A Feldenkrais Blog

Dear Students:
Quite often these days, I have been reminding a student to intimately get to know his uncomfortable movement patterns.  This is because every time he notices his unpleasant habits he becomes distraught.  Each time we talk, I reiterate that each moment he becomes aware is a time to celebrate as only then can he choose to stop his unnecessary holding.

Through the Feldenkrais Method, you can learn, the simple yet elusive process of being able to sense your excessive muscular tension in order to let it go instantly.  At first, this may be hard to grasp due to living in a culture that stresses thinking over feeling.  Know, that it is not possible to mentally figure out a sensorial problem. If you lack organic understanding of yourself, and “make a correction” with your body that you “think is right” you can create further injury.

"When you know what you're doing, you can do what you want." ~Moshe Feldenkrais

A good way to discover what makes your habitual holding patterns occur is to realize what false beliefs fuel it, what behavior goes along with it, & what emotions you suppress with it.  During imperative times, these bird-eye views can remind you to take notice of exactly what is happening with yourself. I suggest to look closely at each perspective to help you make lasting changes.

On another note, during the upcoming holiday season when you are asked by family & friends what you have been up to, the 2 minute video included here is a great one to help you describe the Feldenkrais Method.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I thank all of you who have supported me throughout the year & am grateful that I can continue to teach this transformative method. Peace.
~Donna

Dear Students:
I wrote this post in 2013 & found it to be a gem worth sharing again.

What does Good Posture Look Like? 
I find that many people are very confused about how to attain a healthy posture. A common assumption in our culture is that a good posture is achieved by holding the shoulders back and tucking the belly in, much like a military soldier standing at attention. When I inform people that holding the muscles in this way can lead to back pain and stiffness, they become scared and skeptical by my words. Luckily their skepticism goes away when they experience how much better they feel and move after letting go of a military posture.

This video explains very clearly that when people achieve standing with “bone deep strength” they can move powerfully and easily at any age. I believe you may find this 7-minute clip to be intriguing because of its valuable information & how well it is presented by Kathleen Porter. Enjoy watching & learning!

If you want to sign up for my Dynamic Standing workshop on Sat. October 10, 2026, click here for more information. If you wish to learn how to attain skeletal support during a Functional Integration session you can email me here.  Peace!
~Donna

Dear Students:
Whenever students hold misconceptions about what good standing entails, I direct them to observe a *toddler’s stance for answers. Because a tot* is fresh from infancy’s developmental movement process & bad habits are not fully established they stand better than adults.
{*A typically developing toddler that has innately gone through all the developmental movements, without interference from modern equipment such as: walkers, seats, standers, jumpers, cell phones, i-pads, etc.} 

When children are encouraged to interact with mother nature’s wonders, their attention can expand & be drawn to many things requiring them to continue to perform a vast range of movements.  This enhances their development on all levels while creating an ideal stance that is always in motion. For instance the action of going up & down from a squatting position to look at a bug or flower, requires the pelvis to move from flexion to extension through each individual vertebrae like links in a chain.  This keeps the entire skeletal system in a healthy alignment allowing the feet up to the head, to carry out the tiny balancing motions that human beings are meant to do throughout life.

When looking at these youngsters* standing, your eyes may easily see their round bellies, their freely hanging arms & the natural curves in their backs.  Also notice the pelvis resting slightly behind their heads & the heels falling directly underneath their hip joints.  This posture helps them be able to spring into action quickly because they don’t have to reposition their feet to move in any direction they desire. 

If you wish to explore the dynamic nature of standing, register for my next workshop on Sat. Oct. 10 called Dynamic Standing at donna_bervinchak@yahoo.com.  For more information click on the workshop name.  Peace!
~Donna

Dear Students:
While talking with a student about his emotions, he said to me, “I do believe that emotions are connected to the movement pattern”.  I replied, “What I am trying to explain to you, is that emotions & movement are not connected, they are one and the same.”

If you closely look at the term emotion you can easily see it is the word, motion with the letter “e” in front of it.  This spelling accurately demonstrates it’s meaning that every human feeling expresses itself through motion.  When you see an angry person versus a sad one, you can decipher the difference in their emotional states from a quick glimpse at their body language. Without talking, people clearly reveal the type of energy living within them.

It is important to be aware of your emotional movement patterns because if you behave or act in a way that is opposite to them, you have to create a way to suppress your true intentions.  This causes every muscle, tissue & organ in your body to over work in order to hold back your vitality while creating a facade to cover it up.  Over time, this can end in discomfort, pain and/or disease. 

For example, if you say “yes” to someone when you want to say, “no”, another movement organization has to over ride the underlying pattern of “no”.  This tug of war on the neurological system is very taxing & detrimental to your over all well being.

I suggest to observe your feelings in the moment so you can identify the unique quality each have as they flow.  Later, this could help you notice when & how you stop them from flowing.  Only when you realize how you function, can you choose to do what you want.

Remember, if you choose to release some pent up emotions, to do so in private so you won’t project it onto another & to take care of yourself & loved ones. I recommend to prepare a place ahead of time for you to exhaust anger by punching a pillow or boxing bag & a safe refuge for shedding tears & processing fears, etc.

On another note, last week I was asked to be a guest on a radio show.  I think what I had to say about Feldenkrais during the 5 min. interview goes well with this post -to listen click: NY Executive Podcast.  Peace!
~Donna

Dear Students:
For this post, I decided to ask my students to express in words why they attend my Functional Integration® sessions &/or Awareness Through Movement® classes & workshops. Some of those that have written I have been teaching for many years & others for a couple of months. If you read their testimonials, I believe you many find a common feeling of gratitude coming through from each one of them. If you have put the Feldenkrais Method® on a hiatus their stories might remind you of some of your own experiences & their different voices may be helpful if you wish to explain the method to your family & friends.

“Donna is an extremely effective and highly intuitive Feldenkrais® practitioner.  Her private sessions are amazing–she taught me so much about my patterns in just two sessions–can’t wait to go back.  As for the classes–Yes! they are wonderful too.  There are Feldenkrais® classes on You Tube, and they can be effective, but it is so much better to have Donna’s eyes on you.  And to know that she has designed the class with the participants in mind.  And who wouldn’t prefer a community experience to being alone with the computer?”
~Judy Tessem

“I’ve had both private Functional Integration® sessions and Feldenkrais® classes with Donna – for plantar fasciitis in the past and more recently for sciatic nerve flare-ups. Working with Donna has helped me address unhealthy movement patterns and learned habits. I am grateful for her incredible knowledge of the body and ability to guide her students with clarity!  Feldenkrais® feels like movement medicine offering me increased mobility, balance, flexibility and ease as I move through life!” ~Joyce Haller

“I am continually impressed with Donna’s ability to observe and assess minute movement imbalances and to present correct alternative movements. She is kind, gentle, and patient.  In being her client for two months, I am seeing improvements in my movement patterns.  After 30+ years of doctors and physical therapy visits with no results, including three joint replacements and proposed spinal surgery, I will continue with Donna, with the goal of enjoying walking again.”  ~I. E.

“I have been doing Feldenkrais® classes with Donna for about 10 years. Since then I have not needed to visit a chiropractor and have learned more about body awareness.” ~Gwen

“I continue to take Donna’s classes because I like learning how to use my body more efficiently so that I can live the active lifestyle I want to live.  I also like the hands on Functional Integration® sessions that address my particular “problem areas”.” ~L.R.

If you would like to schedule an appointment for a hands on Functional Integration® session contact me today. To attend classes and workshops you can do so starting in August after a short summer break during the month of July.  Peace to All!
~Donna

Dear Students:
Many Awareness Through Movement lessons include imagining, visualizing or thinking about how to do a movement before actually performing it.  The Feldenkrais Method concentrates on this technic often because of the valuable benefits that occur when you begin to set yourself into motion.  In the moment of mobilizing yourself for action your whole nervous system organizes itself so you can accomplish your goal.  In order to alter a habit you can become very successful in doing so while sensing how your mind works.

In 1981 Moshe Feldenkrais traveled to several cities throughout the United States teaching Awareness Through Movement workshops to the general public over long weekends.  In Washington D.C. he opened the first day with a lesson that students physically did on one side and after a break he had them imagine the other side in their mind’s eye.  During that class he explained why visualizing is so beneficial for a human being.  As he taught this particular lesson some of the profound truths he stated touched me so deeply that it brought tears to my eyes.  I decided to share some of my favorite snippets with you today.

Moshe Feldenkrais said,  “We have only one set of muscles – and our brain is capable of feeling, thinking, sensing, representing, imagining, patterning, inventing, creating, hearing music, imagining mathematics – our brain is capable of a million qualities of action and all of them must have no other way then expressing yourself through that one set of muscles.” Moshe elaborated saying,“It is impossible to feel, to create, to think, to sense, to imagine without the body producing the kind of organization that fits that sort of thinking.”

Dr. Feldenkrais then explained to his pupils that if for example, a fiddle player imagined playing his fiddle he would be able to feel with his entire being the fiddle in his hands.  And the same concept goes for anything you are satisfied that you can do well, such as washing the dishes.  He wrapped it up with his explanation, “Because there is only one set of muscles for all the functions of the brain, for all the functions of your heart and whatever you have, your soul or anything else.”

In closing, I leave you to ponder upon two questions: what kind of self-organization would result from having loving thoughts versus unloving ones for yourself or others; and what kind of inner & outer creations could you make based upon universal truths versus false beliefs learned from society &/or from childhood emotional injuries? I hope this inspires you to contemplate beyond the suggestions I have given you here. Peace to all!
~Donna

Dear Students:
As I’ve been preparing for my workshop, Moving To & From the Floor with Ease, it has inspired me to write about why it is so important to become like a child.  Children are intelligently governed by their senses, that teach them how to take care of themselves.  If movement feels good they continue moving, if it doesn’t they stop and cry it out.  When they sense an arm or leg on the ground for the first time they don’t have an expectation as to where it can lead them. As they become stronger & press themselves into a hard surface they find out that it can propel them into motion. 

This way of learning may seem foreign to you if you are ruled by your thinking mind. If you desire to learn in a sensorial manner, I believe you can become comfortable trying challenging things. To help build your faith in the process let’s look more closely at how a typically developing baby spends her time.

A newborn lives in a world consumed by her sensations & emotions. She relies on them while discovering herself & everything around her.

As an infant, she becomes curious  with her environment and begins to roll, creep, crawl & climb around it.  These motions form curves in her back and gradually builds her muscle & bone strength. As her neurological system grows and expands with her physical capabilities she can eventually come up to standing.

When she discovers a supportive place that gives her mobility in a new way, she can figure out how to walk upright at her own pace.  In an ideal situation, her process is interesting, rewarding, & sometimes challenging but her desire to move forward keeps her going even when she stumbles & falls.

If you imagine yourself to be like a baby in this manner you also can feel how to move up & down from the floor in a pleasurable way. To go about it, pretend that you are an inquiring toddler without fully developed muscles or bones. This can help you become completely engaged in discovering how a hand or foot placement allows you to maneuver safely & effortlessly. Where it takes you may surprise you. And if you stay the course it is highly likely you may reach some of your goals.   

I hope you realize one day that by becoming child-like it actually saves you time, is economical & can guide you in how to live virtuously.  Peace to All on Earth!
~Donna

Dear Students:
When you as a Feldenkrais® student, begin to organically understand how you create every physical discomfort, ache, pain & disease within yourself you gain the power to change your health for the better, using many tools learned during Awareness Through Movement® classes & Functional Integration® sessions.  If you are able to sense how faulty movement patterns are linked to your unloving thoughts, behaviors & suppressed emotions, you can listen to your body to tell you what you need to address. Because external motions regulate your internal systemic rhythm, noticing when & how you stop it’s flow gets you one step closer to preventing further damage.

“He by himself, is the one who does, who listens, who acts, and who pays attention so that he does what he wants to do.  If he does not know, he will continue to do, learning something else, and will never know.  In other words, this is what we are looking to do so that his intellect, his ability to pay attention and distinguish what he does - this means his internal emotion and his external intellect - this means that he will be able to recognize what happens in his environment - all this will continue to develop and grow." ~Moshe Feldenkrais

Becoming aware of an action such as inhibiting your breath, is easier to recognize when you know that pain is your friend. Sensing where the discomfort is in your body is a tell tale sign of what kind of emotions you hold in that place & is a good starting point in discovering how & why you do it. By deciding to fully experience your physical pain & stored e-motions instead of distracting yourself from them can be the best teacher in your life when you choose to listen.

My next workshop, Moving to & from the Floor with Ease is coming up on Sunday, May 31, 2026 from 1-4 pm. Email me soon to reserve your spot.
Peace to all on Earth.
~Donna

Dear Students:
My first full time summer job is etched deeply in my mind because it left me feeling old & worn out at the young age of 18.  I had a repetitive desk job during the day and afterwards I went to gymnastics practice.   When I got to practice I was shocked how stiff and exhausted I felt after “just sitting” all day.   To no avail I tried my hardest to get my energy up to go through routines. I had the worst practices that I had ever had in my entire life. I didn’t have the power, strength or flexibility that I had had only days prior to beginning the job.  This feeling lasted all summer long and didn’t go away until I started college and went back to more active way of spending each day.  

Looking back at that time, I now understand why I felt so worn out.  I was sitting in a way that required my muscles to isometrically hold my skeleton in an off balanced and still position.  By the time I got to practice my body felt like a rigid board because my muscles were still tense.  Because I wasn’t moving dynamically during the day like I was accustomed to doing I noticed a considerable difference in my energy level & my flexibility.  I felt devastated. 

The hardest thing for the muscles to do is hold the skeleton in place and that is what I was asking of them.  The easiest thing for the muscles to do is to move the skeleton. 

Today I know how to sit in a skeletally supported posture and am excited to teach how in the workshop, Dynamic Sitting in a Chair on Saturday, March 21, 2026.   Finding support in this way will allow you to move easily while sitting so you can be ready to do whatever you want went you get out of your chair!
~Donna

Dear Students:
A concept that many Feldenkrais® students struggle with, is knowing the difference between thinking, feeling & sensing. The other day a student asked me this very question & I was very happy that it came up for her. That is because I knew she was on the precipice of new a understanding within herself. 

I started my explanation comparing feelings to sensations. The heart of my talk went something like what you shall read next.

Talking about your emotions is not feeling an emotion.  Just as, telling yourself how to stand is not sensing how you actually stand.

When you complain to your friend about your spouse’s dishes in the sink, it is a way to stop yourself from experiencing your hurt, etc.  Similarly, instructing yourself to stand like an authority figure told you, fools you into thinking you know what you are really doing.

This is what I suggest. When an emotion comes up, feel it without projecting it towards another or judging yourself.  Witness where in your body it lives. Notice how hot, cold or intense it is.  Try to identify it as anger, fear, shame, remorse, grief, etc.  Attend to how long it takes for it’s energy to alter.

In the same way, when standing, mindfully sense if you are comfortable or not.  What part of you has discomfort?  Is your breathing uninterrupted?  What is it’s rhythm like?  What part of your feet are you giving your weight to?  Are your arms hanging in front of you, to your sides or behind you?  Is there any unnecessary muscular effort going on in your abdominals, buttocks, hands, feet, or jaw? By honestly searching for awareness you can experience changes happening instantly.  Try it & see what results you get.

Every second in life requires you to move, think, sense, & feel differently.  Trying to be a certain way every moment is not realistic or healthy.  Most people with a problem or in pain don’t know how to correct their situation & end up trying to think their way to a solution. Trust me when I say, this is a sure way to create new problems. 

The thinking mind is actually the least intelligent part of yourself.  Unfortunately society breeds us to be over thinking beings instead of encouraging us to rely on our brilliant & discerning emotions, senses & movements.

It is common for most beginners to the Feldenkrais Method® to get stuck in their heads.  By consistently exploring through Awareness Through Movement® classes, workshops & Functional Integration® sessions, I have observed students become pleasantly surprised by self-transformations when they put their thinking brains on the back burner. Peace to all!
~Donna