Uncover Your Innate Strength: 6 Monthly Workshops

A human hand holds her own foot.

© International Feldenkrais® Federation Archive, Robert Golden.

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

image of a cashew: how do you sit?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.Photo of the front cover of CROOKED

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).

Tai Chi Flow & Form with Bobby Garcia

Join us for a special Tai Chi workshop & practice session! Great for beginners or for those with a regular practice. LIMIT: 15.
Cost
$25 EarlyBird (by 10/10); $35 after. Use code EARLYBIRD when registering.
Free for those attending Tai Chi with Bobby Garcia: 6-Week Series.
Register here.
 
Bobby Garcia leads Tai Chi classDetails
For the first part of the workshop we will be practicing a Tai Chi form together, 13 Harmony Form. This will be a follow-along portion of the workshop, with few questions and little talking. You’ll run through the form, and find the flow of the movements. If new to the style, you’ll get a feel for the overall practice.
We’ll flow through the form at least three times, with a short break in between each. You need not participate in each run-through (and may take a longer break as needed).
The second part of the workshop will focus on the basics, mechanics, and individual movements, as well as some two-person work). You’ll have the opportunity to correct errors, ask questions, and take a look at the overall philosophy of Tai Chi.
We’ll close with a final run-through of the form, done at your pace and to your level—you’ll be amazed at the difference a little warmup and work can make!

Basic Body Mechanics for Martial Artists with Russ Mitchell

Join us for this workshop introducing martial artists to elements of body mechanics. Learn why familiarity with how your body moves is essential for training efficiently and safely. You’ll benefit whether you’re an aspiring practitioner or expert.
Cover art for Basic Body Mechanics for Martial Artists
The workshop includes: an intro to principles of body mechanics, a practical movement lesson, and discussion.
 
Participants will receive their own copy of Russ Mitchell’s just-published book Basic Body Mechanics for Martial Artists.
 
Limit: 20. Room for 15 more as of 9/21.
 
DETAILS
When: Saturday, Oct. 6, 2:30-4 pm
Where: GoodWork, 1808 S. Good Latimer Expwy, Dallas TX 75226
Cost: $25 Early Bird (by Sept. 15, use code EARLYBIRD); $35 in advance; $45 at door
Register here. Use the code “EarlyBird”.
Interested in a group rate? Please email angela at dallasfeldenkrais dot com.
 
Russ Mitchell demonstrates body mechanics

Author Russ Mitchell.

TESTIMONIALS

“Russ Mitchell has put together a very nice collection of techniques which will help strengthen your body mechanics and deepen your understanding of optimal, martial movement. If you want to go deeper in your training, buy this book!” — Sifu Chris Bouguyon, MMQ, Founder, SimplyAware, President, National Qigong Association
 
“Russ taught at November Steel and I watched him work with the attendees. Russ was able to diagnose problems with a glance and work towards fixing them in minutes.”— Anthony Buonomo, Austin Historical Weapons Guild
 
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Russ Mitchell created this approach to body mechanics in the wake of recovering from his own significant injuries. Russ is the founder of Great Plains Sword and BBQ, a historical fencing and martial arts club focused specifically on developing skill in beginning and remedial students. Russ has earned gant jaune in savate and nidan in hoshinroshiryu. He’s internationally recognized as a military sabre instructor, and his collaborative work on Johannes Lecküchner’s messer-fechten is regarded as one of the go-to texts on the subject.

Tai Chi Flow & Form with Bobby Garcia

Join us for a special Tai Chi workshop & practice session! Great for beginners or for those with a regular practice. LIMIT: 15.
Cost
$25 EarlyBird (by 9/4); $35 after. Use code EARLYBIRD when registering.
*Free for those attending Tai Chi with Bobby Garcia: 6-Week Series.*
 
Bobby Garcia leads Tai Chi classDetails
For the first part of the workshop we will be practicing a Tai Chi form together, 13 Harmony Form. This will be a follow-along portion of the workshop, with few questions and little talking. You’ll run through the form, and find the flow of the movements. If new to the style, you’ll get a feel for the overall practice.
We’ll flow through the form at least three times, with a short break in between each. You need not participate in each run-through (and may take a longer break as needed).
The second part of the workshop will focus on the basics, mechanics, and individual movements, as well as some two-person work). You’ll have the opportunity to correct errors, ask questions, and take a look at the overall philosophy of Tai Chi.
We’ll close with a final run-through of the form, done at your pace and to your level—you’ll be amazed at the difference a little warmup and work can make!

Children, Bare Feet & Movement

Barefoot Is Better for Developing Motor Skills

Close-up of a barefoot baby girl's foot.

A baby’s foot.

A recent study showed that children who tend to go barefoot have better motor skills than those who habitually wear shoes. The barefoot kids had better balance, among other advantages. When you consider how many shoes restrict the foot‘s ability to move, the results make sense.

Also, I wonder, do barefoot children just tend to move more in general?

Read the entire article here on Neuroscience News.

What’s the Best Kind of Shoe?

Barefoot toddler on tiptoe with magnets in front of refrigerator.

A toddler’s feet.

Clients often ask me, “What kind of shoe should I wear?” My answer, “The one with as little support as is comfortable for you.”If you’re currently using arch support or orthotics, don’t suddenly stop using them.

Could you practice walking at home, five minutes at a time, barefoot? Or in flat shoes with no built-in arch? Or can you practice walking with your orthotics, without collapsing your feet into them, but using them as a point of reference to organize your feet around?

And yes, we can practice using our feet and entire skeletons so that your arches awaken. I was diagnosed with flat feet as a child. I can now distinguish support in my two longitudinal arches and the one transverse arch; of course, that’s clearer with one foot than the other.

Standing Lesson

One simple movement to play with: stand with your feet slightly further apart than usual, barefoot if possible. Shift yourself a little left and right. Imagine that your whole skeleton is like a pendulum above your feet, so you lead with the crown of your head.

Feel how you’re using your feet. Do they collapse as you shift weight? That is, does the contact of the standing surfaces of your feet with the ground change as you shift from side to side?

Imagine now that, as you shift your skeleton left, it’s your right foot that sends you. As if you’re distancing the crown of your head from your right foot. Let your left foot send you right.

Do this a few times. Stop and observe yourself. How did your awareness of your feet change?

Tai Chi with Bobby Garcia

Join Us for this 6-Week Series Near Downtown

Is Tai Chi on your bucket list? Join us this summer to try it out! Bobby Garcia’s an excellent teacher, skillful and funny.

A group practices Tai Chi in Bobby Garcia's May workshop.

Practicing Tai Chi with Bobby Garcia

Often described as “meditation in motion,” Tai Chi is a low-impact, slow-motion practice. You go without pausing through a series of motions. As you move, you breathe deeply and naturally, focusing your attention on your bodily sensations. It’s a beautiful complement to Awareness Through Movement®.

GoodWork is the perfect location, a beautiful coworking space in The Cedars, close to downtown, with a unique focus on sustainability and wellness.

Limit: 15. Room for 10 more as of 7/5.

WHEN: Fridays, July 13-Aug. 17, 11:30 am-12:30 pm.
COST: $105 after; GoodWork members save $10 (use code GoodWork).

Register on the Dallas Feldenkrais website.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Bobby Garcia began his martial arts education 29 years ago and has been teaching for 11 years. A serious motorcycle accident left Bobby with limited mobility. Through Tai Chi, he found dramatic improvements in his strength and mobility. Bobby has studied several styles of Tai Chi with multiple masters, including Chen Bing, a Tai Chi Master from China who is a direct descendant of Tai Chi founder Chen Wangting.

Testimonials for Bobby Garcia

“What I took away was, the power of Tai Chi to restore confidence, balance, and calm.”

“I felt the connection between the physical efforts and the emotional. If we are grounded and centered, we are hard to topple both physically, mentally and emotionally.”

Bending Over: How Are You Doing It?

National Public Radio (NPR) recently did a story on the “lost art” of bending over. Spoiler: it’s only been lost in the West; other cultures still practice it.

Bending over illustrated.

Photo: Jean Couch.

If you’ve had private lessons with me, you’ve worked on this in nearly every lesson: re-discovering how to bend over, how to come from sitting to standing. Essential!

“. . . when you hip hinge, your spine stays in a neutral position. The bending occurs at the hip joint — which is the king of motion.” — NPR

Please note: this requires time and practice to re-discover as an adult. Please go slowly. Begin by thinking, “I’m taking my sit bones back. And my spine is like a pendulum. My head’s at one end, my pelvis at the other.”

Which Letter of the Alphabet is Your Spine Making?

L - Red handwritten letterYou can use the alphabet to help discover your pattern. Are you making a C-shape (rounding) as you bend over?

Or are you maintaining an L-shape with your spine and hips?

As You Practice Bending

If you’re practicing bending over, it’s key to understand, to feel, where your hip joints are located (about 15 centimeters above the crease at the top of your pant leg). Also essential: to realize that your pelvic girdle has three moving parts.

Surfer riding a wave.To see this principle in action, watch elite athletes. Speed skaters, surfers, weightlifters. No way you can lift 100 pounds or more overhead without damaging yourself, unless you take full advantage of your pelvic opportunity.

Practice every time you need to bend over. You’ll be so glad!

If you have back or hip pain, the more you understand and can bend over in this way, at your hip joints, the less pain you’ll have. And if you don’t have pain, you’ll lessen the chance of creating it.

Find the full NPR story  on bending here.

Let me know if you’d like to book a consultation to talk about how we can work together to help you practice this “lost” art.

Uncover Your Innate Strength in Portland, ME

A woman lies on her side, with her right arm extended toward the ceiling and right foot standing.

© International Feldenkrais® Federation Archive, Robert Golden.

Healthy children move freely, without thought. As adults, we often forget this freedom. In this two-hour workshop, you’ll investigate the roots of strength and core ability, and re-connect with your potential to move freely.

 You’ll get tools to re-discover:

  • skeletal support
  • your connection with the ground
  • how your breath can better support movement
WHAT PARTICIPANTS HAVE SAID
“It’s about gently introducing new possibilities for movement and listening to what your body tells you. After my first class I felt like a huge weight had been lifted. It was like a preview of how I could feel if life continued moving in this direction. It felt like joy.” — Sam Damask, musician
 
“Thank you so much for a most stimulating, enlivening, enlightening and totally fun afternoon!”— Linda Kemp
 
Awareness Through Movement® (ATM®) offers a unique, profound way to examine and change your habitual and often limiting patterns of moving. You learn most movement practices from the outside in, by imitation. In ATM, you’re invited to learn from the inside out. Then take your discoveries into another movement practice or your everyday life.
 
ATM is the group version of the Feldenkrais Method®. Pioneered by Israeli physicist/engineer/martial artist Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc., the Method offers a unique, profound way to examine and change your habitual and often limiting ways of moving. By attending to how you move, you’ll discover how to improve the quality of your movement. The building blocks of Feldenkrais are physics, biomechanics, and neuroscience.
 
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Angela Alston, GCFP, MFA, has taught classes and workshops in Feldenkrais since 2010. Her studies and interests have led her towards making the practice and teaching of Feldenkrais a way of life: majoring in biology and philosophy in college; studying dance and playing music; loving to walk and bike and play with movement of all kinds (her new favorite is beginning parkour), and practicing meditation. She’s based in Dallas, Texas.

Back Pain Solutions in CROOKED

Front cover of CROOKED, book on back pain solutionsIf you have back pain or know someone who does, please read Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry & Getting On the Road to Recovery. Crooked was painstakingly researched by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, an investigative reporter who sought relief for her own back pain.

The first part of the book focuses on what doesn’t work. Heartbreaking. Luckily, you can skip like I did to the second part, which focuses on solutions, including the Feldenkrais Method®.

Jakobson Ramin writes: “Well before you finish reading Crooked, you’ll understand that the pain in your back (or your hip or your leg) also exists in a political, psychological and economic context that greatly influences how you’ll be treated – and if you’ll recover. You’ll know which approaches are likely to reliably bring you some relief, and exactly what’s involved in each.”

What’s effective for relieving back pain

One thing all the effective modalities, including Feldenkrais, share: the client must actively engage in shifting the patterns which cause pain. None of these modalities are quick fixes: they require ongoing practice leading to self-empowerment and transformation.

The force of habit

ATM student explores how her spine moves.

ATM® student explores how her spine moves. Photo: Henry Biber.

We create chronic pain through habits of self-use. Because they’re habits, they’re hard for us to identify ourselves: we often need help from an expert. Even once we identify movement patterns which are harming us, they’re difficult to correct. Moshe Feldenkrais writes, in Awareness Through Movement: “For both the fault and the way in which it appears in action must be corrected. We need a great deal of persistence and enough knowledge to enable us to move according to what we know rather than according to habit. . . . Some conscious mental effort must be made until the adjusted position ceases to feel abnormal and becomes the new habit.” (p. 60)

Resources for back pain solutions

Angela Alston, GCFP, works with a student.

A Feldenkrais lesson with Angela Alston, GCFP. Photo: Henry Biber.

Jakobson Ramin has provided an invaluable resource: online sources for back pain solutions. She adds this note: “Unlike most back pain websites, there are no advertising dollars at play here: No resource paid to appear on these pages, and none ever will.

If you live near Dallas and would like to investigate how the Feldenkrais Method can help you relieve your back pain, please contact me, Angela Alston, GCFP.