Lose Your Balance & Find It Again

What do you think of when you hear the word “balance?”

Do you immediately think— “I wish mine was better.”

Join the club!

It’s hard to stand on two legs. It takes us about a year to learn it, to build the muscles necessary.

Winged Victory of Samothrace: the wide base ensure it won't lose balance.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

“. . . The human body is badly suited for standing. Statues of human figures have to be strongly connected to a heavy base to prevent them from toppling over at the slightest disturbance.”— Moshe Feldenkrais, Body & Mature Behavior

Humans start with a disadvantage: we stand on two feet. We’re top heavy: our trunk and head are on top, and our base is tiny. In Body & Mature Behavior, Feldenkrais writes: “A Martian visitor would not hesitate to conclude that the human body is the closest to an ideal frame designed for movement and the least suited for standing motionless.”

Finding Balance

Little boy rides a bike. Lose balance and find it again. We humans are always seeking to be in balance. Whether in standing, so we don’t fall over. Or in dealing with a psychological challenge. What’s interesting: balance is inherently unstable. When we seem to be in balance we’re actually constantly moving, making tiny adjustments in response to our changing environment. We’re afraid to lose balance, yet we’re continually losing and finding it again. Just watch a baby learning to stand up! The only way to develop the ability to stand is to fall repeatedly.

Maybe losing our balance as grown-ups could be no big deal, too.

What are tools you can use to clarify your balance?

The ground
Your breath
Your skeleton
Your muscle system
Your awareness

Ready to Lose Balance?

Lose balance & find it again walking a slack line

The only way to walk a slack line: lose balance & find it again!

Join us for the next series! Find details here.

Learning vs. Doing

“… learning is very different from doing.”— Moshe Feldenkrais, The Elusive Obvious

Angela smiling in Boulder with mountains in background.

Insane view of the Flatirons from this parking lot! Yes, this is after my spill.

I’m just back from Boulder. What a beautiful place!

I hiked, walked, and took an electric bike tour. The bike ride gave me a fabulous opportunity to do what I’d been learning with Feldenkrais®. Coming around a curve, I saw gravel on the path. No time to go around, knew I’d skid. Fell beautifully! I caught myself on four points: both hands and both knees. Yes, my left knee was skinned. But I broke my fall and my forehead hit only lightly. You bet I was wearing a helmet! (Note to self: when the guide offers to take your back pack, accept!)

How is learning different from doing?

How could I fall so well? I’ve spent hours learning. Going slowly. Pausing frequently. Allowing a gesture to unfold piece by piece. Failing repeatedly, in as many ways as I could think of. That’s what a Feldenkrais lesson is. So when the rubber met the road (or not, in this case), I was ready. I could shift from learning to doing without hesitation. “In life an act must be accomplished at the right speed, at the right moment, and with the right vigor.” (Moshe Feldenkrais, The Elusive Obvious)

I was able to enjoy the heck out of the Feldenkrais conference in spite of my spill.

A child holds her foot, lying on floor. Children naturally alternate between learning, doing, and resting.

Ready to discover how Feldenkrais can help you meet whatever life brings? Join us for weekly classes!

“For successful learning we must proceed at our own rate. Babies repeat each novel action clumsily at their own rate until they have enough of it. This occurs when the intention and its performance are executed so that they are just one act which feels like an intention only.” —The Elusive Obvious

Move Your Shoulders Like Wheels

What’s Happening in May & June

The next Feldenkrais® series are just around the corner, and they’ll be shorter than usual: four and five weeks.

At the end of June, I’m going to the annual Feldenkrais conference for five days. Count on my coming back with a bunch of new ideas we’ll play with in class, as I’ll be training with my mentor Jeff Haller, as well as several other deeply experienced teachers. The theme this year is “Discover Ease: Finding What Already Exists.”

Interested? The conference has workshops open to the public. These include:

Your Vagal Nerve System, Why the Feldenkrais Method Is So Important, with Elinor Silverstein
Two Masters and One Nerd, with Moti Nativ, Jeff Haller, and Roger Russell
Jump Forever Rhymes with Young Forever, with Moti Nativ

The conference is in Boulder, CO, which has been on my bucket list for years, so I’m taking some additional time to explore and perhaps do a short retreat in July. Classes will likely begin again the second or third week of July.

The focus in my May and June classes will be shoulders, arms, and hands. Most of us have injured our shoulders, or dealt with Carpel Tunnel or another repetitive-motion issue. We all benefit from understanding more clearly how to mobilize this area. (How often do you find your shoulders up by your ears?)

More about Your Shoulder Girdle

“Nearly every bone in the trunk, from occiput to pelvis, furnishes surfaces for the attachments of muscles which are also attached to some portion of the shoulder apparatus. . .”—Mabel Elsworth Todd, The Thinking Body: A Study of the Balancing Forces of Dynamic Man.

Todd points out that our shoulder and arm muscles have a wheel-like distribution. She writes, “The muscle power must be applied so as to operate through as many arcs as the range and direction of movements require. This is accomplished by a wheel-like design whereby muscles attached through great distances over many surfaces of the skeletal framework converge about the shoulder joint. . . . It is this wheel-like arrangement of lines of muscle force through all planes which gives such enormous power to the arms and hands, not alone in doing heavy work. . . but also in the control of delicately centered movements of the hands and fingers.” (Ibid)

We’ll be rolling those wheels in June: register here.

Sunday Classes

Russ Mitchell, fresh from the latest segment of his Feldenkrais training, will teach five classic lessons on Sundays. You can bet I’ll be there! Register for his series here.

Saturday Classes

Do Saturday mornings work best for you? Consider coming to Patterns Lab, 11:30 am-1:30 pm. Prerequiste: at least one series of classes or package of private lessons with me, or previous experience with the Feldenkrais Method®. Please email me if you’re interested in joining.

Feldenkrais Classics

5 Lessons to put Awareness into Your Movement

Ready to bring more of you home at the end of a busy day? Come to this series!

Moshe Feldenkrais created these lessons with beginners in mind. They’re the perfect introduction to making better use of yourself.

Experienced with Feldenkrais? Great! Use these lessons to go deeper.

Five Sundays, May 26-June 23. Taught by Russ Mitchell, MA.

$85 Early Bird (by May 12); $95 General.

Schedule Appointment

Does Feldenkrais Help Grief?

I was asked a few days ago, “Is Feldenkrais helping you grieve?”

Hugh in his octopus hat at White Rock Lake

My husband Hugh Resnick at White Rock Lake. He’s been described as “wonderfully weird.”

It’s not a trivial question.

My first answer was, “I don’t know.” Sometimes it’s difficult for me to tease out what is Feldenkrais® and what is meditation and what is coming from other influences in my life. I’ve practiced both Feldenkrais and meditation since 1996, and it’s no accident. They complement/blend/inform each other.

After a few hours of reflection, my second answer emerged: yes. I’m relying on both Feldenkrais and meditation to find the ground repeatedly, wherever it is. If I start to feel anxious (which seems to go hand in hand with sadness in my case), I can at least find my breath. I’m especially drawing on those skills in driving, where, for whatever reason, it’s hardest for me to not interfere with my breath. The approach I’m taking: when I notice I’m breathing shallowly, I invite myself to simply notice. I don’t immediately try to change the pattern. Then I notice where my left foot is (thank you, Russ!), and usually, it’s in my habitual, not so useful position, where my support isn’t so clear. And I pay especial attention to my hands, arms, and shoulders. Quite often these days, I notice an extra-heaviness in my hands, a kind of collapse in my shoulders. So today I played with making my hands even heavier (which I really didn’t want to do) for several minutes, and then lighter. I reminded myself I have choices.

Me and Hugh. Feeling so lucky & grateful!

So there’s my invitation to practice: grief isn’t a choice. I miss my husband, and I will go on missing him. But how I support myself in grieving is a choice. I can collapse, and I have. I can also feel it without collapse, and continue to do what needs to get done. (Even in typing this, I’ve played with heavy hands on the keyboard, and lightening them up. I can tell you which way my breath is easier.)

My third answer: yes! Teaching Feldenkrais is an enormous help right now. Every time I teach class or give a private lesson, I’m more energized at the end. Teaching connects me with the part of me which is strong, intelligent, and playful. I’m grateful beyond words to all of you who come to class and learn with me. Thank you!

_____________

Celebrating Hugh Resnick

Would you like to come to Hugh’s memorial? I’d love to have you. I’ve been inspired and delighted by the stories his family and friends have been sharing, reminded again of what a “wonderfully weird,” generous, intelligent, and just flat-out good man I was married to. They’ve been inspired as they shared, and I think you will be, too. Please join us if you can, Saturday, April 27, 4 pm, at the Center for Spiritual Living Dallas. RSVP here, just so we have enough refreshments.

Driving with Ease: ATM® Series

About Awareness Through Movement®

Awareness Through Movement (ATM®) classes help you be more comfortable and skillful in your physical self. You might choose to attend class to enhance performance, recover from injury, or improve balance or coordination. You’ll learn to organize your physical self to move with greater ease and effectiveness, improving co-ordination, range of motion, balance, and your ability to act with pleasure and comfort.

Who Is Russ?

Instructor Russ Mitchell guides a student.

He’s a former medievalist and life-long martial artist/instructor who’s intimately familiar with the pains that come both from long hours at a desk, and from high-intensity hours at the gym. He says, ‘I use the Feldenkrais Method® to help those with goals who are straining to achieve their goals, and for those whose goal is simply to achieve a life with less strain. It’s always easy to say “do more, add more to the pile,” but I focus on helping people discover how to do less, while still achieving their goals. If you’d like to “work easier,” but achieve more, I’m looking forward to meeting you.’ Russ’ Feldenkrais training includes studying with Frank Wildman and Dennis Leri. He’s currently enrolled in the revolutionary new Feldenkrais Training Academy, under the direction of Jeff Haller, PhD, GCFP.

Tai Chi Series with Bobby Garcia

Join us to learn the 13-step form of Chen-style Tai Chi. Class includes warmup exercises, practice and discussion of specific sequences, and partner work.
Limit: 15. Bobby Garcia leads Tai Chi class

6 Fridays, Jan. 4-Feb. 8, 11:30 am-12:30 pm. $105. Register here.

Instructor Bobby Garcia began his martial arts education 29 years ago and has been teaching for 11 years. A motorcycle accident left Bobby with limited mobility. Through Tai Chi, he found dramatic improvements in his strength and mobility.

What’s a Workshop?

Somebody asked me, will there be Awareness Through Movement® in Uncover Your Innate Strength? (That’s the series of six workshops coming in 2019.)

I realized, oh! Not everyone knows what I mean when I say “workshop.”

So here’s what to expect!

Lessons

Yes, we’ll do ATM lessons. We might do two. We might do parts of several. But we’ll certainly be getting down on the floor. Having three hours to play with means we can stop and start. Pause for discussion or demos. We can also do extended lessons which are too long to offer in an hour class.

Partner work

Sometimes I’ll invite you to work with one or two other people to investigate something together, maybe in moving, maybe in discussion.

Discussion

Walking workshop participants grouped around a human skeleton

After our walking workshop.

We’ll do some talking about what we’re discovering. Each of us will make unique discoveries during each workshop, and over the series. We’ll probably find common threads. Naming and describing what we discover will help us decide whether our discoveries are useful—do we want to keep traveling in that direction?—or whether we’ve found something to change or improve.

As Moshe Feldenkrais wrote: “When you know what you’re doing, you can do what you want.” Part of knowing involves naming, really bringing your attention to what’s going on.

Homework

If you like, you can take one or two of the ideas from each workshop and continue to play with them on your own, during the month. Over the six months, your toolbox will grow.

You may surprise yourself. I once taught a rolling lesson. During the lesson I said, “You’ll never do these movements in this way in real life. The point of this lesson is flexibility.” Then I found myself getting into my car after class, tapping into part of the lesson to pivot, fold, and twist, all at the same time. Spontaneously and effortlessly!

Fun

It’s just plain fun to do a workshop. But don’t take my word for it! Here’s what Linda had to say after her first workshop: “Thank you so much for a most stimulating, enlivening, enlightening and totally fun afternoon.”

Uncover Your Innate Strength: 6 Monthly Workshops

Beginning January 12 and ending June 8, this will be a monthly three-hour workshop taught by Angela Alston, GCFP, MFA. The over-arching focus will be discovering your innate strength and, each month, we’ll investigate new possibilities. You’ll leave with tools—investigations you can do on your own between workshops. To deepen your learning, there’ll be opportunities for discussion between workshops: online video calls and/or a private Facebook group.

This is the kind of learning and self-study Angela was introduced to in an 18-month advanced training with Jeff Haller, PhD, GCFP. Her two-hour Saturday class has engaged in it for more than a year. Join us to dive deep into self-discovery. You’ll be astonished at the resources you find within yourself and among your fellow participants.

Come to all six workshops, or just one (if space permits).

Themes will include:

finding clear support,
reversibility,
balance, &
minimizing effort

Limit: 8. FULL.

DETAILS

When

6 Saturdays, 2:30-5:30 pm
Jan. 12, Feb. 2, Mar. 2, Apr. 13, May 11, June 8

Cost

By Dec. 15: $275 for all 6 workshops. Special offer: Includes one private lesson with Angela & one free workshop.
After Dec. 15: $275 for all 6 (one free workshop).
$55 per workshop, if space remains. Registration for single workshops opens in January.

Improving How You Sit

The media is continuing to focus on improving sitting: NPR just published another story on the subject. Given how much back pain we Americans are living with, it’s great to see the buzz growing.

Take Control of Your Environment

Once you realize most of the furniture we humans have designed to sit on has nothing to do with promoting good function, you can begin to customize your sitting solutions. For example:

Sit on a jacket
Carry a wedge-shaped cushion
Use a short stool for your feet

Forget about ever using the back of the chair: designers created the shape of the back of most chairs without reference to the human spine and pelvis. Typically, chairs (plus car and airplane seats) invite users to collapse into the cashew shape I’ve referred to before. Recipe not only for back and neck pain, but also digestive problems!

When you’re improvising your solution, remember your goal is to create clear support for your sit bones and have your feet completely in contact with the floor. Your shoulders will be slightly forward of your sit bones. This position is new to many of us, so it won’t feel “natural” at first.

Limit the amount of time you spend sitting, when you can. Take frequent breaks. As a designer of ergonomic furniture said in Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery, when asked what the best position for sitting is: “The next one.”

Active Sitting

In an environment you control, try varying your relationship to your computer: stand, sit on the floor, or in a QOR360 chair designed to promote active sitting (that’s the next-gen ergonomic chair I use and endorse wholeheartedly).

Roots of Strength

Improve movement, improve life