The ribs appeared during the period in evolution when we were fish. And although they weren’t primarily designed for breathing, but rather movement, today they’re also quite crucial for optimal breathing! If the ribs are stiff, we can’t move the lungs to their full capacity. And although we don’t need that ability all the time, we … More Freeing your Ribs
This Summer was a pretty busy one. I was on a training course, continuing the Childspace Training in Italy, performing with the Gabrieli Consort, with their youth choir, who were brillliant, followed by teaching on the London Professional Feldenkrais Training course, who are now in their 2nd year. I did get a little time off, … More How can you keep your holiday feeling?
This week, one of my Feldenkrais teachers passed away. I wanted to share a little, to celebrate her long life with you all. Chava Shelhav was one of Moshe Feldenkrais’ first students- he chose 13 to work with. She was the youngest at the time, and like many of the Israeli students, taught on Feldenkrais’ … More Celebration of Life
Exploring the Connection Between Tension, Voice, and Expression Sound is, at its essence, the oscillation or vibration of air. It travels through space as waves, ripples set in motion by something moving. When we speak, sing, or play an instrument, we’re the source of that movement. The quality of our sound is directly influenced by … More How Much of You Vibrates When You Make Sound?
Witnessing the work with mothers and babies during the Child’space training in Palermo recently was such a pleasure. My knowledge of children’s songs came in useful, and I can now sing “If you’re happy and you know it” in Italian. Interestingly the tune is a little different to ours! Music plays a big part in Child’space, and … More Self image and movement
This week I’m in very hot and humid Palermo on another segment of ChildSpace – a Feldenkrais based course on early child development. It’s great to have a change of scene, (and great coffee), and to be surrounded by some lovely colleagues. The work is really beautiful, and uses play as a base to observe … More Variation for Learning
Are you over-using your muscles to stay upright? We tend to think that if something isn’t working, the answer is to use more power. More force. Using muscular power without skeletal co-ordination tends to lead to fatigue, and over-compensation. Which in turn can add more tension that we need. Leading to more fatigue. So more … More Forget Force: Move smarter, not harder
This week I was teaching anatomy around the arm. You might be amused to know that the funny bone, the very end of the elbow isn’t actually the humerus bone! Like many, I used to think it was. But the pointy bit of your elbow is actually the ulna. That’s one of forearm bones that runs … More How funny is the funny bone?
In these last weeks, I have been teaching a series of lessons on Anatomy for Musicians. A little anatomical visit to the area, finding it on yourself, and then a Feldenkrais lesson to help free it up. This week we’ve been looking at the chest. As a Feldenkrais teacher who works with musicians, I see … More Can you feel your ribs move when you breathe?
The last week since coming back from Holland has sped past. I wanted to write a little about my experiences. After my travel disaster, (my passport whilst valid, was over 10 years old. Since 2018, this is no longer valid for the EU. And I only found out the day before my flight. Which meant … More What are your limits?
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