Matthew Berean is a Certified Rolfer in Ann Arbor

Matthew Berean integrates long experience with anatomical and cognitive techniques to benefit his clients. His experience in athletics extends over thirty years as a rower and a coach. His study of cultural mental constructs began as a boy with an intense interest in the myths of multiple cultures. He learned meditation as a teenager. He draws on his personal experience and his training in assisting clients. ###   ### His formal training began with Rolfing Structural Integration, and expanded into extensive Osteopathy based manipulation, particularly Visceral, Neural, Vascular, and Cranial manipulation. He subsequently added further training and certifications in Buteyko Breathing Method, Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy, and RightSleep® sleep coaching to address structural and functional issues related to breathing, airway, and sleep.   ###   ### The experience from these trainings integrates seamlessly into his teaching experience of Prajna Yoga and meditation. After more than 5,000 hours of formal training, he can draw on a wide range of skills to address the concerns of his clients while integrating the structure, function and awareness of their mind and body. ###   ### --Matthew's Full Bio-- ### ### Matthew developed an appreciation of the relationship between mind, form, and experience at an early age when he was captivated by traditional mythological stories from all corners of the world. He was first introduced to the teachings of mindfulness and meditation in his early teens when he began to explore the writings of Joseph Campbell. Campbell?s identification of common universal mythic motifs across time and space had a profound influence on his own internal exploration. ### ### Matthew?s first serious foray into the exploration of the body was as a competitive rower when he was introduced to structured yoga practice as a means of maintaining a healthier body. Over many years of strenuous training he accumulated injuries which began to adversely affect his ability to train competitively. ### ### While coaching at M.I.T. he discovered Rolfing® Structural Integration. The impact that Rolfing had on his body was so profound that he decided to study it. During his formal study of the body, he began to delve deeper into the cross relationships between yoga, structural bodywork, and meditation. ### ### In addition to completing his basic and advanced Rolfing® Structural Integration training, Matthew has deepened his knowledge through extensive training in Osteopathy-based Visceral, Vascular, Neural, Cranial and Joint Capsule Manipulation with Jeffrey Burch; Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy; Buteyko Breathing Method; SourcePoint Therapy energy medicine certification; a 500-hour yoga teacher-training certification through Prajna Yoga with Tias and Surya Little; and a 300 hour certification course with Khenpo Samdup Rinpoche on The Stages of Meditation. ### ### Matthew has been fortunate to continue his study of Buddhist philosophy, traditional texts, and practice, in both formal teachings and retreats, primarily under the tutelage of Drupon Ratna Vajra (Rinchen Dorjee) Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche, and other highly accomplished Lamas primarily from the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. ###   ### Matthew has accumulated more than 5,000 classroom hours studying the body, the mind, and the relationship between the two. He teaches yoga workshops and assists his teachers in their own courses. Weekly, Matthew teaches streaming yoga classes at Yoga Now. For over twenty years Matthew taught and coached rowing to varying age and ability levels in individual, group and clinic settings. He uses all of this experience to help clients learn how to fundamentally change the way that they relate to others, to themselves, to their bodies, and to their world. ###