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Welcome to our May 2018 newsletter! We are celebrating International Feldenkrais Week (IFW) May 6th -13th, coinciding with the birth of Moshe Feldenkrais 114 years ago. The theme this year is“Feldenkrais Active”, and how the Method can enhance sports and related activities.
One of the things I most value about Feldenkrais is that you can do things you never would have expected of yourself! I am one of the most ‘un-sporty’ people imaginable, well that is what I believed about myself from secondary school on...but I've recently done two Feldenkrais running workshops, with Victoria Worsley and Jae Gruenke. And I now find myself, not only choosing to break into a run, but enjoying it!
Eight practitioners have recorded a lesson for this IFW, with lessons for skiing, swimming, running, Nordic walking, climbing, horse-riding, martial arts and tennis. Each day throughout the week one recording will be released on the FGUK facebook page. But you needn’t be a budding decathalonist to enjoy them. They will be generally beneficial and enlightening as all Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons are.
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And do try Barbara McCrea's horse riding lesson here as a taste of things to come.
Rebecca Meitlis, Board Member (ongoing learning), Feldenkrais Guild (UK)
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The Feldenkrais Method and Sports
Does the return of summer (almost) tempt you to try a new sport? Or are you already a committed athlete, like the high-diver opposite. In either case, Feldenkrais has a great deal to offer people who practise sport, or related physical activities, from experts to recreational practitioners. The Method improves performance, reduces injury and enhances enjoyment. This may seem surprising. You might think sportspeople and Feldenkrais practitioners speak a completely different language.
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Notions that we must strive harder to improve are embedded in many of our cultures, not least in sport, where bulging muscles are often equated with prowess. Its history is strewn with examples of people who have striven in spite of the pain to succeed, or perhaps to heroically fail, no matter the cost to themselves. Feldenkrais advocates finding the easy way, not straining, staying comfortable and eschewing a competitive approach. And you don’t even begin to break into a sweat.
Co-ordination of our nervous system, skeleton and muscles is at the heart of Feldenkrais. Awareness Through Movement (ATM) lessons, often shortened versions, are an excellent way to warm-up for sport. They can wake up the whole self to participate and make the most of one’s existing strength and resources. Likewise in recovery, or warming-down, the striking (seemingly magical at times) ability for lessons to release tense muscles, or rebalance neuro-muscular connections is a natural fit. They can help to reduce downtime, and prevent future injuries.
We bring our movement habits from everyday life into the sporting arena, and the Method enables us to change those. Feldenkrais’s mastery of Judo was one of the major influences on the creation of his method. As Mark Reese says in his biography of Feldenkrais: ‘For him, ideal posture would embody absolute readiness: physical efficiency coupled with poised attention, allowing one to move at any moment with equal ease in any direction (2015: p103).’ That would be a neat trick to pull off, in many fields of sporting endeavour.
In endurance sports, such as running, a greater awareness of the optimal use of our skeleton dovetails with improved form, and prevents injuries. An ATM, say, linking the jaw and the pelvis, could better release a runner’s hip joints, thereby improving weight shift and co-ordination between the head, shoulders, spine, pelvis, legs and feet. Injury prevention is also a key benefit: Feldenkrais enables sportspeople to understand for themselves the kindest and most productive way to carry out repetitive movements.
As well as enhancing movement, Feldenkrais also helps sports people perform better by enabling them to be present in the moment, enhancing their awareness of other people and the environment, and improving breathing. The method, as its core, is a study of being in control of our actions, and eradicating compulsive behaviours. That sounds like a recipe for enjoyment and success in sporting endeavours.
References:
Reese, M (2015) Moshe Feldenkrais: A Life in Movement. San Rafael. ReeseKress Somatics Press.
Ed Bartram, April 2018. (Image courtesy of State Library of Queensland)
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Horseriding Feldenkrais Lesson
by Barbara McCrea
When I was very young, visiting a farm in South Africa, an aunt put me on a horse for the first time. She declared that I had a good seat, which puzzled me then, and intrigues me now. What is a good seat? Download this lesson to help you find out.
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Every rider wants to improve their seat. What is this magical term? Is it something to do with the sitting bones? Some people think riding is primarily about the sitting bones, but the seat has many aspects. Thinking about the seat, the pelvis is clearly important, but no more so than the legs, and feet. The legs are most definitely part of the seat. So are the ribcage, lungs and spine, with the head balancing on top, and shoulders draped over the ribcage. When you watch good riders, their torsos are firm, so that they will not easily be budged by plunging or unexpected movements which can throw a less experienced rider out of the saddle. There is a great deal of stability provided by a firmness which is strong, but never rigid. The seat, like the notion of posture, is not a static concept, it is something you adjust continually, but stability and balance are definite requirements.
The pelvis and sitting bones also connect to the head, not just in the biomechanical sense, but to the rider’s feelings, fears, desires, old habits and current body image. It connects to how we carry out instructions, how we interpret what we may have been told in the past by riding teachers, to our inner critic, or the feelings we may have towards the horse we are riding, who is not necessarily doing what we want. Horse riding, unlike being on a bicycle or motorbike, is about connecting to an animal. The horse is a partner, not simply something you sit on top of, adjusting your seat.
The seat becomes an all encompassing thing, but fundamentally in riding, the idea is to manage your own body, habits and movement patterns to influence the horse’s movements to bring out the best in him, so that he can carry himself and you, better.
Barbara McCrea has developed a series of short ATMS relating to aspects of riding, after graduating from the first London training in 1990. She teaches workshops for equestrians in Cape Town, where she is based, and rides on beaches and mountains for pleasure. She is in UK at present until mid- July 2018. www.feldenkrais.co.za Photo courtesy of Dominique Van Zyl.
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News from the UK Feldenkrais Community
Feldenkrais Summit - starts May 1st - sign up for free
Resiliency, Freedom and Evolution: grow and transform with over 25 leading teachers. Once you register the Summit is free to view online for a short period of time, however you can sign up for permanent access for recordings of the whole summit for just under $100 - not bad, currently about £70!
Jessica Beck, UK Feldenkrais practitioner, is involved in this exciting event. You can also sign up via her Summit link.
Classes and Workshops
Take a look at the Guild website to find a teacher or a class. For a list of Feldenkrais workshops taking place (those in bold are related to IFW) in the UK in the next month:
South East of England
• Sunday, 13 May 2018, 12.30 pm - 5.30 pm
Victoria Worsley: Running with Ease; www.feldenkraisworks.co.uk
Beechwood Hall, Cooksbridge, LEWES, Sussex, BN7 3QG;
• Sunday, 3 June 2018, 11 am - 4.30 pm
Melinda Glenister; www.melindaglenister.com
Berkhamsted Town Hall, 196 High Street, BERKHAMSTED, HP4 3AP
South West of England
• Saturday 5th May to Sunday 12th May 2018, times vary during the week
Shelagh O’Neil: Finding Flexible and Responsive Breathing
St Ives Guildhall, Street-an-Pol, Cornwall, TR26 2DS, web link to course
• Saturday, 19 May 2018, 9 am - 1 pm
Mamie Wisker: Ease your Back; www.movewitheasenow.co.uk
St John's Hall, South Parade, BATH, BA2 4AF
• Saturday, 19 May 2018, 2pm - 4 pm
Jackie Adkins: Finding Your Feet; www.movetolive.co.uk
Room in Frome, 1a Scott Rd, FROME BA11 1AL
East of England
• Saturday, 19 May 2018, 2pm - 5.30 pm
Valérie Fabre: Improve flexibility the Feldenkrais way,
The Bodywise Studio, Unit 4, Dales Brewery, Gwydir Street, CAMBRIDGE CB1 2LJ
www.feldenkraisclassescambridge.co.uk
• Sunday, 20 May 2018, 2 - 6 pm
Yeu-Meng Chan: Body Mindfulness through Feldenkrais,
Quaker Meeting House, LEIGH ON SEA SS9 1NB
http://www.feldenkrais-essex.com/about/yeu-meng/workshops/
• Sunday, 3 June 2018, 9.30 am - 5 pm
Yeu-Meng Chan and Jo Horder: Playing with Ease - Feldenkrais for Musicians
Benslow Music, Hitchin, HERTFORDSHIRE SG4 9RB, www.feldenkrais-essex.com
Wales
• Thursday, 17 May 2018, 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Andrew Paget: Walk Your Walk, www.facebook.com/pg/thisissomatic
Penpynfarch Studio, LLANDYSUL SA44 4RU
• Sunday, 20 May 2018, 10 am - 1 pm
Veronica Rock: Breathing for a Flexible Chest & Spine; vhrock@feldenkrais.co.uk
Verve Fitness, Health & Wellbeing, 2-4 George St., LLANGOLLEN LL20 8RE
North of England
• Friday, 4 May 2018, 12 - 3 pm
Veronica Rock: Eye/Hand Co-ordination; vhrock@feldenkrais.co.uk
Romiley LifeCentre, ROMILEY SK6 4BN
• Saturday, 5 May 2018, 10.30 am - 12 pm
Dianne Hancock: Better Balance and Coordination; www.diannehancock.co.uk
Breathe Pilates, 85 Clark House Road, SHEFFIELD S10 2LG
• Saturday, 12 May 2018, 10.30 am - 2.30 pm
Virginia Taylor: Backs and hips: Feldenkrais approaches to mobility (+) and pain (-)
Friends Meeting House, Meeting House Lane, PENRITH CA11 7TR; www.remindyourbody.co.uk
• Sunday, 13 May 2018, 10 am - 4.00 pm
Steve Cheslett-Davey: Feldenkrais Fundamentals - Introductory Workshop Day.
Continuum Yoga Studio WINDERMERE Cumbria; www.awarenessworks.co.uk
• Saturday, 19 May 2018, 2 pm - 5 pm
Anne Robertson: Easier Neck and Shoulders; annerobbo@talktalk.net
Bodywise MANCHESTER Buddhist Centre.Turner St M4 1DZ
• Sunday, 20 May 2018, 10 am - 4.00 pm
Steve Cheslett-Davey: Sounder Sleep; www.awarenessworks.co.uk
Tara Centre , The Storey, Castle Park, LANCASTER LA1 1TH
London
• Saturday, 12 May 2018, 10.30am to 4pm;
Scott Clark, The Art of Balance; www.feldenkraislondon.com
The Classrooms, London, SE1 3QJ
• Saturday, 12 May 2018, 11 am - 4 pm
Maggy Burrowes: talk and sample lessons: Body Mindfulness and Embodied Voice
116 Pentonville Road, LONDON, N1 9JB; web link to event
• Sunday, 13 May 2018, 2 pm - 6 pm; www.vocaldynamix.com/blog
Maggy Burrowes: Hips, Knees & Ankles – Strong, Flexible Foundations
The Sunflower Centre, 81 Tressillian Rd, Brockley, LONDON, SE4 1XZ
• Saturday, 26 May 2018, 10.15am - 5.15 pm;
Victoria Worsley: Feldenkrais: Walking with Ease; www.feldenkraisworks.co.uk
The City Lit, Keely Street, Holborn LONDON WC2B 4BA
• Sunday, 27 May 2018, 10.30 am - 5.30 pm
Victoria Worsley: Presence and Posture (FOR ACTORS)
The Actors Centre, Tower Street LONDON WC2H 9NP; www.feldenkraisworks.co.uk
Training to be a Feldenkrais Practitioner in the UK:
The Feldenkrais International Training Centre (FITC) in Sussex has some places available to join their most recent training from June 2018, click here for further information.
Feldenkrais Guild (UK) AGM and ‘Big Weekend’ 2018
Come and join us in Manchester this year on Saturday 22nd, and Sunday 23rd of September. As well as the AGM, we are delighted to have practitioners Veronica Rock and Joan Winter teaching on the Saturday afternoon. Ruthy Alon, one of Feldenkrais’s first teachers, will then be teaching all day on the Sunday.
Venue: The Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DD
Booking: Jackie Adkins - email: info@movetolive.co.uk
Ruthy Alon will also be teaching from 13th to 18th July 2018, in London - click here for more details.
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A bit more food for thought: a few recent articles / podcasts
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Real and Imagined Movements are controlled by the brain in the same way: source Karolinksa Institute, published by NeuroscienceNews.com, 24th April 2018
Running as a Birthright: a podcast with Feldenkrais Practitioner, Jae Gruenke, for the Embodied Facilitator Course
The Art of Falling: a TED Talk on Feldenkrais by Body-language expert and US Guild-Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner Lavinia Plonka, 4th April 2018
Try these Feldenkrais Secrets to Avoid Injury in the Garden
by Carole Bucher, 1st March 2018
The Strange Order of Things by Antonio Demasio, Review
by John Banville, 2nd Feb 2018, www.theguardian.com
And finally.... if you're not already on this newsletter mailing list, sign up here.
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