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Balancing the Head on the Spine
We don’t think too much about our necks unless we are in pain. But before we talk about pain, lets talk about the head and spine. Take a moment to think about how the head balances on the spine. The size of the two joints that form the head/spine connection are the size of 2 pennies. Knowing that the head weighs 10-12 pounds, it is an amazing architecturally engineered structure that supports that kind of balance! Turn and Look Along with ligaments and tendons, the head is free to turn and look at any moment and maintain the integrity of our senses with just the right amount of…
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Letting Go
A major principle when doing Awareness Through Movement® lessons is to “do less”. Interestingly, it isn’t so easy. With each lesson, participants are instructed to move easily, only do what is comfortable, and make the movements simple. Yet, so often, following those directions can be challenging. As a practitioner, I have learned strategies to make it easier for students, but still, you may wonder why is it challenging to begin with? Early Learning As youngsters, we use our senses to explore our environment. We learn. We grow. We develop. Part of that development is to work to get our needs met. If one way doesn’t work, we may…
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A Refuge From the Aggression of Life
Conflict. Some people thrive on it, others run from it. What’s hard is to sit with it or even know what to do with it. Competing interests create conflict, tripping us up, holding us back, basically making a mess of things. All conflict has a home in the mind/body and is acted out through our actions, meaning our muscles are at play. In stressful situations muscle activity increases, giving us the perceived experience of tension, tightness, or pain. Reducing Conflict In order to reduce conflict, a change in the entirety of the neuro-muscular system has to take place as well as in the psyche. Does one change before…
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One Step Towards Better Breathing
What do I want? I find myself asking this question multiple times a week. Sometimes even multiple times a day. Some days I want this. Some days that, making sticking to a specific plan like going through a maze, not sure where I will end up or how long it will take to get there. Isn’t that true for many people? Of course, we all have to know what we want in order to get it. And we have to take action to have it materialize. The problem is that sometimes we get what we don’t want in the pursuit of what we do…
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A Bit of Anatomy
Muscles attach to at least two different bones. Tendons attach a muscle to a bone. Ligaments attach one bone to another bone. Ligaments help keep the joints from moving beyond their joint surfaces. Tendons help move the joint when its muscle contracts. Muscles, ligaments and tendons have receptors that provide sensory information to us. That is, we get feedback from our body giving us specific information. Here are a few descriptions of those receptors and how we know what they are telling us and how best to use that information. You may have heard of them in your classes or books or through your friends or practitioners, even…
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Love Your Shoulders
My finger slides across his shoulder…lightly…just enough to let him know that I am there and just before he turns and reaches up, me following; each of us dancing to the music in response to each other. Spinning, turning, sliding…the fluidity of the dance…that is what I love. If I push, I get immediate feedback…a strain, a frustration, a disappointment. I practice letting go and staying attentive, both needed to be in harmony with myself, my partner, the music. I have been there before, my excitement, my ambition pressing my body forward, pressing for something that it cannot do or is not ready at that moment and then…
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Harmony In Support
I transported onto the silky white ground under a bright blue sky. I had been away for months. The lusciousness lifted and held me. Jason sat on a picnic table. I opened my arms signaling a hug. The conversation began. Walking tall, I met Jimmy next. He had just returned from Costa Rica on retreat. He carried the energy. I captured it. Eric joined as he climbed on Jimmy’s back. Jimmy yielded to his weight. They had traveled together. His tanned skin evidence. I watched them share space. I put my backpack down and joined the others in the open area. There were about 30 of us. BC-Before…
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Developing a Healthy Relationship to Food and Digestion
On the first day of my Feldenkrais® training program, the directors arranged to have a wholesome, catered luncheon. It was great, tasty and healthy…until I ate way too much of the scrumptious gourmet brownies for dessert. I felt terrible the rest of that day and the next. All my excitement for beginning a new adventure buried in an overdose of sugar, just because I didn’t have what it took to enjoy my excitement without reverting back to a childhood pattern. That was 30 years ago and the last time I ate to such discomfort. It was a memorable day because of my struggles with food and body image.…
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More To Say About Breathing
There can never be too much to say about breathing. Especially since it takes practice and attention to not leave it behind when we are doing the most mundane things. James Nestor, author of Breath, The New Science of a Lost Art, provided a 30 minute video for the Feldenkrais Summit this past May. I had talked to people about his book, listened to radio interviews and watched some of his YouTube videos. None of them moved me to buy his book, until I watched the summit video. I was intrigued by his explanation of the size and position of the mouth and throat and how over time,…
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Flexible Feet & Ankles
Early Learning Many people take notice of their bodies when in pain, taking them for granted unless something doesn’t work quite right. It’s unfortunate, but true. And it is understandable. We aren’t taught how to live in our bodies. With emphasis on thinking and doing and less on the embodiment of living, it makes sense that we are limited in staying ‘tuned in’. We do the best we can with what we have as we grow and learn in our families, communities and cultures. However, none of that is without trouble. Working as a physical therapist I did have opportunities to learn how to get out of pain…
