The other day I bought some nail varnish, (in a sparkly purple, for those interested in the details). Obviously not such a notable event, except I don’t wear nail varnish. Well very rarely. In my childhood, nail varnish wasn’t something we did at home. My mother came from the generation where “nice girls” didn’t paint their nails, so it wasn’t something she introduced us to. And the few times I have worn it in my life, usually encouraged on by […]

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Vera’  – a musician re-discovers herself by Emma Alter  (as written for the FGUK newsletter) Musicians (with some exceptions) spend their life moving their fingers very precisely, whilst often contorting themselves in very unnatural ways. We often start when we are very young, and before we are really aware of the effects of repetitive movements on the body, or indeed our physical self. The focus is on the performance, and how one physically gets there can often very much be […]

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I feel lucky that often, going to work is a real treat. I was invited to give a Feldenkrais Workshop for Amateur String-players at their Summer Camp in Tonbridge in August. It is a course run by ELLSO- the East London Late Starters Orchestra– a group I had heard of many times, but never encountered in the flesh.  People came from over 10 different countries, including the US, to join in the music-making. Its one of the few groups out […]

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I was asked by client recently about how one can be comfortable in a state of change. For her, one facet of this was about being more aware of people looking at her as she walked around, now that she was more upright and open in her posture, and not finding it easy.  She wasn’t used to being looked at, and couldn’t immediately place an intention as to why she was being of interest. Other clients I have had, have […]

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A few weeks ago I had a minor eye procedure. Unpleasant, as such things usually are, but what I hadn’t counted on was how much my world would shift as I was wheeled out with a white pirate patch shutting out the world on my left side. Looking out of only one eye created a whole new picture of the world for my brain, and only on half a side. Obvious theoretically, as I write it, but the actual experience […]

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For most of us, walking is a daily way of geting from A to B, yet how often do we think about how we do it? What’s your idea of how you walk? How are your different moods reflected in the way you walk? Do you lead your walking with your feet? Or is it more that your back pushes you forward; or perhaps there’s another part of your leading the way forwards. A few more questions to ask yourself: […]

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How often do you think about your toes? Are you someone who takes care of their feet, or do you shove them in shoes and ignore them? Are they a part of yourself that’s a bit too far away to think about?  Feet are the most underrated parts of our body. But them working optimally: being supple and movable is crucial for our back and leg health.  Yes: how movable your toes and feet are affects whether or not you’ll be walking […]

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For most of us, when we think of the neck, it’s only from the top of the shoulders upwards to the base of the head. But actually, the neck is just the top part of your spine. If it didn’t have a separate name then we might think of it differently. Begin at the coccyx, the base of the spine: between your buttocks, and feel your way up your back, one vertebrae at a time until you reach your head. […]

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Sarah came to me through curiosity. She’s a world class cellist: a member of the Callino Quartet,and principal cellist of Academy of Ancient Music. Her playing involves playing both modern and baroque cello, which require slightly different set-ups and techniques. For the modern cello the spike at the bottom takes the weight of the cello and the legs steady it. The baroque cello is different in that there is no spike, so the legs turn out more and the cello […]

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