Relax your face to relax your body

February 27, 2012 By

This weekend we held a new workshop, Feldenkrais® Facial. Rather than applying creams and gels to our faces we did several Awareness Through Movement® lessons related to the face, neck, jaw and eyes.

We evoked several feeling states such as happy, sad, angry and pain and discovered that each sentiment brought forth different sensations in our face, head and neck as well as illuminated connections to our back, pelvis and other areas of our body. Everyone left the workshop feeling their face felt more relaxed and supple and everyone looked much younger!

Here is a sample movement from the workshop:

  • Sit comfortably on a chair with your feet uncrossed and firmly on the floor. If you prefer you can lie on your back with your legs long or legs bent, your feet on the floor or bed, knees directed toward the ceiling.
  • Close your eyes. Bring both hands to your face. Cover your right eye with your right hand and your left eye with your left hand like this: rest your fingertips above your eyebrows with one hand over the other, your palms are on your upper cheeks so your hands form a cup over your eye sockets without applying any pressure to your eyes, they are there just to block the light.
  • Breathe gently for a couple of moments in this position and notice the darkest area in your field of vision. Try to enhance that dark area.
  • Remove your hands from your eyes but keep your eyes closed.
  • Slowly move only your eyes to the right and back to the centre, keeping your head forward. Each time you repeat the movement try to make it easier and smoother, release tension in your face and continue to breathe gently.
  • Then double the speed at which you move your eyes to the right and back to centre.
  • Then return to your initial speed.
  • Stop and pause for a few moments before repeating the exploration with your eyes moving to the left and back to the centre.
  • After pausing, place your hands on your eyes in the same manner as before and notice if the darkness in your field of vision has increased. Can you expand it further?
  • Take a few moments to rest in sitting on lying on your back before opening your eyes and resuming your day.

Upcoming workshops:

Walking Wisely, March 25 (please note new date)
Getting to Know Your Hip Joints, March 31.
Please click here for information on workshops and to register.

Our Spring class and workshop schedule will be available shortly on our website.

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Posture

February 20, 2012 By

How do you feel when you are not standing or sitting as straight as you would like? What do you do to straighten yourself? What does it mean to have a good posture?

A lot of people feel that good posture is a reflection of how straight they are sitting or standing.

Moshe Feldenkrais taught us to think instead of posture as being dynamic, and reflecting how your body rests, arranges itself, and moves from one position to another, minute by minute throughout the day. The ideal is to feel comfortable and not compressed, in all positions.

Try this short sequence to explore how to reduce the slump and feel your spine lengthen to its natural length to help you feel taller and more open.

  • Stand on the floor, feet about hip width apart, knees softly bent.
  • Lengthen your left arm toward the ceiling as if someone was pulling you upward through your arm. Then release it. Look at your hand as you reach it toward the ceiling.
  • Repeat a few times, noticing:
    • How your head moves in response to the lengthening of your arm
    • How the reaching arm connects with your ribs on the left
    • How you are breathing as you lift and release your arm
    • What you notice happening along the left side of your back and at your waist
    • What you sense in your feet and heels
  • Stop and pause for a few moments.
  • Lengthen your right arm to the ceiling, paying attention to the various connections on this side.
  • Stand and notice how tall and open you feel now and how your feet connect with the floor.

 

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Increase sensitivity in your hands and fingers

February 7, 2012 By

We use our hands a lot during the day, especially our fingers for typing and texting and as a result more and more people are experiencing tension and pain in their wrists and fingers. Take a few minutes several times a day to move away from your computer or smart phone.

In Feldenkrais practice we strive  to sense all parts of our body, sometimes in its entirety and sometimes as components. We explore the effects of freedom of movement or of strain in one area on the rest of our self. If we overwork our fingers and hands, the rest of our body, and mind, will be less able to sense, move, act and think.

Try these small sequences to increase the sensitivity in your hands:

  • Sit comfortably on a chair, your feet uncrossed and on the floor.  Place your hands gently in your lap. Close your eyes.
  • Notice your breath and feel how your body responds to each inhalation and exhalation. Shift your attention from your breathing to your right hand and then back to your breathing. Then pay attention to your left hand. What do you notice about each hand and fingers and wrists? What else comes to your attention?
  • Keep your eyes closed and gently and loosely interlace your fingers, feeling the connection between the fingers of both your hands.
  • Slowly and easily slide your fingers closer together, letting each finger slide along its companion on the other hand. Feel the side of each finger. Then draw the hands apart but keep them loosely interlaced. Repeat sliding your fingers together and apart. What do you notice about each hand including the fingers, palms, and knuckles?
  • What does the rest of your body feel like when you move your hands together and apart?
  • Slowly release the hands and rest them on your lap for a few moments.
  • Then interlace them the other way – e.g. if your right thumb was closest to your body switch to have your left thumb closer. Repeat the slow sliding of the hands together and apart.Increase sensitivity in your hands and fingers
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