Smart Solutions!

2010 PMA Conference booth

I attended the 2010 PMA Conference yesterday to introduce the new Smart Somatic products, Smartroller® Links and Sits . The speakers were so exceptional that the program drew an audience of over 900 attendees.
I was pleased to find our products sold out. Fortunately, I was able to use the floor samples to help the attendees explore the products inspiration, somatic learning through the Feldenkrais Method®.
The interest also drew attention to other Feldenkrais products that OPTP offered, especially the Collected Papers of Moshe Feldenkrais, EMBODIED WISDOM. The additional bonus was when Marie-Jose Blom debuted the Smartroller in her workshop. Most people in the Pilates world can appreciate this amazing contribution. I look forward to introducing the Feldenkrais Method with the Smart products in LA  next month to more fitness and heath professionals.

Feldenkrais® on the Golf Course

I have had the privilege over the last 15 years to spend a day giving hands on therapy to golfers that are playing to honor the Police and Fire Department Memorial Foundation. This one was hosted for the South Bay at the Los Verdes Golf Course and Century City PT was invited to donate Physical Therapy. The weather was spectacular. I am at the first tee, and this was my view as I worked with the golfers.My services were to offer manual therapy to the participants as they played through and I used this opportunity to integrate the Feldenkrais Method to assist many of them to find ways to move better. I incorporated the gym ball and the Smartroller® to improve such things as their shoulder turn while they reduced their effort to avoid over gripping their club. Many of the players had over use injuries and I used small movements with my hands that lead them to find alternative ways to use other parts of their bodies to change their movement habits. They even found better ways to balance as they swung their clubs. This is done in a matter of a few minutes. That is what is so amazing when you improve body awareness. The results are instant, and can be long lasting if the client is able to notice the changes they make. Golfers are generally interested in noticing themselves to improve on the links. That is why I enjoy working with golfers. Even though they can be a bit superstitious about exploring something new, they are often excited when you can show them how to golf easier and how to avoid strain. I tell them that golf was one of the very first mind body sports. In golf, if you are not mindful, your results are immediate and will let you know how you are doing. 

I look forward to next year. I am so fortunate that each year more golfers find my services and ask for more help.

For more information on Feldenkrais and Golf

THE YEAR OF THE BRAIN: Neuroplasticity picture by Scott Barrows

What a great time to be interested in the study of neuroscience. Now there is a magazine on every newsstand that has pictures of brains with captions like FEED YOUR BRAIN, HOW THE BRAIN REWIRES ITSELF, BUILD A BRAIN, etc.
As a PT/Feldenkrais practitioner™ I have been very intrigued about the study of neuroscience. I watch changes happen when a client accesses their own human potential by turning the learning switch on when they move to learn. The key is helping people know that they have these powerful tools. Movement is our first language and when movement hurts, we can turn off exploring our world this way. Pain that lasts long enough like chronic pain can change our body maps (holographic maps in our brain that tell us where we are in space that are effected through our learning experiences). This can happen in such a way that we no longer have the adaptability to move in many directions.
When pain has lasted long after an injury, pain can become chronic.Often we address treating pain as a cause and effect problem, but pain can also be learned. Once this happens, many associations that were learned at the time of encountering pain signals can also trigger a pain response. Now you are not just dealing with the unhealed pain but the pain that has been learned along the way. Scientists are now exploring chronic pain as something truly different than acute pain.
When I work with clients that have had pain for a long period of time, I start to help them improve their body awareness through exploring areas of their body that does not hurt. The pain source is not ignored, in fact, it is clarified. Then, as the client searches for sensing other areas that have other sensations, there can be other brain signals that are aroused to diminish the heightened pain response. Comfort scales, easy movement scales and other sensory tools like listening to movement can be very creative ways to explore movement without pain. Imagining movement without pain is highly effective, but this may be very difficult for people who have had to live with long term pain.
The Feldenkrais Method® and mindfulness training through meditation are highly successful tools to assist in this process. Both strategies allow people to explore at their own rate and to access the brain in a way that encourages neurogenesis, the capacity to reorganize the brain pertaining to experiential learning.

FELDENKRAIS® FOR BALANCE

I was thrilled to see a fellow colleague publish her study: "Feldenkrais Method® Balance Classes Improve Balance in Older Adults: A Controlled Trial": http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/nep055v1

If you read through this study you will find a good definition of the Feldenkrais Method and the functional applications of this work using movement with attention to accomplish higher motor skills that are needed for balance. The Feldenkrais Method as defined by Connors et. al. is an exploratory learning approach in which participants are verbally guided through movement sequences aimed at improvement of body awareness and movement organization. The study had “26 participants in the treatment group engaged in twice-weekly Feldenkrais classes that were specifically tailored to address balance issues. The combination of exercises was named “Getting Grounded Gracefully” and lasted a total of 10 weeks. An “activities specific” questionnaire, a physical test known as the Four Square Step Test (FSST), and “self-selected gait speed” (walking speed) were assessed before and after the trial. All measures of balance and mobility were improved in the Feldenkrais treatment group. In addition, most of the active participants noted benefits with regard to body image and a greater ability to engage in everyday activities, such as walking pets and climbing slopes." Healthy Fellow: http://www.healthyfellow.com/275/the-feldenkrais-method/

Also this week I had the pleasure to see another colleague create a workshop called "High Heeled Boot-camp using the Feldenkrais Method". Here the instructor uses Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement™ lessons to assist women to wear high heels safely. http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7879452

Two different applications that address balance needs using the Feldenkrais Method.

Lets face it, we all need to find better ways to balance and in my opinion there is no better approach than using the Feldenkrais Method.

Swimming and the Feldenkrais Method®

My last posting on this blog followed when I had just finished teaching to Health and Fitness professionals on the Feldenkrais Method. I have since had some time to reflect on my thoughts of where I am today with Fitness and Feldenkrais. I started my power point presentation with a short story on one of the ways I discovered I was a kinesthetic learner. My parents and I were at a neighbor’s pool and I decided to jump in. I was under the age of 4. Our wonderful neighbor jumped in fully dressed to rescue me. Once we were both out of the pool, I proceeded to jump in again. This is when my parents decided to start me with swim lessons.

I have returned to the pool again. I do this time to time. In the past it usually was attached to competition, i.e. triathlons and ocean races, but this time it was different. I usually have certain drills that I do to push me and then I follow with something fun. What felt new to me this time was that it all had become fun. I found I could continue to fantasize and move towards a relaxed readiness the way Michael Phelps inspired us to do. But this took my Feldenkrais and athletic training to the next level. I began to play with the strokes to see how I could pace for strength and play at the same time. Wow! I found that I was thrilled to return to the backstroke because of the pleasure of swimming with sensing the two symmetrical sides. I also found that the backstroke became more interesting because my breathing was simplified. Since my face was open to breathe in anyway I chose, it was fascinating to see how taking that effort away created even more ways to follow with more observations.  As I watched the pace clock I noticed that my timing was also improving. 

My habits of working out had been so ingrained and through this process the water baby I started out being had returned. I finished the work out with resting on my back with my ankles on foam tools. As I floated on my back I could tune out sound and feel the ease of floating while I observed my breathing and comfort. I have often thought that my kinesthetic curiosity was linked to my athletics and over the years I have been fascinated to find that this inspired learning had existed in many other ways.I am looking forward to my next time in the pool to continue to develop new ideas to address this renewed awareness.

Go to www.californiaeducationconnection.com for the next upcoming course on Feldenkrais and Fitness