How can addressing personal fears and vulnerabilities through movement practices lead to deeper personal growth and stronger community connections?

Gogoly Yao explains his background and the journey that led him to where he is now. He discusses how he first encountered parkour, and his work on Esprit Concrete with Kasturi Torchia. Yao shares his current challenges and what he is working on, and discusses his training with Esprit Concrete team member Georgia Munroe.

“My focus in training has never been really about the movement. It has been about my fears. Like I said, that’s where it started, but I didn’t know at the time. I didn’t know a lot of things. I didn’t know where it was, what I was looking for, and what I could get. ” ~ Gogoly Yao (11:50)

Yao’s journey in parkour and movement began as a way to confront personal fears, including heights and physical vulnerability. His initial focus on power and large movements shifted after injuries forced him to explore conditioning and smaller, more controlled actions. This gradual change led to deeper self-awareness and a new approach to training, rooted in addressing psychological barriers.

Esprit Concrete, co-founded by Yao, reflects this philosophy by blending physical practice with emotional growth. The project focuses on guiding individuals to recognize their vulnerabilities and develop a personalized path forward, emphasizing personal agency and choice. The conversation highlights the balance between teaching others and continuing personal growth, with Yao candidly sharing his ongoing struggles with trust and control.

Takeaways

Trust and vulnerability — Trusting others is difficult but necessary for growth.

Training through fear — Addressing personal fears through movement leads to deeper progress.

Freedom in movement — Movement practices offer a sense of liberation and personal exploration.

Emotional strength — True strength lies beyond physical ability, involving emotional and mental resilience.

Individual perception — Understanding personal perceptions helps in addressing personal limitations.

Resources

Esprit Concrete — The project co-founded by Yao that blends movement practice with emotional growth and self-discovery.

Yamakasi Documentary — A film showcasing the origins of parkour that inspired Yao’s interest in the practice.

Kasturi Torchia @dr.ktorchia — Yao’s collaborator at Esprit Concrete, contributing psychological insight to the project.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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— Hello👋 I’m Craig Constantine.

In the Movers Mindset podcast, I talk with movement enthusiasts to learn who they are, what they do, and why they do it. I’m interested in the nature and philosophy of movement and in exploring themes like independence, self-direction, and human excellence. My interests color each conversation and provide some structure to Movers Mindset. But since I like to take the scenic route, every conversation ends up going somewhere unique.

The purpose of Movers Mindset is to create and share great conversations with movement enthusiasts. Each conversation feeds my insatiable curiosity, but I share them to turn on a light for someone else, to inspire them, or to give them their next question.

I appreciate your time and attention, and I don’t take it for granted.

— Thank you!

My personal mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. And Movers Mindset is one of the things I do in service of my mission. Drop by https://craigconstantine.com/ for my weekly email, my other podcasts, writing and more.

The Movers Mindset project grew from conversations I started having as part of my personal journey rediscovering movement. The project started late in 2015, and it was initially simply a web site that shared others’ writing. The project grew, and in 2017 I started the podcast. I’ve worked extremely hard, but none of this would have been possible without so much help from so many people.

Thanks for listening!

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