Embody Studio and B&B, Megan MacCarthy

11/10/2025

Yin is back to give you some relaxation time; but not without first exploring some sweet mobility in the hips.

We have a wonderful teacher training going on this week - Milo and Leela have been very pleased with their extra attention, but my writing is brief.

Enjoy the practice and Ill be back next week with more...

Peace, Megan

Thank You YouTube Yoga Friends for your continued support! We are back to releasing videos on select Saturdays. Be sure to subscribe and hit the bell butto...

04/10/2025

Start with this question - what do you think about your hamstrings (if you think about them at all?)

Your hamstrings are not a problem to be solved, they are just another area in your body to be loved. Often times, tight hamstrings are incorrectly blamed for back pain and other issues. In reality, the hamstrings are typically weak and need to be moved through their range of motion like any other long muscles in your body. This practice starts with some gently movement to relax the hamstrings and lower back. Then we do some myofascial release and finish with some lovely reclining stretches. You will need to have a strap, a block and a few balls (tennis size variety).

Your hamstrings are not a problem to be solved, they are just another area in your body to be loved. Often times, tight hamstrings are incorrectly blamed fo...

30/09/2025

Perfectly misty afternoon with my assistant editors; reviewing for the upcoming Somatic Yoga Level 1 and 2 immersions in West Cork and writing level 3. After 15+ years of teaching, I am excited to not only offer continuing education courses, but also a somatic inspired, trauma informed, yoga therapy focused 200 hour RYT. Thank you to all of my Somatic Yoga students for your inspiration and support.

27/09/2025

At the request of several students, I am sharing a practice to encourage a calm mind and work in some stillness as we are swept into the fall Vata season. If you are in a climate that tends to be cold, dry or windy in fall, the extra vata in the external environment can aggravate your constitution; especially if you have a data constitution and are going at a hectic pace.

If you don't know a thing about Dosha types, its ok! Know that this practice is intended to bring tranquility. When you are stressed and want to lower your cortisol levels, or want a practice to do before bed, this is a good one. And if you want just a bit of information about working seasonally with Dosha types, read on.

In Ayurveda, the Vata Dosha is comprised of space and air; our creativity and playful side when in balance. It is what controls all bodily movement and governs all bodily functions. It is also the dosha that brings us into and sustains life. Vata derangement can show in a multitude of ways including achy joints, dry skin, bloating, restless sleep, agitation, nervousness, memory issues, and general anxiety. When there is too much of a good thing - meaning Vata - our body and mind are both like the leaf that blows off the tree, but can’t land.

With all the commotion, we need stillness for the body and calm for the mind. But when our vata is high, we may not be ready to be completely still, or sit in a meditation watching our thoughts. Though the suggestion to practice mindfulness may come with good intentions, it can cause more anxiety when it is without motion. This practice to calm our Vata asks us to consider using smaller, simple, familiar movements; and sneak in some soothing but conscious inactivity.

You will want to have a few blankets and an eye pillow or cloth for your eyes. And I suggest something comfy and cozy on your mat.

Hello Yoga Friends,At the request of several students, I am sharing a practice to encourage a calm mind, and work in some stillness as we are swept into the ...

26/09/2025

https://synchronicitypc.com/delicious-healing-somatic-yoga-embody-with-megan-maccarthy/

This sweet, smart, online yogi has done more to help me overcome a variety of chronic pains and to improve general well being than all sorts of other endeavors. Not to knock any of those, this has just been exceptionally effective.

24/09/2025

Where can you find yourself in nature today?

My motto in motion is “Do I feel safe? Can I be curious?” Thats the internal assessment. “Where do I find myself in nature?” connects the energy in my body to the persuasive mystery around me.

The other day, I was observed bending over to pick up a heavy stone. Though it was out of concern, the onlooker commented that I bent my back “incorrectly”.

As I scroll through these photos taken while walking 5 miles on the beach, I feel gratitude for my spine. My body is not a problem to be fixed. I don’t believe in “postural shaming” of any kind, especially the spine.

We all carry certain reflexive responses that show in our posture, but specific postural positions and motions do not necessarily correlate with the development of pain. Lack of movement and fear are the cause and/or continuation of most biomechanical problems; (90% of low back pain is non-specific, meaning there is no identifiable structural problem.) A physical injury has a corresponding muscular response, but a muscle does not have to experience physical injury to create pain.

Sensation in the body is not the same as energy in the body. Sensations of discomfort can be greeted with acceptance to help change the energy of the body and mind.

Photo 1 - the amazing cosmic architecture of the stable spine with its arches.
Photo 2 - the sea urchin brain sitting on the central nervous system stick.
Photo 3- the spine as the center of our being as we flow out and back in.
Photo 4- a vertebrae showing the canal that houses the physical spinal cord, and the 2 little neural foramina holes where nerves branch out to the body; reminding me of the energetic equivalent of Prana flowing through the Sushumna, Ida and Pingala Nadis.
Video - taking time to play in a thermal bath and connecting to the fluid warmth of my own cerebrospinal fluid.

14/09/2025

I am back to posting videos on YouTube and sharing my ponderings. There is so much I could share right now that has been flowing from my heart to my notebook. Michael and I are deeply blessed to be half way through a 2 week retreat with Angela Farmer and Victor van Kooten in Greece.

We have been playing with our feet in relationship to our whole being. I believe feet are literally the foundation of our physical and spiritual being. I call your feet the brains of your spine - and energetically, the toes are our grip into reality, and the ankles allow us to change direction on our path.

The practice may seem short and simple, but here is what I want you to consider: What if the purpose of our existence on earth is to be the energetic exchange portal between the earth and higher levels of consciousness?

In Ayurvedic Marma Therapy, the Talahridaya Marma point in the center of the foot (and hand!) is the vital point that serves the heart - Hridaya; the "heart of the foot" that feeds earth energy to our higher consciousness. On the subtle level, this practice invites you to connect to the force of gravity for the sake of bringing higher energy into the collective conscious.

Physically, we work with Talahridaya in the foot and/or hand to regulate heart rate and blood pressure. Hypertension and other diseases that can be lifestyle related respond to the safety of being grounded in the earth. This is the psychosomatic point to enhance circulatory and cardiac function.

If you don't typically do "foot yoga", take of your shoes (little foot coffins), abandon your mat and find an interesting surface to stand on. I chose rocks on the beach in Greece! You may be soft with yourself and stand on forgiving green grass.

Peace, Love and Light, Megan

PS If you are interested in going deep into Somatic Yoga, my next online opportunity for the Level 1 course starts September 24. We also have space available for the Level 1 in person immersion taking place in West Cork, Ireland October 25 - November 1.

Dear Yoga Friends,Michael and I are on a nourishing retreat in Le**os, Greece, where we have been spending time getting to know our feet better in relationsh...

29/08/2025

Relaxation is an essential ingredient to stabilization.

Our system is self organizing around the core center. When we think we are not doing anything, we are strengthening and relaxing. Finding homeostasis is not about what we have to “do” and “push through”. It is about intuition and trust.

Physically, the body centers itself on the deep core muscles including diaphragm, transversus abdominis, pelvic floor, multifidus and psoas. When the physical body is functioning in its highest state, muscles contract and release simultaneously. The nervous system shifts from a stressed state to calm. Our support goes deep. Overused muscles are liberated as the core intuitively stabilizes.

By relaxing first, you reinforce the most essential part of your system. You breathe fully to your whole center. The unobstructed breath is the music play button where by the diaphragm, transversus abdominis and pelvic floor do their own dance of expansion and contraction. This all happens outside of our conscious awareness.

But we can make it conscious! And we do in Somatic Yoga.

Relaxed awareness is our natural state of being. Taking the time to nourish your relationship with your deep core gives the muscles the ability to anticipate activation within the lens of relaxation. Imagine taking a peaceful walk on a wooded trail, completely at ease in your body; your left foot stumbles on a rock. The timing of leg movement is kept in the deep core, including psoas. Your intuitive core gets the message that your are off balance and pulls you back into safety. If your muscles are firing efficiently, you may also get some help from the muscles that provide pelvic stability, including the “I am Oz - great and powerful” gluteal muscles.

The nervous system never wants you to fall. It is built for safety. But it functions better when we feed it some joy and appreciation.

As we re-establish familiarity with the intuitive core in Somatic Yoga, it generates trust in the entire system. The parts of you that have experienced chronic pain, trauma or have just been ignored, will look to the core center like the protective mother bear; he mother bear that is alert but comforting.

13/07/2025

Milo would like to let you know that after a satisfying day of hiking on the Sheepshead, he is happy to help you relax and be your knee bolster during the sound healing…just in case you are considering visiting us in West Cork for a retreat or training 💚😊

05/06/2025

The functional meditation and integral anatomy of life: finding myself connected in patterns of nature. A host tree with nerves and blood vessels, the spider web - succulent like my cells in the morning dew, and the philosophical wild orchid - one of the few flowing plants where the stamin (male) and pistil (female) fuse into oneness.

27/05/2025

This is what studying pelvic floor health looks like. It starts with being able to say “pelvic floor muscles” (PFM) out loud without any shame. In my Somatic Yoga courses, we study the 3 layers of the PFM, their relationship to breath & the 4 deep core, and the sacred security of the Muladhara chakra.

Did you know the PFM plays intimately with the respiratory diaphragm, feet and jaw? As person who struggles with hypertonic pelvic floor (too tense) and jaw pain - partially from years of thinking it’s best to contract the PFM in yoga (Mula Bhanda), 2 C-sections, and because tightening the PFM is my stress response - part of my mission is to teach others to sanctify the pelvic floor. No more Kegals and Mula Bhanda as the universal fix for pelvic floor dysfunction!

Learn about your PFM muscles and so much more in my upcoming 50 hour Somatic Yoga courses in person in Ireland June 21-28 (1 spot left), or October 25-Nov 1, or choose the amazing online version starting September 24.

PS. The last photo is a female pelvic floor model I made out of clay as part of my therapy 🙃(please note that pelvic floor dysfunction does not know gender and impacts prostate health in men among other things).

08/05/2025

Congratulations to our newest 110 hour Somatic Yoga certified souls for completing our Level 2 immersion - Cathy, Tara, and Susanne!!! Thank you for an amazing week of intellectual, playful and spiritual exploration; and for bringing the embodiment of kindness to yourselves and your students/clients. Upcoming Somatic Yoga Level 1 training immersive retreats in Ireland June 21 -28 or online starts September 24. Visit embodywithmm.com or contact Megan for details. Lifelong self care that you can share practically in service or energetically from your heart 💚