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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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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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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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Props…In Every Room…Without buying a thing.
Covid-19 I received the second Covid-19 vaccination in mid February. After a day of sporadic headaches and chills, tingling in my vaccinated arm and utter fatigue, I felt relieved and safer. Following a year of alternating between waves of upheaval and calm, I felt hope. In addition, more people were telling me they too were scheduled or had had their first or second dose. Built up tension began to soften. Warmer, longer, sunnier days added to the feeling that there was light at the end of the tunnel following a year of limits on our ability to move around freely. I began to feel energy–asking, begging, to get…
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Waking up to breath
Coordinating breathing and swallowing is the first act of coordination that we do as infants. Once that is learned, infants average 30 breaths/minute the first 6 months of life, meaning that infants breathe almost 8 million times by the time they are 6 months old. Pretty amazing! What does that mean for adults? Well, breathing does slow down to 12-20 breaths/minute. If we average 15 breaths/minute, we will have inhaled and exhaled 394 million times by the time we are 50 years old. That is a way larger number than 99+% of us will ever see in our bank accounts. But pretty much we spend more time thinking…
