After a most extraordinary 4-month Bowspring tour of 9 countries: Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Croatia, Desi and I arrived back to the US in the last week of July full of loving gratitude for so many beautiful hearts that compose our expanding global Bowspring community.

We were blessed to work with hundreds of enthusiastic Bowspring students in a total of 17 European cities (20 different teaching venues), which in terms of days away from home was the longest teaching tour of my career going back to 1989. Gratefully, we were well taken care by many bright and good-hearted people throughout our European Bowspring community, so generous and hospitable.
On the European streets, we met taxi drivers, independent shop keepers, and family-run restaurateurs; and in the Bowspring classrooms, we connected with a wide range of functional movement aficionados, yoga teachers, cranial-sacral therapists, osteopaths, science professionals, and artists. Although the cultures and languages were quite different between most of the 9 countries we visited, the demographic of the students who attended our ​Bowspring workshops was very similar – your average European yoga practitioner – young adult Caucasian women (average age range 25 – 45). Our classes in Europe were usually 80-90% women, Berlin having highest attendance of men at around 25%.

Outside the classroom people would ask us where we are from, and when we told them, ‘United States’, they would eventually bring up the topic of President Trump. Those who were worried about their employment with the surge of immigrants and refugees in the last 5 years, like some of the German taxi drivers we met, were pro-Trump, while many others thought Trump represented the worst of the world today – narcissism, anti-intellectualism, and predatory greed.The state of the economy (local and in the EU), the future of their European lifestyle, climate change and the health direction of Earth were also some of the important issues that many people wanted to discuss with us. Also, the sensitive and emotionally charged topic of immigration was widely brought up in our discussions with local citizens. Many were aware that the US military industrial complex expansion into Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya since 9-11-01 was a central cause of the refugees flooding Europe and the UK, especially in the last 5 years when immigration rates have quadrupled in some countries like Germany. Despite us being outed as Americans, local people on the street were generally very good-mannered and nice to us!Aside from anomalies in local weather patterns, a lighter topic of conversation that unified people wherever we went in Europe was the World Cup – the international championship soccer tournament held this year in Russia. Football (soccer) is the biggest sport in the world with estimates that over half of the human population on the planet follows their local or national football teams. In European cities like in many cities around the world during World Cup, passionate football fans crowd local bars and restaurants to watch the matches. Desi and I watched some of the football matches with the locals on TVs in Germany, Belgium and Croatia. In each of these countries national pride was amplified to a fever pitch, especially in Belgium and Croatia, whose teams finished in 3rd and 2nd places in this year’s World Cup respectively.

We watched the Belgium match against France in the center of Antwerp on a jumbo screen in a huge outdoor area with tens of thousands of polite-mannered Belgian football fans. The next week on Croatian TV, we watched more than 250,000 proud Croats gather in the capital of Zagreb to meet their beloved football players after their heart-wrenching loss to France in the championship match. Although Christianity is the main religion for ¾ of the European populace, football excites a religious fervor in fans like nothing else!

Health-wise, Europeans (and most of the world) are in better physically shape overall than Americans. They tend to be more active as the cities are designed for citizens walking and biking, and the overall diet is healthier in some respects. However, with more GMOs, sugar and toxins entering the food supply, Europeans are getting bigger and obesity is increasing unfortunately. Of the 9 countries, we visited, Spain and Croatia’s rate of adult obesity is around 25%, which is among the highest rates in Europe. On the other side of the spectrum, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Austria and The Netherlands are among the lowest obesity rates in Europe at 20% and less. Compared to the US, these rates are much healthier as 45 states have obesity rates of between 25 – 38% of the adult population! Colorado has the lowest obesity rate in the US at 22% which is still higher than 23 European countries.The good news for the planet and humanity is that there are a lot of kind-hearted souls in Europe who are health oriented, spiritually inclined, and environmentally concerned. They are opening their eyes to the destructive patterns of our species, and are willing to make changes within themselves to expand the greater good. It is so inspiring to see so many people willing to courageously release the somatic armoring in their tissues through an alternative alignment like the Bowspring. They are open to the process of healing by honestly looking at deep patterns within themselves while practicing typically unconscious common postures like standing and sitting, and daily functional movements like walking or lifting an object. They understand that as soon as they can see their habits or addictions, they can choose to change to a healthier patterning using mind-body training practices.In every country, we met dozens of people who are part of a growing number of Europeans wanting to work together for a higher quality of life for all people and for our planet. It was very encouraging and hopeful to talk with so many bright-minded people, who do not blindly consent to the mainstream drivel, and who are choosing a higher level for all instead of for personal profit and gain. So, in spite of terrible greediness, military expansion and increasing fascism in the world today, there is a grand proportion of good people in Europe embodying the deep beauty of humanity choosing peace, compassion, and wisdom. May this brightness unify people around the world for a harmonious future for all. Berlin workshop – Learning how to shift sideways in supine position while maintaining Radiant Heart Berlin workshop – Learning how to shift sideways in supine position while maintaining Radiant Heart