I’ve always loved owls. And the way they can swivel their head to see behind them in a moment. It would be very useful in lots of scenarios! As you probably know, an owl can turn its head 180 degrees because of the double jointed neck. And we don’t have one of those, which is sad. … More Would you like to have the turning power of an owl?
It’s a phrase that has many meanings, of course, but I was thinking in the literal sense. Often when we spend a lot of time on computers, screens, or simply sightreading or reading, we take our head forwards in space, like a turtle. But it’s not designed to stay there! Our head is optimal when … More Are you sticking your neck out?
Very often when people come to see me, it’s around pain in the shoulders, neck or back. Pains in the neck are a common problem! The neck is one of the many areas where the cure is often in a different place to the problem. What do I mean? The neck has 7 cervical vertebrae, … More Do you have a pain in the neck?
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
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 the Feldenkrais Method if awareness is King, the skeleton is the Queen. In every lesson, we keep part of our focus on the skeletal system. It does so much for us. Just some of them: I was excited to come across a recent article, that tells us of newer research on bones. It seems … More What’s your skeleton ever done for you?
How do you know you’re improving in Feldenkrais lessons? In the Feldenkrais Method we don’t have belts of learning, like you would in martial arts. Feldenkrais has such an individual effect, so it wouldn’t quite work. We explore movements on the floor, like a 3D puzzle. And when you get up, you often stand and … More Seeing progress
As musicians, our physical self is the primary instrument. And I write”physical self”, rather than “body” because the brain and body work together. All of the time. They never act separately. It’s simply not possible. And whether you’re a musician or not, every movement we make is together with a thought, an emotion, and a … More The brain and body work together.
This week I’ve been at a live segment of Childspace, a child development course, closely related to Feldenkrais. I was quite quiet for a lot of it, as I lost my voice on the first day, but it was a fascinating experience. One of the important things we’ve been learning about is this transition from … More Finding Ease in the Shoulders
the Feldenkrais Method with Emma Alter 