One of my new students was asking me this week who invented the Feldenkrais Method. It was created by Moshe Feldenkrais. He was a Jewish Russian (now Ukraine). Aged 14, he was sent on his own to Palestine to escape the pogroms running across Russia, in the lapse of law after the death of the Romanovs. … More Who Invented the Feldenkrais Method?
One terrible detail after another has emerged from Israel in the aftermath of the invasion and atrocities of Hamas last weekend. Many of us in the Feldenkrais family have ties to Israel and the Jewish world. Moshe Feldenkrais was a Jewish Russian Israeli himself. I send my condolences along with my sorrow, love and hope … More
Where’s the most powerful part of your body? Where do you think of when I ask that question?The brain is the Command Centre. It’s what does all the decision making, both conscious and unconscious.But the motor centre, the area attached to the biggest muscles (of your back, belly, bottom and legs) is your Pelvis. There’s … More Finding Power from the Pelvis
Conventionally, the way we think in our society is that when something hurts, let’s say your neck, you address the problem directly. Perhaps strengthening, massage, stretching, to improve the symptoms that you’re experience. Often the issue goes away, only to come back another time. Often, because we have patterns or habits of self-use, that are … More Getting your back back (so you can move more comfortably)
How clearly can you feel your hands? If you close your eyes can you sense where your hands are in space? Where the skeleton of your fingers, palms and wrist are? Can you feel some of the bones of your hands inside your skin? (Sensing our skeleton, thinking of the skeleton, allows us to move it … More Finding Clarity in the back (so you can move more comfortably)
How much of yourself can you feel? Our brains model ourselves- in 3D. So if there are parts that aren’t present in our thinking about ourselves, we can’t organise them well. How do we know if our self image is good? We need to have something to measure. And to start this process, scans are … More What’s your self image like?
I enjoy being back in a learning environment. Having to explain what I’m showing or doing clarifies it for me along the way: one of the joys of teaching! So useful for my own practice. This cohort are now approaching their 4th (and final) year, and they’ re looking good!I get the added bonus of … More Learning – yes you can!
Sometimes we need something new in our lives to shake things up, or give us a different view point. It’s a role friends and family can fulfil, pointing out ideas we haven’t thought of. Or, it can be useful to ask someone outside our circle for help and advice. In a different realm, it’s the … More The Role of Novelty
In the lessons I teach, we’re looking at how you can see your body and mind together, holistically. To train or retrain movement patterns as a whole integrated system. Why is this useful? It’s easy to focus on the individual parts when you want an easy “fix” for body parts that are troubling you. In reality, all … More The Value of Somatic work for posture
One of my individual clients was confused about what we were doing in lessons. She was used to a physio model where you’re given exercises and do repetitions a set amount of times per day. With clear instructions as to which muscles are being strengthened. So what we were doing felt very different. I was … More Ready to upgrade your Cutting Style? How can a whole Mind-Body Perspective Help?
Transform how you move, feel and live 