecture slideshows come from a wide variety of healing modalities as well as the world of fitness, including the Pilates community.

One of the central goals of Gil's work is to cultivate appreciation for our bodies and all that is within us, as a means of supporting whole person integration, including his own. So when Gil returned to Pilates Anytime in February, Kristi Cooper White sat down with him and started a conversation beginning by asking for some background of how he came to his perspective. From there, the conversation moves on to explore movement patterning and practices, the nature of the body as a plastic medium and what we can learn from the body via it's intelligence and form.

Within this four part conversation they discussed behavioral and anatomical limit cycles on movement and explored notions of "ideal alignment," balance and symmetry in the body. The conversation continues as Gil and Kristi discuss the impression of emotional states and exercise upon one's morphology, the issue and language of "control" over the body, and the issue of the will as it regards movement.

Sit in with Gil and Kristi and add your input to the comment section below. Let's keep the conversation going!