Happy Independence Day! This day is strongly associated with freedom… and for good reason. Regardless of your political convictions, it can’t be denied that U.S. citizens enjoy a great degree of external freedom. But what about our internal freedom? Today we’ll look at one of the most subtle destroyers of internal freedom: unconscious movement habits. But how could movement habits affect freedom?
Imagine you’re holding a large rock in one hand, and a feather in the other. If your eyes were closed, and a fly landed on the rock, would you notice the change in weight? Probably not. The rock already weighs quite a bit, and a fly barely weighs anything. But what if the fly landed […]
During graduate school, I became an avid swing dancer. Since women traditionally “follow,” I quickly discovered that partner dancing isn’t just about fancy footwork or thrilling aerials—it’s primarily about connecting to your partner. Even if both dancers are “doing it right,” the dance feels very distinctly different when both people are deeply attuned to the most subtle nuanc…
A large percentage of autistic children struggle with sensory processing challenges. Children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) share these challenges as well. It could show up as an aversion to touch or clothing, an unwillingness to eat foods with certain textures, or an inability to cope with noisy environments. These sensory sensitivities can cause a […]
Check out this article about The Feldenkrais Method® on Salon.com “She will dance at her wedding”: Healing the girl born without part of her brain. The article gives an overview of Moshe Feldenkrais and how he came to develop his method, plus a powerful example of how the Feldenkrais Method® can be used to treat even very severe cases of physi…
If you’ve watched “The Karate Kid,” you’re familiar with the story: Mr. Miyagi, the wise old Japanese maintenance man, prepares Daniel for a Karate championship in record time. His method? Countless hours of repetitive labor, which secretly mimic karate moves. After many days of mindless “wax on, wax off,” Daniel finds that he’s mastered the basic moves of Karate—all because of those endless hours of repetition. But is mindless repetition really the best way to practice?
“We can view any desire to change ourselves as an act of aggression towards ourselves.” —buddhist monk. It’s that time of year when people think about what they’d like to change about themselves and their lives, and make Resolutions accordingly. However, by trying so hard to “improve” ourselves, we may be causing ourselves more harm […]
Re-establishing Safe Boundaries Through Touch When she was 5 years old, Jamie* had brain surgery to remove a benign tumor the size of a golf ball. Her mother brought her to me when she was 11, to address lingering motor-skill challenges. In the 6 years since her surgery, she’d been in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices constantly, had over 50 MRIs, and countless hours…
Close your eyes, and wave your hand over your head. No, really. Try it. Even with your eyes closed, you can tell when your hand is over your head, right? You can also tell when you’re moving it forward or backward. This ability is thanks to what is perhaps our most overlooked sense: Proprioception. So what’s Proprioception? It’s …