A Feldenkrais Blog

Hi Students:
During this time of year may you make time to create a peaceful state within so those around you can benefit from your tranquil energy.  Taking a few minutes to explore parts of an Awareness Through Movement lesson that you remember can help you produce such a state.  If you need to spark your memory before exploring you can visit my video page for ideas.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. [One] experiences [oneself] . . . as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of [one’s] consciousness. . . . Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. ~Albert Einstein

I am happy to announce that FeldenkraisBlog.net has been chosen as one of the top 25 Feldenkrais Blogs coming in at number 17! Check it out here.

To see a sneak preview of my workshop schedule for 2019 click here.
Have a peaceful and revitalizing holiday season!
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Dear Students:
November is the month that reminds me to reflect and honor all that I am grateful for.  Every day I feel very fortunate being able to teach the Feldenkrais Method and help people transform, heal and empower themselves.  I am thankful to all my students that support me in more ways than one.  I learn more from all of you than I could ever express in words.  Your smiling faces brighten my days always.

It has been a rocky yet enriching year handling the many challenges that accompany my sensitivity to electromagnetic, wireless energy.  Dealing with the installation of smart meters on homes and public buildings is a lesson of many constraints and has helped me change some unnecessary habits.  I thank all of you who help, strengthen and stand with me along this path.  Without all of you plus the Feldenkrais Method, I don’t know where I would be at this moment.

On another appreciative note, I am offering one more 6-week series, evening class this year (in addition to my morning class).   The first class begins on Tuesday, November 6 @ 5:15 pm.  Click here for more details.
Peace,
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Dear Students:
When I realized that my ability to concentrate was increasing with each Awareness Through Movement lesson, I decided to take it a step further and explore in a similar way while doing daily activities.  I hoped this would soften my attitude towards monotonous duties. I am happy to say I found this to be true and that I received other benefits as well.

When I pay close attention to what I am doing and how I am doing it, I can turn a perceived burden into a thoughtful experience. But I have to remember to tune in, first. I found it hard to do this when engaged in something I dislike doing.  So I decided to use the dreadful feelings that come up when carrying out a chore, as signals to remind me to stop “sleeping”.

For instance, when I sense that I don’t feel like brushing my teeth, I am able to notice myself rushing through it. Becoming conscious of this instantly allows me to slow down and lighten my grip on the toothbrush.  Then I can attend to each tooth with more curiosity and comfort.  The two minutes of brushing seems to go much faster when I do this and it is much more enjoyable.

I also use these skills when I become aware of my mind racing.  If I discover that I am not able to comprehend a sentence while reading, I tell myself that the repetitive thought can wait. Then I can concentrate fully on the written words. Due to continued practice, I love to read today!  This is an accomplishment that took lots of practice.

My growing attention span continues to give color to once bland tasks and helps me let go of dark thoughts & feelings quicker. As a result, patience comes easier making my work and relationships more harmonious.  This greatly encourages me to keep “waking up” to every day life and I hope it inspires you as well! 
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

 

Dear Students:
The following quote by Moshe Feldenkrais is one that I enjoy contemplating.  I encourage you to read it and allow it to sink in.

“This cosmic Reality is so immense and overwhelming that it is only when we are at our best that we can catch glimpses of it.” ~Moshe Feldenkrais, The Elusive Obvious

By learning to concentrate and listen through Feldenkrais lessons we can begin a journey towards finding our human potential.  Striving to know ourselves on a deeper level can be the beginning of reflecting the cosmic reality, inside and outside of us, that Dr. Feldenkrais refers to above.

In this fast paced society of overloaded schedules and distracting technology from “television to twitter” we barely give ourselves even a second to consider our potential and/or self purpose.

Through the Feldenkrais Method we learn how to lessen the intensity of physical, emotional & behavioral habits.  As a result, silent pauses begin to arise inside our minds.  By creating and embracing quiet moments we are given the chance to consider such things as self understanding and the mysteries of the universe.

Dr. Feldenkrais believed that world peace was possible and that the Feldenkrais Method could help create it.  I agree with him and to help support your efforts towards inner peace, I am offering an additional Feldenkrais class and another workshop this year.

"For the fact is, unless you offer the best of yourselves, the world will never be different." ~Pope Francis, July 30, 2016

Creating self-serenity one Feldenkrais lesson at a time can be an enriching and challenging road to unknown possibilities!  Let’s reflect & create peace together!
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Dear Students:
Long before the Feldenkrais Method was born, Moshe Feldenkrais was influenced by the teaching of Jigoro Kano, the creator of Judo. While Dr. Feldenkrais was learning Judo, he was also developing his own method in many ways.  One thing that he adopted from Jigoro Kano’s teachings is the importance of learning without self pressure or competition. 

“It is not important to be better than someone else, but to be better than yesterday.” ~ Jigoro Kano

Moshe Feldenkrais not only taught Judo and his own method, but also many other subjects, such as physics & math; he was able to help his students excel because of his unconventional methods of teaching.  Moshe was such a successful teacher because he knew how to teach his students how to learn.  Below is a section of a manual he wrote explaining his theory behind learning.

 Moshé Feldenkrais, Learn to Learn: A manual to help you get the best results from the Awareness Through Movement® lessons:
 
"The Awareness Through Movement® lessons will help you to reach your inborn potentiality in the best way and avoid giving you just another opportunity for using yourself in the accustomed way which led you, initially, to seek a better one.

By reducing the urge to achieve, and attending also to the means for achieving, we learn easier. Achieving-we lose the incentive for learning and, therefore, accept a lower level than the potential we are endowed with. When we delay the final achievement by attending efficiently to our means, we set ourselves a higher level of achievement if we are not aware that that is what we are doing. On knowing what to achieve before we have learned to learn, we can reach only the limit of our ignorance, which is often general. Such limits are intrinsically lower than those we can foresee after knowing better."~Moshe Feldenkrais
 Click here to read the full manual.

The video that I have included is a great example of what “learning to learn” looks like.  During the rest of your summer adventures may you learn to become a better version of yourself in a gentle and pleasing way.
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Hi Students:
Change can occur within a split second when the will to change is combined with self awareness and the dedication to try & try again! Forming a better way of “being in the world” increases as your thoughts, emotions, movements & behaviors come more into consciousness. Following is an exploration that can help you in your endeavors to change compulsive habits especially when you apply what you learn.

Habits are called habits because you do not have to think when you are doing them.  It is hardest to be aware when engaged in mindless behavior.  Altering uncontrollable habits can happen faster by becoming aware of more than one of it’s components.   For example, knowing the emotion that obsessive house cleaning brings up, can later become a “warning signal” that helps you see how you are behaving.

By observing yourself from a different view point it becomes possible to halt a compulsion if you choose. If you succeed in recognizing your “resentment of having to clean” you can pause before engaging in endless chores. Allowing yourself to be still for one second can be the beginning of self-change.  If you do this often enough you may discover what truly drives you to engage in the over indulgent act.  The result may be scrubbing the bath tub with less intensity which can weaken the impulse to over clean. 

In the case of compulsive exercising, recognizing the words of the inner drill sergeant that forces you to exercise can be the moment that you become aware.  Being fully present in the uncomfortable moments that lead up to the addictive behavior, can help you discover some counterintuitive beliefs behind it.  A moment of truth could initiate you to become kinder to yourself. 

If it is easier to become aware of your movements, then this is the avenue to take to change a compulsion.  You can bring about a moment of pause by sensing how your fingers move across a cell phone.  This can help you feel when excessive phone surfing leads to hand pain.  By repeating this process you may prevent repetitive injuries from developing and increase your attention span at the same time.

Sitting quietly for a second at a time can be the beginning of establishing an enriching relationship with yourself & others. An accumulation of intermittent one second breaks throughout your days can result in becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. Remember that bad habits are not who you are and when you face them they too shall pass.
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Hi Students:
When I can successfully listen to myself without judgement it feels like experiencing a breath of fresh air. I am finding that portals of once undiscovered realms are opening up inside of myself because of this.  I find that the same rule follows when I unconditionally tune into others. But first it is essential to witness myself without opinions before I am able to return the favor to my neighbors.

My wish is to bring each student one step closer to this state of mind during my next workshop, Awareness Through Breath on June 2, 2018.   I will teach Feldenkrais lessons that will help students learn how to observe breathing without trying to change it. Students may find a direct connection between improved quality of breath and state of mind as a result.

“The best way to improve breathing is to use the entire breathing apparatus.” ~Moshe Feldenkrais

By becoming aware of sometimes disregarded parts of yourself that facilitate breathing, may you find new meaning to the act of taking a breath of fresh air.  I hope to see you at the workshop!
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home or to find out about products that can help electromagnetic sensitivity click here.

Dear Students:
I feel that the age of activism is alive and well and is gaining momentum every day.  As I watch people standing up for their rights a lot of obstacles are surfacing and it is viable to be able to help ourselves in those moments.  Sense memories can become strong deterrents when faced with a road block if we do not become aware when they lead to habitual responses.  Awareness can help us not to be ruled by compulsive thoughts, feelings and actions. 

I will now apply this to my current state of affairs.  This month I will be standing up for my rights to protect my home from the harmful effects of smart meters. I will do this before five lawyers and a judge at a hearing. 

I have never enjoyed dealing with authority figures so the actions that have led to this consequence have been accompanied with many growing pains.  My habitual response to persons in power has been to cower before them.  Knowing this, I employ the awareness I have gained through the Feldenkrais Method in order to alter my ways.  When I  am able to pause and sense exactly how I physically recoil in the face of authority I am one step closer to standing up for myself.

For example if I sense my habitual visceral reaction of nausea, diarrhea, and elevated heart rate it becomes possible for me to react differently than I have in the past.  Making the conscious connection that I physically manifest these symptoms by squeezing my jaw, holding my breath and tightening my abdominal muscles allows me to cease the unneeded tensing.  In that moment my visceral responses can subside and I can then foster my behavioral growth and well being.

Finding myself in this paradox of learning how to face authority in non-habitual ways has left me grateful for the heaps of empowering lessons I have gained. I believe, through self-awareness we can create a better tomorrow for all on the Earth!
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home the following videos will explain the successful steps you need to take: episode 1 and episode 2. After watching both episodes print out the documents.  If you have any questions and want support come to a Town Hall Meeting or call me at 717.898.3359 and I can help you.

Dear Students:
I have talked many times in past posts about how we can’t fully express ourselves without the help of body language and it is one of the reasons I am so drawn to the Feldenkrais Method.  I was recently put in a situation where words could not help me explain a wonderful experience I had in nature.  Luck has it that below are the written words of part of a conversation I had with a newspaper reporter on why I was venturing outside in the snow.

“The lake was speaking,” she recalled. It was amazing.  It was this universal sound. It was this sound that must be like when you’re in outer space.  It wasn’t cracking.  It was this astral sound.  I sat there for quite awhile and was mesmerized by it.” ~Donna Bervinchak

Now for a fun lesson, watch the video of me saying these exact same words to see if you pick up anything more from my unspoken communication. What information did you get from my gestures, facial expressions and vocal intonations?  Does it seem like a different message?  If so, why? From this experiment, can you tell if you listen more with your eyes, ears, heart, gut, etc.?

On another note I am happy to tell you that I purchased a product that is helping me with my sensitivity to electromagnetic fields.  It is called the Total Shield and because of it I am getting stronger and am getting ready to offer Functional Integration sessions again.
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home the following videos will explain the successful steps you need to take: episode 1 and episode 2. After watching both episodes print out the documents.  If you have any questions when filling them out feel free to call me at 717.898.3359 and I can help you.

Dear Students:
This month my weekly Feldenkrais students pleasantly surprised me and showered me with love on a Tuesday after class. They honored me with heart felt words of appreciation, endearments, and gift certificates to my favorite market.  Tears came to my eyes as their support cocooned me like a warm blanket.  These dedicated Feldenkrais students are the most consistent group of people that I have taught throughout the years and they bring me inspiration and joy each week. My thanks go out to all of them for freely giving to me!

Love is the most powerful energy in the Universe and because of it I thrive while I protect myself from the harmful effects of smart meters.  I believe that the new year will enlighten more people of the truth as well as empower more to righteously stand for what is best for all on the earth. In a blink of an eye I will be practicing again and will offer Functional Integration sessions to you in a pristine office.

A smart meter is most likely attached to your house or workplace so I suggest to learn the facts about them.  People all over the world are developing negative health effects caused by them.  I am humbly grateful to my family, friends and community for helping me in very different ways during this journey.  The seeds that we planted this year will see the light in 2018. I can’t wait to see the fruits of our dreams!
~Donna

F.Y.I.: To get a smart meter removed from your home the following videos will explain the successful steps you need to take: episode 1 and episode 2. After watching both episodes print out the documents.  If you have any questions when filling them out feel free to call me at 717.898.3359 and I can help you.