If you can’t feel where your hip joints are, you can’t organise them well. We need to be able to locate to control. It’s why body mapping is part of what we improve in every Feldenkrais lesson. What distinguishes Feldenkrais from other methods is the use of movement to help you sense yourself in movement. … More Finding the hip joints
We’re continuing our theme of sensing the skeleton this week, and will be looking at releasing the neck and shoulders. It’s a topic close to my heart, and that in a strange way started me on this journey towards Feldenkrais teaching. When I lived in Holland, I had exhaustion from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). After … More Finding ease through the skeleton
It’s Moshe Feldenkrais’ birthday week, and International Feldenkrais Week! How many candles can you blow out? Moshe talked and wrote a lot around breathing and the breath. Let me share one thing to notice around the breath, if you’re teaching, but also if you’re talking to someone with a different point of view. If someone … More Breathing for Calm
When I was little, I used to regularly visit London with my Mum to go to Great Ormond Street Hospital. I was history obsessed from a very early age, so after the hospital visit, if we had time, we would go to the British Museum. To do something nice after something less pleasant. We usually went to … More Finding ease
As part of my work as a Feldenkrais practitioner, I see one to one clients, for more bespoke help. One of whom came to see me to see if I could help with his back pain. He’s a graphic artist, and commissions can mean, like many of us who work digitally, he spends a lot of … More Connecting the dots
Last weekend, I came down with tonsilitis whilst away performing in Switzerland. Which I haven’t had in decades. So it took me a while to recognise the symptoms. And thank goodness for modern medicine, which enabled me to still perform, if dosed up to the eyeballs. And for the antibiotics I picked up on the … More Different Faces
I spent half term in my role as a teacher on the Professional Feldenkrais training programme in London. It’s a four year course to qualify as a teacher, in an experiential learning environment. I get to teach, but also learn from other more experienced practitioners. One of whom as she worked asked the student if he’d … More Re-adapting, resetting old habits…
Humans are one of the best species at receiving new information, digesting it ,and changing what we do. That’s the definition of learning of course. In Feldenkrais’ words: “Thinking leads to new action, anything else was swilling around of the brain”. Which always puts me in mind of someone swilling a wine glass before sniffing … More Learning is easier together…
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
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