After a post I wrote called, How the Feldenkrais MethodⓇ Changed One Woman’s Life, a reader, Angie, commented: “Thanks Gisele for sharing your story. It is very inspiring. I’d love to hear more about the transition from pain to wellness, details of how that happened.” [Emphasis mine] The request for the “…details of how that happened” has been in the back of mind ever since. It’s a great question. And one that I’ve been finding difficult to answer simply, to tell you the truth... In my … [Read more...]
Walking With Grace and Ease – It’s Like Floating
In the last post, I wrote about the health benefits of walking, not the least of which was consolidating learning from Awareness Through MovementⓇ and Functional IntegrationⓇ lessons. In it, I hinted at a couple of things that make walking more graceful and effortless. Today’s post is going to quickly make those things clearer. One thing was that walking better was connected to activating your anti-gravity mechanism better. I’ve written about the anti-gravity mechanism before in How To Find … [Read more...]
Walking: A Healthful Path to Simple Elegance
As a FeldenkraisⓇ practitioner, I’m often asked, “What’s the best type of exercise for me to start doing now that I’m feeling better?” I have many clients who’ve had to stop doing most of the activities they used to enjoy because of injury, pain, or illness. Once they start moving and feeling better, they want to start doing more. But…they aren’t sure where to begin. For some, the question comes up because they recognise what they used to do may not have been all that good for them, as … [Read more...]
Breathing: The Key to Moving Better Instantly
"Listen, are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?” ~Mary Oliver Breathing is essential. Every inspiration, a reaffirmation of living. Every expiration, a release. You can go a long, long time without eating (on the order of weeks). A surprisingly long time without drinking (I've been shocked to learn just how long through my husband, a palliative care nurse). But breathing? Within about 3 minutes, you'll start having brain damage. And without intervention, it won't take … [Read more...]
The Antidote for the “Proper Posture Epidemic”: Reversible Acture
Quality Movement is Better than "Proper" Posture If you’ve been following along in this series, you’ve picked up on the fact that “proper posture” is not the answer to pain-free or quality movement. (Want Quality Movement? Learn the Less is More Rule) Still, you might be thinking this is just crazy, contrarian talk… It’s all well and fine to move with more efficiency and co-ordination a.k.a “effortless effort” and “the absence of resistance”, but come on…. Surely fixing one’s posture is … [Read more...]
Just Do It! Dealing With Resistance The Feldenkrais® Way
We're up to Part 3 of our 5 Part Series on what makes for Quality Movement. You can find Part 1 here: Want Quality Movement? Learn the Less is More Rule And Part 2 here: Effortless Effort: The Path to Power & Grace In those first two posts we looked at the myths related to good posture, the "Less is More Rule", and the first of the four elements of quality movement: The Absence of Effort. Today we'll explore the second element: The Absence of Resistance. To help make these … [Read more...]