Awareness Through Movement Classes With Lindy Ost

Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2022 Summer Series
Reaching—For What You Want

Have you ever felt stuck? Unsure how to act? Or how to move through a challenge?
Awareness Through Movement(R) lessons offer a peek into how we organize ourselves; where, when, and how we “get stuck”. By slowing the process down, we can discover what we had not noticed before.

In this mini-series, we will start as beginners; as if we can rewrite a script that repeats itself, taking time. Time to find comfort. Time to sense the relationship between the arms and your center. Time to make movement easier. Time to notice how you would like to feel. Time-all the time that you need.

We will explore three consecutive lessons that will build a greater sense of connection between what you want and how you use your arms.
Please join us!

When:
Monday 11 AM- 12 PM – September 12, 19, 26
Wednesday 5:30 -6:30 PM – September 14, 21, 28

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Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2024 Summer Series
Neck Ease

Many people think that their neck pain is due to tight muscles and so they learn stretches.

Stretching does not loosen tight muscles. Stretching lengthens muscles and it can feel good, which is helpful. But it doesn’t correct the underlying problem.

Our heads, with their sophisticated systems of nerve endings, orient us to the environment. That is, we know the difference between up and down, how far something is away from us, or how loud or scary something is.

This complex orientation system gives us information about the environment so that we can decide what is needed: Run and hide? Or stop and talk?

In this series you will learn 3 things that make a difference in easing muscle tension causing neck pain and some kinds of headaches. And it won’t involve stretching!

When:
Mondays, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM ET: Jun 17, 24, Jul 1, 8, 15
Or
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: Jun 19, 26, Jul 3, 10, 17

Cost:
$95/series (5)

Your Instructor, Lindy Ost
Lindy Ost has been teaching Awareness Through Movement lessons for over 30 years. She found the message that she heard from her first Feldenkrais teacher freeing, “If you learn one thing while in this workshop, you will have been successful,” relieving pressure that she hadn’t realized that she had from earlier years.

FALL ARCHIVE
2020 Fall Series
Shortening To Find Length

As we close in on six months post COVID, we have feared, grieved, raged.
It has taken its toll physically, mentally, emotionally.

It is time we take back our power. Are you ready?
Are you ready to stand tall and feel empowered?
To stand up…? To stand for…?
To discover how you get pulled in, pulled down?

This fall we will explore the relationship between shortening and lengthening and how we can feel power in having the choice navigating each.

Please join us!

Fall #1 ATM Series
Held Online–Zoom

Mon. 11 AM- 12 PM 5 wks. Begins Sep 21. Ends Oct 19.
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM 5 wks. Begins Sep 23. Ends Oct 21.
Thur. 11 AM-12 PM 5 wks. Begins Sep 24. Ends Oct 22. Chair Series*

Cost
Sliding scale fee $14-20/class. Pay for only classes that you will attend or $10 for recordings only. Series Cost is $80 for the 5 week series.

Fall #2 ATM Series
Held Online–Zoom

Mon. 11 AM- 12 PM 4 wks. Begins Oct 26. Ends Nov 16.
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM 4 wks. Begins Oct 28. Ends Nov 18.
Thur. 11 AM-12 PM 4 wks. Begins Oct 29. Ends Nov 19. Chair Series*

Cost
Sliding scale fee $14-20/class. Pay for only classes that you will attend or $10 for recordings only. Series Cost is $64 for the 4 week series, with recordings.

*Chair Series
This class will be for those who would prefer to do lessons sitting in a chair rather than lying on the floor.

 

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Awareness Through Movement®
2020 Breathing Series

Held Online–Zoom

Mon. 11 AM- 12 PM EST 4 wks. Begins Nov 30. Ends Dec 21.
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM EST 4 wks. Begins Dec 2. Ends Dec 23.
Thur. 11 AM-12 PM EST 4 wks. Begins Dec 3. Ends Dec 24.

Cost
Series Cost is $64 for the 4 week series, includes an audio recording for each class.

$18/class. Pay for only classes that you will attend.

$12 for audio recordings only.

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Awareness Through Movement®
2021 Fall Series
The Gut: Helping it Along with Awareness and Choice

Keto, plant based, low carb. The list goes on. It takes a lot of time and energy to learn what works for feeling our best. What we eat makes a difference to our health. There is an abundance of information regarding diets and supplements and options for people to choose from. But much less on the how and the mechanics.

Using Awareness Through Movement® lessons, we will explore the relationships of movement from our jaw and head to our pelvis.

Experiencing the fascination of noticing something about ourselves that is novel and beneficial changes our brain. We make positive changes by noticing and decreasing effort and tension.

Improving how we use ourselves when it comes to eating and digestion can help us absorb nutrients better, balance our nervous system and improve gut health.

We have movement habits that we don’t even know about. They started when we were young, before we got smart about ourselves and when other people had more influence over us than we would have preferred. We grew up but not without escaping stomach pain, headaches, and other health issues. We had to deal with things: stress, conflicts, tension. Learning what we can do to find a bit more balance, a bit more health, and a bit more reduction in tension gives us a rest. A rest from the demands of a life that we face.

So please join me as we begin the exploration into the volitional movement that leads us into the cavern of digestion.

When:
2 options: Mondays or Wednesdays

Part 1
Mon. 11:00-12:00 PM – Sep 13, 20, 27, Oct 4
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM – Sep 15, 22, 29, Oct 6

The mouth: jaw, lips and tongue
The mouth, throat, spine connection
Touching to Discover
Flexing the Tubes with Awareness and Movement

Part 2
Mon. 11:00-12:00 PM – Oct 18, 25, Nov 1, 8
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM – Oct 20, 27, Nov 3, 10

Coordinating Breathing and Swallowing
The Sternum’s Role
Influencing the Sphincters
The Ribs and Spine

Bonus Lesson
Free when signing up for both Part 1 and Part 2
Mon. 11:00-12:00 PM – Nov 15
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM – Nov 17

Where:
Online with Zoom Invite

Cost:
$80/segment or $160 for both

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 Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2022 Fall Series
Transitions: Finding Ease

Some things are harder than others.
We can find ourselves in a jam and feel stuck with no work around.
Then what?

Keeping things simple is one way to work through the block and in the process make things less hard.

Going slowly
Managing expectations
Checking assumptions

Are ways in which we can find more ease in what we do.

Mindfulness teaches us a way to think about our state of being that makes a difference.
And that is useful, but is it enough?

In this series of Awareness Through Movement lessons, we will be exploring movements that provide freedom in the head and neck.

Hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling all have receptors in the head, yet we overwork the muscles of the face and neck to maintain a sense of balance, security, and social network.

What would living be like if you could move your head more freely and feel free to respond to the ever changing moments that your life provides in a much easier way?

When:
Mondays, 11:00-12:00 PM ET: Oct 24, 31, Nov 7, 14, 28, Dec 5, 12
Or
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: Oct 26, Nov 2, 9, 16, 30, Dec 7, 14

Where:
Online with Zoom Invite

Cost:
$125 for the series

Recordings provided to attendees.

Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2023 Fall Series
Vitality While Sitting: How to Make Sitting a Part of Your Health and Fitness

Learn the 4 pillars of active sitting and make the most out of those times when sitting is the only option.

You will learn how MASS = Degree of Vitality

The four pillars of MASS stand for:

Mood
Attention
Sensation
Support

Each lesson will focus on one of those 4 pillars. You will find that making a change in just one aspect will make a difference in your sitting comfort at ANY time.

Revitalize.
Energize.
Re-imagine.

No longer will sitting be considered the new smoking.

Vitality While Sitting: How to Make Sitting a Part of Your Health and Fitness

When:
Mondays, 11:00-12:00 PM ET: October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, November 6, 13
Or
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: October 4, 11, 18, 25, November 1, 8, 15

WINTER ARCHIVE
Awareness Through Movement®
2021 Winter Series
Harnessing Power

Power.

What image/thoughts come to mind when you read the word ‘power’?
Your mind might go anywhere with so many associations to that 5-letter word.

In this series of Awareness Through Movement(R) Lessons, we will explore how to harness the power of the muscles that move the pelvis, the largest bone of the body.

If the muscles are too tight, we can’t move easily. If they are too lax, there’s not much get up and go.

With better balance and coordination between these strong muscles, dancing, walking, squatting, and getting up and down can feel easier…pleasurable even.

Join me for a series of six classes where you can discover how to put muscle forces to work to generate power to move you!

Mon. 11 AM- 12 PM EST 6 wks. Begins Feb 8. Ends March 15.
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM EST 6 wks. Begins Feb 10. Ends March 17.
Fri. 11 AM-12 PM* EST (Chairs Only) 6 wks. Begins Feb 12*. Ends March 19.

*Feb 12th class 10-11 AM. First Friday session only.

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Awareness Through Movement®
2021 Winter Breathing Series
Mess With The Breath

Breathing: Air comes in. Air goes out; day and night.
Under normal circumstances, we don’t worry about it…unless…there is a problem.

• Unless we stop our breath when we are tense…
• Unless we get short of breath going up steps or an incline…
• Unless we don’t sleep well because breathing and the nervous system don’t sync up well enough…
• Unless our posture can’t support breathing well…

What if we did know more about breathing? What if we could use it to our benefit? What then?

There is no end to what can be explored with breathing. Of course the diaphragm muscle is the primary muscle of breathing, but all the muscles that touch the spine, ribs and pelvis are involved in breathing. And it isn’t only muscles that affect the breathing. Our breathing is intimately connected with every system of our body. So much so that it could be overwhelming to know what to pay attention to.

Instead of teaching you how to breathe, these 3 lessons will mess with your breathing. They will alter your personal breathing pattern…that which is most familiar to you. New channels may open up. New insights may be discovered.

Please join me in exploring the breath…not to teach you to breathe, you already know that…air comes in, air goes out, but to spend time with the invisible details. How to mix it up, how to notice what happens when you do. Your breathing may thank you for it.

When:
Monday 11 AM- 12 PM
Wednesday 5:30 PM-6:30 PM

Monday, Dec. 6, 13, 20
Wednesday, Dec. 8, 15, 22

Where:
Online with Zoom Invite

Cost:
$50 for the series of three session

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Awareness Through Movement®
2022 Winter Series
Ninja Up & Down

Ninjas weren’t around when I was a kid. My action idols were Casper the friendly ghost, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie and Superman. I used to practice wiggling my nose and learned I wasn’t a witch. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, bounced my head and learned I couldn’t make myself disappear. I did jump off the top of my family’s family room roof when there was snow on the ground. That was fun, but I didn’t fly, nor did I save anyone, except I didn’t get hurt. Lucky me. Casper was the one that won my heart-gentle, friendly, easy going. His image helped simmer my internal flame, diluting my oppositional, fighting self.

Action figures are a big business. It’s understandable. They connect to some deep archetypal part of what it means to be human. And we can use them to make connections to learn about ourselves and others or to be entertained.

Ninjas move smoothly, effortlessly, and can shift at a moment’s notice. Young kids have some of that. Adults not, unless practiced and developed.

Using Awareness Through Movement, we are going to use the archetype of a Ninja to learn how to get up and down more easily. It can be learned, no matter what age or what condition you are in.

We won’t learn how to fly or flip from walls, but we will learn that getting up and down can be made easier, no matter which surfaces you are moving between.

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Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2023 Winter Series
The Magic of Up and Down

What do pigs, horses, camels and elephants have in common?
In comparison to babies, they learn to stand and walk in less than 2 hours after birth.

Humans have a learning trajectory that lasts on average 12 months to do the same.
Human movement depends on those first 12 months to program the brain through trial and error, to hold the head up, to roll, to sit, and eventually to stand.
In the process, all movements that move us up and down:
reaching, stooping, crouching, lifting, and bending have to do with how we learned how to first stand and walk.

One of the hallmarks of humans is our capacity to spiral. Humans are the only mammals that can spiral around a vertical axis.

And when we lose the capacity to spiral, we lose the capacity to navigate up and down smoothly and with little effort.

During this series of Awareness Through Movement Lessons, we will explore the components of what makes moving up and down possible.

Please join us to discover how you can get up and down easier.

The lessons will be done while lying down, sitting and/or standing…all on Zoom
Use of supports, as needed.

When:
Mondays, 11:00-12:00 PM ET: Jan 23, 30, Feb 6, 13, 20, 27, Mar 6, 13
Or
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: Jan 25, Feb 1, 8, 15, 22, Mar 1, 8, 15

Cost:
$145/series, $20/class

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Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2023 Winter Series
Breathing For Calm

When challenged, in conflict or struggling, breathing is impacted.

That’s normal and important.

When we live in that state without knowing it and/or for an extended period of time, our well-being becomes compromised.

During this 3 session series, we will do lessons that give us time to explore what it means to use our breath to restore to a state of calm, inviting ease, a feeling of lightness, groundedness and a feeling of being less stressed.

Practicing during the day builds a stronger memory for returning to ease more quickly.

Please join us this December for our next series, “Breathing For Calm”!

When:
Mondays, 11:00-12:00 PM ET: December 4, 11, 18
Or
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: December 6, 13, 20

Cost:
$22/class
$60/series (3)

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Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2024 Winter Series
Finding Ease In Your Hips and Low Back

Tight hip muscles are a leading cause of hip and low back pain, especially when the muscles compress the joints, put shear forces on the joints and wear out the joint surfaces.

Stretching muscles is not the answer to tight muscles.

Muscles work in groups. Coordination of those muscle groups is much more effective to decrease unnecessary muscle tension. In the process you learn what ‘better’ movement feels like.

In this series, Awareness Through Movement lessons:

• Will give you an opportunity to decrease muscle tension
• May decrease pain
• Allows you to sense what free hip and low back movement feels like
• Will help you feel how freer movement makes a difference when you are walking or getting up and down from sitting.

It can be frustrating to feel limited in doing the things that you want to do either because of pain or tightness.

During an Awareness Through Movement lessons, you will have time to slow down, to sense where or how you may be overworking and time to notice how that makes a difference in how you feel and how you move.

When:
Mondays, 11:00-12:00 PM ET: January 22, 29, February 5, 12, 19
Or
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: January 24, 31, Feb ruary7, 14, 21

Cost:
$22/class
$95/series (5)

SPRING ARCHIVE
Awareness Through Movement®
2021 Spring Series
Props in Every Room

Held Online–Zoom
With spring in the air, and light at the end of the tunnel following a year-long pandemic, we are going to use the energy that has been stored and take it into action. Every room in our homes can be used for agility, balance, flexibility. This spring series, we are going to take that energy and use it for movement every day, in every room.

Join me for a series of six classes!

Mon. 11 AM- 12 PM EST 6 wks. Begins March 22. Ends April 26.
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM EST 6 wks. Begins March 24. Ends April 28.
Thur. 11 AM-12 PM EST (Chairs Only) 6 wks. Begins March 25. Ends April 29.

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Awareness Through Movement®
2021 Spring Series
Flexible Feet and Ankles

Held Online–Zoom
Flexible Feet & Ankles. You need it. I need it. Everyone needs it. Why? Because our feet get stuffed in ill fitting shoes and we walk on flat surfaces more than uneven surfaces and they are the base in which we stand, walk, run. Our entire weight is placed on each foot with each stride. Depending on height, weight and foot size, there is anywhere from 5-10 pounds on each inch of our foot. That’s like a bowling ball on top of a matchbook. Can you imagine a bowling ball resting on top of your big toe? Every square inch of your foot is important for balancing your entire body above it and finding the support to the ground below it. Join me for the next Awareness Through Movement® series to discover a strong base of support.

Join me for a series of five classes!

Mon. 11 AM-12 PM EST May 10, 17, 24, No class 5/31-Memorial Day, June 7, 14
Wed. 5:30-6:30 PM EST May 12, 19, 26, June 2, 9

Cost
Series Cost is $85 for the 5 week series, includes an audio recording for each class.

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Awareness Through Movement®
2022 Spring Series 1
Finding Ground – Covering the Bases

I sit. I stand. I walk. I lean.

Unless I am jumping or falling, I am always in contact with surface.

Pain, stiffness or insecurity limits our feeling of safety and support.

In this series we will take time to discover:

Discover the subtlety of sensing support, sensing ground, sensing surface that holds us.

When at ease, our sense of support is greater. Muscle tension holding us up takes a rest. We let go.

Using our senses we will explore our base, our support. Join us!

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Awareness Through Movement®
2022 Spring Series 2
Walking

Humans need more time to learn to walk than all other mammals. On average, youngsters walk between 12-15 months of age, too young to “know” how it was done.

As we grow and learn more skills and have success in our lives, we also are challenged by the learning process itself or life events. In the attempt to succeed or avoid, extraneous effort, otherwise known as “overflow” creates muscle tension. When this happens the finite synchronization of our musculature falters and we can’t reach skill levels that we want to or move like we would like. In terms of walking, this “simple” act is not as easy as it once was or there is a recognition that it can be better.

During this series, we will explore the mechanisms that are involved in walking, the deep levels of coordination that are the basis for satisfying locomotion and how they can be used whether walking short or long distances on level surfaces or uneven.

Please join us for exploring walking and expanding potential!

No previous experience with Awareness Through Movement is necessary.
Prerequisite: Curiosity!

Monday 11 AM- 12 PM
Wednesday 5:30 PM-6:30 PM

Monday: May 16, 23, June 6, 13, 20 *No class on May 30th, Memorial Day.
Wednesday: May 18, 25, June 1, 8, 15

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2023 Spring Series
Finding The Spring In Your Step

What keeps you from walking more comfortably or for a longer period of time? Stiff knees? Pain in your hip or foot? Something else?

Upright walking is a natural mode of locomotion for humans, but habits, injuries and pain can interfere with easy, comfortable and fluid movement.

This spring our Awareness Through Movement(R) Series will offer lessons that help you “Find a Spring In Your Step” by:

*Finding support and flexibility in the feet.
*Finding fluidity through the spine.
*Waking up sleeping ribs.

When I was a new PT, I had the opportunity to do scoliosis screening for high school athletes. I was surprised to find only 2 students out of 100+ that had close to skeletal symmetry. Most did not have right/left symmetry and did have over or under developed curves in their spines. Based on my PT education, I went into the screening thinking that skeletal imbalances was the exception rather than the norm. I learned quickly and realized that scoliosis is on a continuum. It isn’t that you either have it or you don’t.

What have I learned since then? No one is perfectly symmetrical in their skeletal alignment. And most of us do not always “feel” those asymmetries. We develop a perception of what “normal” is and live by that internal image.

Doing Awareness Through Movement lessons helps us to feel differences. It awakens us to the differences between one side and the other or to “blanks” in our connection to parts of ourselves.

Being able to make distinctions is the hallmark of why doing Awareness Through Movement lessons is so effective in giving us a sense of change.

In the process of making the movements simpler and easier, we fine tune the way our nervous system and our musculoskeletal system work together.

It is this process that makes the difference between “fixing” a problem and working with ourselves in such a way that the quality of movement improves by improving the process itself.

“Making the impossible possible, the possible easy and the easy elegant.”
Moshe Feldenkrais

Mondays, 11:00-12:00 PM ET: Apr 10, 17, 24, May 1, 8, 15, 22
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: Apr 12, 19, 26, May 3, 10, 17, 24

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Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2024 Spring Series
Shoulder Care 101

It doesn’t matter whether you work at a computer, play an instrument, paint or clean house, any activity that puts a high demand on the use of the arms and is repetitive places the shoulder joints at higher risk for pain or injury.

The shoulder joints connect the arms and hands to our center. The connection between our center and the use of our hands is directly related to how the shoulders work. If they aren’t working well, pain and limitation result.

During this Awareness Through Movement series, you will:

• Learn how the shoulders work in relationship to the arms and spine
• Learn what you can do to have less shoulder pain
• Gain confidence in knowing how to care for your shoulders
• Learn how to support current exercise and work demands with less undue strain

Optimal functioning of the shoulder joints is paramount in having optimal use of the arms and hands.

By using your arms and shoulders with greater awareness, you can reduce pain, gain motion and enjoy those things that you love to do.

Take time to explore through Awareness Through Movement lessons what it means to do less and gain more. See you on the floor!

Cost:
$95/series (5)

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Awareness Through Movement® Group Classes
2024 Spring Series
Letting Go

We can use mantras, self talk, breathing and stretching to release tension. And they work…in specific contexts.

But what does it take to put tension into action?

Our muscles are constantly working to move us, to hold us up, to keep us from falling.

The problem comes when the muscles work simultaneously to do opposing movements. It creates what’s called “co-contraction”.

Co-contraction puts pressure on the joints, creating heat and friction, wearing down the joint surfaces.

In this series of three Awareness Through Movement® Lessons, we will explore slow, small movements that help certain muscles contract and the opposing muscles to relax, decreasing co-contraction, decreasing stress on the joints, and giving more space and lubrication to the joint surfaces.

Learn how you can take pressure off your joints, by relieving tension with movements that work to “Let Go” of tension buildup that wears you down.

Please join us:

When:
Mondays, 11:00-12:00 PM ET: April 29, May, 6, May 13
Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 PM ET: May 1, May 8, May 15

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Cello Immersion and Chamber Music on the Hill

The Southeast’s Premier Summer School of Chamber Music

Chamber Music on the Hill (CMOTH), located at Converse College in North Carolina was canceled for 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Feldenkrais Guild of North America (FGNA) Conference 2020

Lindy made her debut teaching at the annual conference in 2020.

The FGNA Conference 2020 was scheduled for September 11-13 and was held virtually as an online conference.

Watch this quick video to hear directly from Lindy what to expect during her session.