Author: Donna

Dear Students:
Following is Janet’s celebration story.  She is one of my most dedicated students and it is a joy to watch her grow!
~Donna
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Janet Westphal came to me for help with her leg and shoulder injuries as a result of two separate falls she had over the past few years. Recently she did six private sessions with me over two weeks and at the end of one of the sessions she shared with me the following story.

When Janet was cleaning out her late Mother’s house she was desperately searching for a music box that played the song “The Impossible Dream” and was disappointed when she could not find it.

She said with tears in her eyes, “I wanted it because I feel like it holds significance for me. It represents how my life has changed since working with you.  I feel like I am living “My Impossible Dream”.  I am learning to do things that I thought I would never be capable of doing. I can’t believe how much I am growing and changing. I wish everyone in my life could understand that change is possible for them too!”

Janet is very committed to learning how to continue to discover and live her dreams so she consistently attends one of my classes each week.

“Every class is a surprise and I am always excited to find out what we are going to learn before each one.  At the beginning of class I feel like a child getting ready to open a present,” she explains with a charming smile on her face.

Do you realize the curves in your back, that you know as an adult, were not formed when you were born? During the first 18 months of life, they developed as you became interested in the environment around you. The curve in your neck formed from lifting your head repeatedly (while lying on your belly), to see around you. Your intentions to move led to rolling, crawling, sitting, standing and walking which eventually shaped the curve in your lower back area. Re-visiting these types of developmental movements with the curiosity of a mature person will help to improve your postural alignment and understanding of how you learned to move in the world.

Feldenkrais® Workshop
Developmental Movement Education
Sunday, August 28, 2011
12:00 noon – 3:30 p.m.
$60.00 (Pre-register to reserve a space)

During this workshop the Feldenkrais®, Awareness Through Movement® lessons will resemble movements we did as babies during the first nine months of life. During this short span of time in our lives, we learned to roll, crawl, sit, stand and walk because of the curiosity we had with the world around us.

Revisiting these kinds of movements as an adult will re-organize your posture for more efficient sitting, standing, and walking. It will improve the suppleness and quality of your overall movements. And will help you to uncover your ability to continue to learn & improve the flexibility of your body and mind no matter what your age.

Donna Bervinchak will teach this workshop at the Alonzo King LINES Dance Center at 26 Seventh St. in San Francisco, CA. To sign up call the dance center at 415.863.3040×221 or visit: http://linesballet.org/sfdc/news/workshops.htm#donna.

Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais describes his method in the following quote from the article, Movement and the Mind, with Will Schutz, Ph.D.
“My way of learning, my way of dealing with people, is to find out, for that person who wants it, what sort of accomplishment is possible for that person. People can learn to move and walk and stand differently, but they have given up because they think it’s too late now, that the growth process has been completed, that they can’t learn something new, that they don’t have the time or the ability. You don’t have to go back to being a baby in order to function properly. You can, at any time of your life, rewire yourself, provided I can convince you that there is nothing permanent or compulsive in your system, except what you believe to be so.”

I feel that this description is an appropriate way to introduce my next workshop entitled, Developmental Movement Education which will take place on Sunday, August 28 from 12:00 noon – 3:30 p.m. If you want to learn to move like a baby or learn how to learn all over again then this workshop is for you!

The workshop will take place at the Alonzo King LINES Dance Center at 26 Seventh St. in San Francisco, CA. To sign up call the dance center at 415.863.3040×221 or visit: http://linesballet.org/sfdc/news/workshops.htm#donna.

Save the date and I hope to see you there!
Donna

Three months ago I changed my internet service to save $50.00 a month. I did not realize at the time that I signed up for the new “N” force of wireless high speed internet that most internet companies are selling.

First of all I did not know that my wireless was on for three months because I had connected my computer with a cord to the internet box. I found out that the wireless was on the day I called A.T.& T. to tell them that U-Verse was making me sick. I had them turn my wireless off immediately. Thinking that I would be safe, for two days I tried to keep the service and I still remained sick. I continued to get sicker from the electromagnetic pollution that was coming out of my phone. On the last day I had the “N” force internet connection in my home, my face, right arm all the way down to my leg went numb from talking on the phone for less than five minutes.

Following are some of the Symptoms I Developed Over 3 Months:

• Agitation & Hopelessness
• Jaw and Neck Pain
• A Lump in my Throat
• Nausea & Loss of Appetite
• Numbness & Tingling in my face, mouth, scalp, arms and legs
• Could not Sleep
• Fatigue & Unable to Function at Normal Capacity
• Blurry Vision
• A Constant Intense Pressure Headache
• Muscle Weakness and Aches

These symptoms did not subside until all the tenants in my building including my next door neighbor had turned off their wireless internet upon my request. I am very grateful that I live amongst conscientious people. I regret to think that not as many people will be as lucky as I.

Unfortunately I still get these symptoms when I am in public buildings and at times in my home when I recieve 15+ signals from the neighborhood. Please get the word out to your loved ones and friends. It is unreasonable for people to use wireless in their homes when all they have to do is connect via cable to their computers.

Currently I am using Gia Wellness Products to protect my home from my neighbors’ wireless and to protect me in public places. For more information and to get products yourself visit: http://www.giawellness.com/48288/

It has been a difficult three months but I now know how to better help my students that are suffering from computer related injuries. I understand that they are “bracing” themselves from the invisible force of radiation that is attacking them because I have felt it! I never understood as clearly as I do now what they are doing neurologically. Luckily I am aware of what I do when I am in a room full of radiation and I am able to help myself so it doesn’t evolve into something even worse.

The best way to reach me is by phone since I no longer have internet in my home but I will check emails periodically.
Sincerely, Donna

Hi Feldenkrais® Students:
One reason why I love my job as a Feldenkrais®Practitioner is I get to teach people how to become aware that their mind and body are one. It is always exciting for me when a student organically feels this connection unquestionably.

Many people don’t realize or have never been able to feel within themselves, that an emotional way of being has a physical way of expressing itself. I can say it even more simply – every emotion has a motion. The word “e-motion” and sayings such as, “her feelings were written all over her face,” are solid evidence that at one time human beings understood very clearly that there is no difference between the mind and the body. Today in this technical, fast paced world it is easy for people to become distracted and it is understandable why many have lost this self knowledge.

Moshe Feldenkrais explains it better in the following short statement. “In short, a recurrent emotional state always appears together with the attitude of the body and the vegetative state with which it was conditioned earlier. Therefore, when an emotional complex has been resolved, a specifically individual body habit is resolved simultaneously. I contend that all successful analysis, whatever technique is employed, is invariably accompanied, and probably preceded, by an alteration of posture and a change of muscular habit both in body and face.” Body & Mature Behavior, pages 128-129.

Being a Feldenkrais® Practitioner has given me the opportunity on a daily basis, to witness with myself and my students that our physical and mental states of being are interchangeable! If you would like to share a telling mind / body experience that changed your self perception, please email me your story and I can post it on this site for others to learn from.

Check out some new photographs on my site by Afshin Odabaee. (Many thanks to you Afshin!)
Sincerely, Donna

Hi Everyone!
One of my Feldenkrais students, Hafsa, was interviewed recently by the Fitness Director at Club One and she eloquently spoke about her experience with the Feldenkrais Method.  I am happy to say that she gave me permission to share her thoughts with all of you.  Hafsa is a very willing and open student.  I had fun teaching her through Functional Integration sessions and during classes.  Below are Hafsa’s words.  I highlighted my favorite parts.  Enjoy!
~Donna

Why Feldenkrais – what are sessions like?  What have been the benefits to you?
“I’d been trying all sorts of ideas for years to fix my unstable low back and neck sprain, but I wasn’t getting to the heart of the matter.  I think I always knew that what I needed was someone to force me to be patient and listen to my body to help me find different options for movement and stability.  One day I eavesdropped on one of Donna’s Feldenkrais classes and found exactly the kind of disciplined self-kindness and self-awareness discovery I was looking for.  After I took my first class, Donna could tell immediately that I had a major movement problem and advised me to schedule a private session with her.  When something is not clicking for you in your movements, when you know you’re not using the right muscles or the right bones, Feldenkrais helps you find it.  It helps you find the way you used to move freely as a baby and helps translate what your body is trying to tell you.  What surprised me the most is that Feldenkrais makes you face yourself with a lot of courage so you can learn how much your emotions and self-image play a role in how you move.  My favorite part is how much I’m learning about how our bones are designed to counter-rotate and balance the body, helping me find different options for movement.  There is no hiding in Feldenkrais.  The tiniest movement of a rib or your jaw or the slightest shift of breath can make all the difference between making progress and having a major insight into your whole self.

How does the freedom of movement that you have achieved through Feldenkrais make you feel?
“Feldenkrais makes me feel in awe of the human body, of my body and how it has sustained me through all the years of unhelpful holding patterns.  I feel like I can literally feel more of my body and how the different parts work in conjunction with each other.  Mostly, though, because I discovered all this knowledge about my body and myself with such subtle and patient technique it makes me want to apply subtlety and patience to the rest of my life, too.  It’s become so obvious to me that when you stop and take the time to really pay attention you can find the most efficient, healthy, and rewarding solution to probably everything.”

If you had to summarize your movement story, what would it be?
“I had it inside me all along.” ~Hafsa M.

Can the Feldenkais Method  help Attention Deficit Disorder, Compulsive Behaviors, Anxiety, Emotional and Mental States of Mind?

The answer is yes when one explores Feldenkrais, over time.  What most people don’t realize is that the Feldenkrais Method is largely about growing the plasticity of the brain. Moshe Feldenkrais was most interested in helping people become flexible in mind.  He is famous for saying, “What I’m after isn’t flexible bodies, but flexible brains. What I’m after is to restore each person to their human dignity. ”

Dr. Feldenkrais understood that an effective way to change the message patterns in the brain is through movement. Knowing that in order to move, the brain has to send nerve impulses to the muscles, he used movement as a vehicle to change peoples’ thought processes for the better.  By increasing one’s movement repertoire, one can experience broader behavioral responses; opened emotional avenues; increased mental clarity; lengthened attention spans; lower anxiety levels; etc.

Moshe Feldenkais used movement as a way for people to become aware of themselves physically, behaviorally, environmentally, emotionally and mentally.  He said, “I believe that the unity of mind and body is an objective reality. They are not just parts somehow related to each other, but an inseparable whole while functioning. A brain without a body could not think.”

This is why I love the Feldenkrais Method so much. When I work with people I love seeing them change not only physically, but in so many other ways.  Most of my students come to me because they want to free themselves of physical pain, the ones that stay, stay because they grow as a person in all areas of their lives.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  I will be teaching my classes the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Saturday after!  I hope to see you there!

Donna

Hi Students!
People ask me all the time if Feldenkrais can help them with… (fill in the blank).  Today I would like to begin answering some frequent questions that I am asked.  If there are any learning experiences that any of you would like to share with others on this blog, please let me know and I will include it next time.

Can Feldenkrais help reduce the occurrences of Migraine Headaches?
I will answer this from my own personal experience.  In my twenties, I used to get migraines whenever I became stressed out.   Luckily, I started to get trained to become a Feldenkrais Practitioner when I was 28 years old, and this was the beginning of helping myself.  Through the Feldenkrais Method, I discovered that the way I held my head to the right side was a major contributing factor to my migraines.  I also learned that my right eye was my dominant eye as well as the eye that I could see more clearly out of.  Because I used this eye more it made me side bend my head to the side most of time.  When I became tired; tried too hard; or was over stressed; this pattern would intensify.  And this is when I would get a migraine.

Continue reading Feldenkrais Experiences

“When we have relieved all the unnecessary tensions (that have been built up in the course of develpment as the only means of reacting to the environment available at that time, that have become useless at present), we can obtain a better and easier comportment.  Thus, if we eliminate from standing all that is extraneous to it such as standing manly, femininely, authoritatively, nicely, efficiently, arrogantly, proudly, or meekly and all the other cross motivations that we cultivate in childhood and adolescence with such wholehearted conviction of doing right, there remains standing as dictated by the structure of the body and its nervous mechanisms.  A stance that is rare, but which we are all capable.”  ~ Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

I chose to share this quote from The Potent Self,  because I thought the timing was appropriate since we all put away our masks and costumes from Halloween.  I think it is easier to feel how our stance and posture changes when we put on a costume and assume a character than it is to feel the stances we live with everyday.  As Moshe Feldenkrais states above, once we can recognise how we stand and the cross motivations that fuel it we can than give it up.  Coming to this place of self awareness can lead to letting go of alot of physical and emotional pain which will allow for greater ease of functioning.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Thank you for choosing me to share this wonderful method with you.

Donna