Breaking Through Physical and Emotional Patterns - Inspire by Fighting Monkey with Elke Schroeder

In this episode I speak with the luminous Elke Schroeder about her powerful work inspired by Fighting Monkey and how it dove tails with creating a more robust and adaptable nervous system and to bring us into deeper relationship with self and our environment. 

• Dive in into the philosophy of Fighting Monkey, a movement practice revolutionizing the way we think about our place in space and  in connection to fellow humans. 
• Hear about the importance of moving beyond our predictable movements habits as well as the intersection between FM and the dismantling of systems of oppression in and outside of the movement world. 
• Start asking questions about how the fitness industry keeps our bodies stuck in limiting beliefs about ourselves and our bodies' ability to navigate external pressures to find what FM refers to as 'earthquake architecture'. 

"Fighting Monkey is not an easy thing to do, not only for coordinations, but in general ... because you are confronting a lot of your patterns and blocks."

"It's not a fight practice, It can seem like fighting, but actually it's about fighting your monkey mind."

"It's a reclaiming of your physicality to harness those tools of resilience."

Elke is a Mover.
A dancer, performer and Fighting Monkey student and instructor. Her diverse movement background includes dance of many styles, floor-work, acrobatics, yoga and martial arts. She is an archer, a poetry maker, a forest-dweller, a chocolate-eater - full of wanderlust, tornado-winds and boundless energy.

Elke leads a practice that is fluid, strong, and creative. She encourages Play, rough-housing and curiosity, tempered with an attunement to self-awareness. In to go Out, out to go In.

A graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, the Octopus Garden Yoga Teachers Training and Mentorship programs, the University of Toronto Drama Program and the University of Waterloo Independent Studies program, Elke teaches at myriad organizations such as Spirit Loft, L’Artère Danse, (Québec), the University of Calgary, Ryerson University, The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, GMD Toronto, T.O. Love-in,, Jane Clapp/Movement for Trauma, Mosaic Yoga, and YYoga (Brussels). 

She is an active creator and performer of contemporary dance (20+ years) and travels for her work throughout Canada and abroad).

Find Elke on Instagram @elkebschroeder or Facebook: Inspire by Fighting Monkey with Elke