I’ve been teaching lessons in the last week on freeing up the shock absorbers. Built into your system is a series of shock absorbers: the feet, ankles, glutes, and the vertebral discs. Often people are surprised about the last one. But there’s elasticity in the discs of your spine. They’re designed to help. Together they … More You and your shock absorbers
This week I was back at school, teaching the violin. I’ve been teaching at the same school for 19 years- that’s quite a thought! I was teaching scales to one of my pupils, we’ll call him Ian. I was outlining how to practice in a “scale framework”. We take common notes of the scale, in … More All of You
Like many people, I was often told as a child that I was too emotional. Too volatile, my older brother used to say! But our emotions keep us alive and safe. Emotions move us towards action. Think about it. Anger and fear, in different ways push us towards action – running towards or away from … More A new year begins
As we send out the old year, and welcome in the new, I wanted to write a little about my work this past year. I feel fortunate to teach (and learn) from my students. I’ve met so many lovely people, and I enjoy what all of you bring. As a Feldenkrais Method teacher, people come to … More Happy New Year!
Habits are in everything we do. Whether we know it or not, we all have habits of how we do, think and sense everything. Alongside habits of emotions too. When we’re born we come out with 6-8 basic emotions imprinted in the system. Ready out of the box, if you like. (The differing numbers depends … More Enjoying the Festive Season
The festive time will be upon us very soon! For some of us, it is an only joyful period, spending time with friends and family. For others, the closeness to family might bring up less positive emotions. We can feel pulled into old patterns of thinking and behaviour. Ones we thought we’d left behind in … More Centering, for easier connections with others
What do you do when you’re angry? Physically I mean. Have you noticed? I realise over the last month I’ve spent more time cross or irritated than usual. From the petty end of the scale, being on public transport with people who don’t use headphones. I know, it’s petty. And it’s one thing that I find … More Working with your Emotions: The body pattern of anger
We tend to think of self-compassion and kindness as soft skills. But that belies their power in our learning process. We should be kind where possible, but sometimes we need to draw clear lines in the sand. Create clear boundaries. Protect ourselves, and look after ourselves. Many people put others before themselves, thinking martyrdom is … More Self-compassion improves learning
The nervous system is the unconscious conductor of thought around the body. Sending and receiving signals from the ends of the toes and fingers through the whole physical landscape back to your brain. What’s different about Feldenkrais than other methods is that we use this connection to our advantage. Rewiring, rethinking, redrawing the physical map … More Easier getting up from Sitting
In the modern age, many of us spend long periods in sitting. Sitting still isn’t very healthy for you. And as you age, getting up from sitting can become more challenging. But many of you don’t use the natural biomechanics that you do have available, in an ergonomic way to do this well. Toddlers do … More Sitting
Transform how you move, feel and live 