A Feldenkrais Blog

Be Water, My Friend

Dear Students:
I am excited for you to view the featured video of Bruce Lee, in this post! I believe it is one of the greatest demonstrations of the human potential that I have ever witnessed. Sit back and be inspired & dazzled for 3 1/2 minutes.

The video begins with Bruce Lee saying his famous quote: “…empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water…….now, you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup – you put water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle – put it in a tea pot, it becomes the tea pot. Now, water can flow or it can crash, – be water my friend.”

For me, the most definitive thing about Bruce Lee’s words is the way in which he says them. I suggest as you watch the footage, ask yourself what does his rhythm, cadence of speech, facial expressions & body language bring to his message.

I was fascinated by every nuance of his mannerisms, which included elusive & obvious details. I loved everything about his confident, passionate & emotional presentation. At the end when he raised his eye brows and knowingly grinned, I wanted to know all that he knew.

If I thought Bruce Lee couldn’t marvel me enough by the way he fearlessly bared his soul, the video goes on to show his phenomenal physical & mental skills. Observe him playing ping pong with a nunchuck (stick), against two professional opponents to see the fine line between his mind & body.

My awe of Bruce, left me wishing that I could ask him about his Jeet Kune Do explorations & discoveries. I was delightfully impressed by his extraordinary abilities to listen & move harmoniously within the environment. I will recall this impression often to motivate me towards finding untapped territories within & without myself from herein.

We are each born with extra ordinary capabilities. The key is to figure out what yours are. The good news is you don’t need to train in martial arts in order to cultivate your individual talents. Fortunately, the Feldenkrais Method can teach you how to uncover & enhance your unique characteristics & gifts in gently challenging ways without sparing with another.

I hope all my posts so far this year, have given you tangible tools to help you discover your genuine personality. May, Bruce Lee’s excellence spark an interest in you to reach towards developing new possibilities for yourself, everyday! Peace to all on Earth.
~Donna

F.Y.I.:
Contact Donna Bervinchak at:

donna_bervinchak@yahoo.com. To find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Favorites of 2021

Dear Students:
My Feldenkrais, Awareness Through Movement classes have been a joy to teach these past few months. Students have been enthusiastically learning and attending on a regular basis so I am happy to announce that I will be teaching classes in 2022.

Click here to learn more about class details in the new year.

Your favorite blog posts for 2021 were mostly all about how to improve your movement organization through the eyes. I wrote four posts based on this subject and I received many thanks for the information.
Visit the posts by clicking on each title:
1. Developing Childlike Eyes
2. Searching for the Midline
3. Overcoming Motion Sickness
4. Eye Patching
5. Prevailing Against the Odds: This post about one of my students and the struggles she faced in a world where she could not attach anything to her face, was accepted by many with humble gratitude. I am glad her story touched many hearts, as I feel it revealed the love & empathy that exists inside all of us even during these very bewildering times.

May you wholeheartedly listen for divine guidance and truth during each day of this new year! Peace to all on Earth.
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To learn how to fight for your innate rights against forced vaccines, testing, and other trespasses read Our Innate Rights and/or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Eye Patching

Dear Students:
I began exploring eye patching when I realized the key to unlocking my leg pain was through my eyes. I lived many years with a bone chip in my ankle and was aware that my visual habits helped take weight off my injured leg. Hence, I knew I could turn standing into a pleasant experience by studying & broadening the repertoire of my eye motions, post surgery.

My first learning strategy was to take walks wearing a patch over my dominant, right eye so I had to rely on my left eye for vision. I found that this was very unfamiliar and when I got tired I would see the inside of the eye patch. My right eye would automatically take up the slack when I could no longer go on. As the weaker eye become stronger, my eyesight became clearer and it helped distribute the weight through my skeleton more symmetrically. My ankle discomfort went away for long stretches of time and when it returned I did not understand why.

Eventually, I connected a habitual behavior of not being able to say “no” when it was the righteous thing to do, and found that my left limb grew distressed after such a conflicted moment. This directed my investigations around recognizing how I used my head & eyes differently when I set a boundary compared to when I did not.

I knew if I became able to observe my right sighted dominance during uncomfortable conversations, I would be able to lessen this habit. The problem was I was too distracted by internal turmoil to do that. Months would go by until an emotional trigger would lead me to the realization that my new habit was not quite strong enough to serve me during such times. I sensed, a different way of being was almost fully developed within myself each passing day. When familiar pain would reappear it was with less intensity and I was able to unravel it’s grip more quickly.

It wasn’t until I started patching my lazy eye that my awareness progressed exponentially. By only observing my right eye in action, without the influence of it’s partner, I could finally sense how it initiated an asymmetrical organization of my movement. I found that both of my eyes tend to hang out on the right side of my nose even when focusing on an object. This places my head in an unbalanced position which effects every part of my body down to my feet.

After some time, through this process I created a novel habit that allows me to stand, walk, run and flip with great pleasure. I continue to explore and presently am benefiting from focusing on my peripheral vision as it helps each eye live on it’s respective side of the midline more often. I remind myself also that my visual field is 360 degrees around and this helps me to continue to discover many helpful ways to improve my eyesight and uneven ways.

May this post inspire you to learn more about the direct connection between your eyes, emotions, behaviors and movement patterns. Thank you for your support throughout the years! Peace to all on earth!
~Donna

Overcoming Motion Sickness

Dear Students:
Throughout my childhood I used to get severe motion sickness while traveling in cars. As an adult, when I began to study how the organization of the eyes influence the vestibular system, I found a way to lessen my carsickness. I discovered that when one is advancing forward in a vehicle, the movement of the landscape appears to move in the opposite direction. As a kid, I was too queasy to become aware of this or let it happen. Later when I could observe the opposing blurry vision, my nauseousness disappeared.

I taught myself to stop trying to see the scenery moving in my peripheral vision when riding in an automobile. Instead I view it as it is – a blur. By letting things in the distance swirl past me, my eyes relax, my vision benefits and it keeps ill sensations at bay.

In the past, by trying to latch my eyes onto a moving object, it strained them and disturbed me. Understanding this, now I can pleasantly read a book on a train by letting the letters bounce around during bumpy parts of the trip. This healthy eye habit has changed my life for the better.

I have included a lesson for you to explore that will help you learn how to let the world pass you by in a beneficial way. I think you will find this lesson very helpful as the technological way of living promotes staring at digital screens thus encouraging us to quickly forget to perceive oppositional movement.

Notice For the Lesson:  Take lots of rests when using your eyes in a non-habitual way.  Signs that your eyes need a rest are feeling: dizzy, nauseous, tired, sleepy, uninterested, mentally unfocused. When this happens stop the exploration, sit or lie down and take a break.  Come back to it when you feel refreshed or leave it for another day.

Observing Oppositional Motion lesson: 
{For those that tend to get dizzy easily, or are in the habit of staring with their eyes, I suggest to do this lesson with your eyes closed first until you get used to the motion.}
1.Stand and place both arms straight out in front of you at shoulder height.  Make loose fists with your hands and point both index fingers forward.  Swing your arms to the right, keeping your right arm straight while your left arm bends at the elbow towards the right.  Focus your eyes on your right index finger as it swings to the right and returns to the middle.  Do this movement until you can sense the blurry objects in the distance moving to the left when turning to the right and vice versa.  Rest while walking, in sitting or lying on your back.
2.Do the same movement while swinging to the left and return to the middle. Keep your eyes focused on the left index finger until you can see the world swirling around you in the opposite direction you are turning towards. Rest.
3.Do the same movement swinging back and forth, left & right, passing through the middle.  When going to the right focus on the right index finger & when going to the left on the left index finger. Even though you know the objects in the background are not moving in reverse of you imagine they are, until they appear to be doing so. Rest. 
4.Repeat swinging your arms left & right making the swing smaller, faster and more playful. Sense the oppositional movement and how it’s appearance changes with speed.  Rest.

As your vision improves, you may notice that while moving, the blurry background will seem to flow more subtly. May you eventually see this phenomenon improving while you are engaged in daily activities such as walking, sweeping or cleaning a mirror.
Peace to all of you.
~Donna

Searching for the Midline

Dear Students:
I am happy to announce that beginning September 14 through December 14, 2021, I will teach my Feldenkrais Class each Tuesday @ 11 am, (click here for more details). I promise that during one of those 14 classes I will teach in full, the Awareness Through Movement® lesson that I am featuring in this post.

Moshe Feldenkrais emphasized the importance of knowing where the actual midline is, so a student could converge his eyes at that point. When a person’s eyes meet at the middle, vision can be clear. The farther one’s eyes move to the left or right of the midpoint the less clear vision becomes. Moshe also highlighted this central line because when one finds it, the head can center itself along it’s axis. Someone that becomes conscious of balancing their head, can more evenly distribute weight through their legs.

Personally, I search for my the central axis all the time, because it allows me to function without any pain or restraints after having ankle surgery years ago. My joints can stay healthy and my eyesight in good shape when I explore lessons like the one I include here.

Finding the Midline through your Hands, Lesson:
1.Sit in a comfortable position at the edge of a chair or on the floor.  You can even pleasantly kneel if you like.
2. Place your hands together in front of your chest as if in prayer. Close your eyes and sense the back of your right hand.  Then sense the back of your left hand.  Which hand do you feel more sensations in?  Rest while sitting at the back of your chair or you can lie down on the floor.
3. In your starting position, with your eyes closed, slowly move your hands up towards the sky & return while your right eye pays attention to the back of your right hand in space. Where do you feel the hand the most clearly?  Do you know when and where you loose connection between the hand & eye?  Rest when you are no longer interested in the exploration.  Repeat the movements, going more slowly at the places where you loose awareness of your right hand & eye during the journey to & fro.  Rest.
4. Begin again, while keeping your eyes closed, move the hands from your chest, downwards & return.  Track the back of your right hand with your right eye, traveling down & on it’s way back to the starting point.  Is it easier or harder to sense your limb while moving downwards compared to upwards?  Rest.
5. Explore all the movements with closed eyes, while feeling the back of your left hand with your left eye, in motion.  Can you tell which hand is your dominant hand?  How do you know which is your non-dominant hand?  Which eye are you more familiar with?  Can you tell which eye you rely on more during your life for vision?
6.Study these movements with your eyelids closed while sensing the back of both hands & eyes moving in the direction above your head & downwards towards your belly.  Which hand do you loose awareness of first?  Become curious & slow down at the places where you are not tuned in to both hands & eyes at the same time.  Sense how your pelvis and vertebral column move in relation to your head and arms.

Sometimes when I exercise I experiment with myself similarly to the lesson above. For instance if I do pushups, I focus on the back of my non-dominant hand & eye during the first set. On the second set, I attend to the other side and throughout the third set, I focus on both eyes & hands. This helps to better center my head to foster more symmetrical use & strengthening of my muscles.

Other times when I am walking I combine my eye/hand awareness practice, with looking back and forth at objects at different distances as described in my post, Developing Childlike Eyes. I find it to be challenging & compelling to be mindful of many things at once. Have fun creating your own experiments & opening your eyes to new ways of being.

May finding the midline help you learn to develop your attention & understand in a novel way what the saying, “keep your head on straight” means. I hope to see you in class very soon!
~Donna

Developing Childlike Eyes

Dear Students:
I was walking around the neighborhood when I approached grandparents playing with a little boy on their driveway. The boy sensed me moving towards him and immediately looked up and smiled, and then went back to playing. The older couple did not respond or blink an eye in my direction. The beneficial habits of the little one, stood out to me that morning and inspired me to write this post.

There are many reasons why an adult would not reflexively turn towards an advancing neighbor, and I will not focus on them. Instead, let’s look at the importance of becoming aware of what some toddlers do naturally, to promote healthy eyes and movement. The child’s swift reactions, displayed why he can see clearly and move quickly. His eyes caught my movement and the rest of his body helped him to view more.

Becoming aware of some simple things that “people with clear vision” do, can help you to maintain and/or improve your eyesight and the way you organize movement. Motions and sight can improve greatly when the body can spontaneously follow the eyes’ invitation to move.

Curious, childlike habits such as looking at the details of a tiny bug and within a split second, marveling at a hopping bunny, and then studying a blade of grass, keep the eyeballs malleable. When examining an object up close, the eyeballs form a slightly different shape compared to when looking at scenery in the distance. Investigate this phenomenon on your own. Sit and feel if you can sense your eyeballs changing shape while focusing compared to gazing? The more the eyes transfigure themselves throughout the day, the healthier the eyes can become.

Keeping the Eyes Malleable Lesson:
1. Sit in a comfortable position and look at something up close and then far away - quickly go back and forth like this. 
2. Don’t “try to see”, instead just allow your eyes to change shape rapidly without expectations.  Rest afterwards.
3. Repeat this at three different distances, experiencing the malleable eyeballs at work.
4. If you wear glasses and feel prepared to do something differently with your eyes then try this without them. Teach yourself to become comfortable and interested in your vision no matter it’s quality.  Notice what distances you see better at.
5. You can also do this exploration while walking.  If you can walk and not bump into objects without spectacles on, then do so.  If not, keep wearing them until you are sure you can stroll around safely.

(Take lots of rests when using your eyes in a non-habitual way.  Signs that your eyes need a rest are feeling: dizzy, nauseous, tired, sleepy, uninterested, mentally unfocused. When this happens stop the exploration, sit down and take a break.  Come back to it when you feel refreshed or leave it for another day.)

I suggest when challenging your eyes in an unfamiliar manner, to get comfortable with any blurry vision you may have. Let vision come to you instead of straining your eyes to see something. Relaxed eyes see clearly and if you wait for yourself to make sense of what you’re looking at, eventually it can become lucid. It may take lots of practice to experience one second of crystal clear vision. When this happens it is a sign that you can turn a second into a minute, a minute into an hour, etc. All you need to do is form the kind of habits that will get you there!

May you gradually and consistently develop the customs of “one that can see clearly”. If you experiment with your eyes on a regular basis, you may find that you can explore longer each time before getting tired.
Stay tuned for the next several blog posts as I will give more tips on how to keep your eyes thriving. Starting on Sept. 14, 2021, I will begin teaching Feldenkrais classes on Tuesdays @ 11am. Peace!
~Donna

Transfer of Learning

Dear Students:
Moshe Feldenkrais explained that “learning how to learn” through his method, would help his students carry learning into all areas of life. I am grateful to have found this to be true in myself and my students. A most recent occurrence of this happened for my pupil, Joyce.

“[You will] acquire ease and accuracy in every task...  In everything and every interest, mental, abstract, and intellectual, or materialistic - in all of them you will be helped.  It will make anything you have to do more pleasurable, because there is no effort it in.”   ~ Moshe Feldenkrais, A Life in Movement, by Mark Reese, page 298;

Joyce shared with me that she had never enjoyed writing. Because of current events she found herself compiling extensive information that led to writing it down. As a result, Joyce wrote, “My Thoughts, Reflections & Questions about Covid 19”. After many months of editing she began to appreciate the process.

I shared Dr. Feldenkrais’s theory on learning with Joyce as I thought it related to her experience. I include her eloquent chronicle here:

My Thoughts, Reflections and Questions about Covid19 
~Joyce H., June 2021
The past 15 months have certainly been challenging, as we all have had to find our way navigating the turbulence this global crisis so abruptly brought into our lives. I don’t think anyone could’ve imagined how life could change so drastically in this span of time! It feels like our world is still in a fearful and chaotic state. My prayer is that we can each find inspiration, peace and hope for our future - individually, as families and collectively as a global family. 

To read Joyce’s “Research On Covid19” in full click here.

May you find value in the thoughtful research Joyce organized and freely shares with us. Peace to all on this beautiful earth!
~Donna

Finding My Voice

Dear Students:
During my younger years, I spoke with a very high pitched voice that seemed to give people permission to imitate it. I wasn’t sure if these imitators wanted to purposely undermine me but I was sure that it hurt my feelings every time. These interactions happened so often that I quickly learned to act like it didn’t bother me.

One day when I was working as an aide at a physical therapy clinic, I was helping a woman with exercises, when another aide asked me a question. After I answered him he repeated my words in an exaggerated squeaky manner. The woman I was working with immediately reprimanded him for making fun of me. She told him that she was a Voice Teacher and that to tease someone for the sound of their vocals was very rude and was a form of ridicule.

At that moment, I was in awe of this Voice Teacher. Without hesitating she was able to see that this co-worker was treating me unkindly and stood up for me when I couldn’t stand up for myself. Until then, I wasn’t even aware that mocking was mean-spirited and that I could confront the impersonators about it. This moment of awareness was the beginning of finding my own voice in tonality and in the ability to speak up for myself.

Soon after this, I entered my four year training to become a Feldenkrais Practitioner and my tone of speech changed. I began to organize my entire self differently. I believe, because the depth of my breathing expanded and the muscle tension around my abdominals and buttocks lessened, my tone of voice could explore lower octaves. It took me many years to recognize this because it happened gradually and organically. It wasn’t until I met a girl who vocalized similarly to my younger self that I realized people had stopped imitating me years before.

The Voice Teacher helped me to identify disrespect and how to speak up about it. This pivotal moment, along with Feldenkrais teaching me how to grow my movement & behavioral repertoire, has given me a new ability to confront and question others. Because of current situations, I am given regular opportunities to practice using my voice in ways I previously was not capable of. I am tremendously grateful for this when the lines have blurred for many, as to how to morally treat a fellow neighbor. Fortunately, each time I express how I wish to be treated, my delivery becomes more graceful and less stress inducing.

What I have found is that when I address individuals about their negative conduct, it gives them a possibility to become aware. Any type of awareness is a gift even if one doesn’t appreciate it at the time. Those that can receive these presents, can self reflect and use it as a catalyst to change for the better.

May you find awareness from unexpected sources that inspire you to improve your social interactions, during these trying times. The video I have included above, is a nice way to explore moving your diaphragm in unique ways to help you find the range of your voice. Peace to all on Earth!
~Donna

Need to Know Information

Dear Students:
I was a newly practicing Feldenkrais practitioner in the early 2000’s when I had my first appointment with a little boy diagnosed with autism. At the time, I knew very little about vaccines. During the initial interview with the boy’s Mother, she showed me a photo of her son before an injection of a vaccine and immediately afterwards. The difference was devastating and very revealing to me. Before the vaccine shot the pictures of her son showed that he was a typically developing child that looked vividly engaged and happy in life. In the photo immediately after the injection, his eyes were lifeless, his face appeared vacant and he looked extremely ill. Subsequently he developed autism. It was hard for me to fathom that the boy in front of me that day, was the same boy as in the “before” photos.

When I accepted her view, without a doubt, that the inoculation was the cause of her son’s harms, the Mother sighed with relief. Back then, I didn’t fully understand why that moment of validation was so important for her. I soon found out, that most parents who speak out about child vaccination traumas are ostracized by majority of their peers and doctors. Because of how exhausting it is to be attacked in this way most parents hesitate or don’t talk to many people about it. Today I understand it is my responsibility to share what I know about vaccines with all of you.

Recently, Jennie, an adult student of mine thoughtfully summarized some important, need to know, facts about current vaccines. She boldly discloses the facts so others can make informed decisions about whether or not to get vaccinated.

My name is Jennie Donahue. I have an auto immune condition called ITP: Immune Thrombocytopenia Pupura, a blood clotting disorder that affects the white blood cell count. I have conclusively linked this disorder to the MMR vaccine I received in the 1980s. I can't report this or sue anyone. There are currently reports worldwide flooding in of severe injuries and deaths due to Covid vaccines as a result of acute cases of ITP and other blood clotting disorders. Clearly after 30 years vaccine companies still can't produce a vaccine that doesn't affect the blood cells. I already have an auto immune vaccine injury that is the same one harming people currently. According to the CDC, I will not be exempt from receiving the current Covid vaccine. Who is protecting me?  To read Jennie's full story called, "Covid 19 Injection/ Vaccine Information" click here.

May you impartially consider, this non-mainstream information & video with Dr. Ryan Cole, and then continue to thoroughly investigate it on your own. Critically Thinking with Dr. T and Dr. P, is a great place to start your research.
Peace to all on Earth!
~Donna

Our Innate Rights

Dear Students:
Over the past two decades I have had the great honor to witness my Feldenkrais students heal and grow by virtue of their incredible neurological systems. Through my hands I have felt the minds and bodies of men, women, children and babies create harmony around their dis-eases and injuries.

Witnessing others heal naturally always reinforces my choice to recover from my own ailments using remedies from nature and alternative health modalities.
Because I understand how I can innately heal myself, I do not wish to put any drug or man-made substances into my body. I also deeply know that this is my inherent right and no man or woman can take it away from me without my permission.

I write this to let it be known to those that may not realize it, that no one, whether acting as a boss, judge, president, or governor can claim authority over your body. Neither can a legal act or statue take power over your right to choose what you put into your body and temple. When you give your consent by silently following “policies” and “mandates” then you give jurisdiction to another. Trespasses such as a person: requiring you to wear a fabric over your face; placing a laser fever scanner on your forehead; inserting a foreign object up your nostril; and/or injecting an inorganic material into your vein; can be stopped if you learn the proper steps to do so.

To stand up for the rights you are born with, you must first know the difference between moral laws and artificial, legal acts & statues. When one invokes the lawful side of the court the duties of the presiding public servant is to protect you and your property from harm. When one knowingly or unknowingly invokes the legal side of the court the acting Judge is sworn to uphold the acts and statues created by corporations. If you wish to learn how to prevent unlawful violations from being carried out upon your body, and property then continue to read about some valuable, lawful resources:

Jon Little: Jon mentored me for three years when I fought for my right to not have a smart meter installed on my home. He taught me how to write lawful notices and in the end how to stand with courage and strength before a man acting as a magistrate. He will guide you through your personal process and I am sure you will become empowered along the way, as I did. To work, one on one with Jon, contact him at: suijurisguide@gmail.com. You can also take a Lawful Group course that Jon teaches with the man, Greg Paul (see the video of Greg above). To learn more about the course visit: lawformankind.thesovereignsway.com/home1 . Jon also teaches with Jennifer Goodwin and you can learn more about that course at: LawCommonToI.com .

Christopher James: I believe Christopher is not working with people individually at this time, but his website has a wealth of knowledge for you to delve into: AWarriorCalls.com . The video at the beginning of this post is from his website.

Alphonso Faggiolo: Alphonse resides in Pennsylvania and is taking the courts by storm with his lawful knowledge. He freely shares information at: iamhassentmetoyou.com

K.L.: During this podcast, K.L. gives details about how he taught one of his lawful students to successfully stand up for his rights.

May this information start you on a path of deeper learning so you can fully understand how to protect yourself and family from being trespassed upon by another. Peace to all of you.
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.