To my somatic mentor and yoga teacher Eleanor Criswell-Hanna:
I am so grateful that I spent so much time with you in 2019. I did 3 somatic education modules and a somatic yoga module that year. All while having a baby around the age of two
I learned so much the way you embodied humanistic psychology: the way you ran a conversation/a group and made space for everyone’s experience while educating them and encouragingly correcting misconceptions.
You dedicated your life to the education of others through Hanna Somatics and kept such integrity in what you felt was at the heart of this work: freedom and understanding 🔥
If I’m honest, it took me some time to warm to your approach, because you were so gentle, careful and working on such an intimate yet delicate plane.
Your touch was light, airy and your presence sincere and heartfelt.
I remember being genuinely touched that in our email correspondences, even about basic things, you always signed “Love, Eleanor”
And I knew you truly meant it.
The biggest lessons I learned from your presence: the power of the subtle, the gentle and the magic of sincere care.
I had been living my “best life” being an impenetrable badass (or at least striving to be) in my past life a hot Bikram Yoga teacher, and your way of teaching yoga and guiding a group challenged me in totally unexpected and profound ways.
Because of your example, I have grown to embrace my innate tenderness and allow myself to LOVE my clients/students without fear and shame that I could be misconstrued.
You taught me boundaries by the way you handled hard moments and your clear precision and kind caution.
I felt you were much like the horses you loved: sensitive, powerful and devoted.
I will preserve your style and lineage of teaching somatic yoga.
I loved your simplicity and even as I play and make it my own, I will continue to guide pratyahara “the Eleanor way” because it is SO effective and divine.
Thank you for all those late night phone chats and the way you said yes to my carrot-ginger-coconut soup but no to my Borscht 😂
You truly taught/showed me what it might be like to live everyday in a growth mindset. 🌷 I love you. 🙏 Rest in Peace
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