I just found this article on Anxiety and Stress which I wrote a few years ago for the newsletter of the health centre I work at. Trauma and anxiety have been cropping up as a theme in one-to-ones lately and I thought this article still read quite well – though it is a little more formal than my usual ‘blog’ style’ – so here it is: Continue reading “Anxiety and Stress Patterns and the Feldenkrais Method”
Karate? No. Surely not? Not You, Vic!
Karate? No. Surely not? Not You, Vic! Is often the response I get, when I finally tell someone I am a student of Go Ju Ryu Karate. If I had said I was doing T’ai Chi or Chi Gung or even Aikido or Judo there would be less surprise. Sometimes the surprise is because I weigh less than 50kg, am built like a bird and am known for being rather the opposite of confrontational. Continue reading “Karate? No. Surely not? Not You, Vic!”
Maria and Julia chat about Feldenkrais
It being the end of Awareness Week, I thought it would be fun to put up this informal chat between two of my most long standing students, Julia and Maria. They are always talking about the method and finally I managed to get them in to my little studio office to record them talking. https://www.dropbox.com/s/d0hm66fgmivebk7/maria%20and%20julia%20on%20feldenkrais.mp3?dl=0
A Dynamic Core
A lot of things get said about the ‘core’. Principally that it must be ‘strong’ and it must be ‘stable’. And of course those can be useful ideas. But it begs a whole lot of questions. Continue reading “A Dynamic Core”
No, that actor is not on drugs: they’ve just had a Feldenkrais lesson
The wonderful thing about doing an FI (Functional Integration session: hands-on one-to-one) for an actor is that they are usually already half way there. If they are a student they are hungry to learn so they come really ready to learn something. If they are a seasoned professional they probably only come when they are in pain unless they already know the value of this work – but if they are open they simply can’t help learning something more along the way. I defy any truly curious actor not to get interested when they start to feel in vivid detail more of what they are doing and get a sniff of what else they could do as well. Continue reading “No, that actor is not on drugs: they’ve just had a Feldenkrais lesson”
Moshe Feldenkrais, Jigaro Kano Sensei and Judo
As a lowly student of GoJu Ryu karate its going to take me some time before I have anything sensible to say about relationship of Feldenkrais and Karate. Its not perhaps as obvious a relationship as Judo or even Aikido but there will be things to say I am sure of it.
moishe feldenkrais, judo master
Continue reading “Moshe Feldenkrais, Jigaro Kano Sensei and Judo”
Walking With Ease Workshop Jan 27th
There is a lot of emphasis around at the moment on being stronger in a muscular sense. In general if someone comes to see me they tend to say ‘I am not strong enough’, ‘my back is weak’, ‘my core is weak’ as an explanation for whatever it is they are having difficulty with. We also have a very exercise oriented culture in which things need to be done ‘strongly’ and nothing is any good unless you are using lots of effort and working very hard.
Now I should lay my cards on the table at this point and say there is nothing wrong with exercise and nothing wrong with using lots of effort and working very hard. Continue reading “Walking With Ease Workshop Jan 27th”
Feldenkrais, movement and creativity.
Someone recently asked me about the relationship of movement to creativity. She had chosen to write something about it for a course. Interesting question. It has stayed with me for quite a while and there are so many ways you can think about it. Here are a few that came to mind and how Feldenkrais relates to them. Continue reading “Feldenkrais, movement and creativity.”