ATTENDING TO ATTENTION: The Feldenkrais Method®️

Time to Play!

Mindfulness, often looked yo improve our attention, starts in the body. The Feldenkrais Method taps into this skill by using gentle, slow and mindful movement to enhance self-awareness. This helps direct attention to our body’s movement and sensations to act as ‘mindfulness in motion’ and be less hijacked from our habits.

Here are many of the references discussed with the latesT OPTP Protalk. And remember to move with curiosity.

Books:

ATTENTION SPAN; A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity

EXTENDED MIND: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain

MINDFUL SPONTANEITY: Returning to the Movement Nature Meant

OPEN-FOCUS LIFE: Practice to Develop Attention and Awareness for Optimal Well-Being

THE FELDENKRAIS METHOD: Learning Through Movement-see Stacy’s chapter on Pilates and Feldenkrais

EVERYTHING MOVES: How Biotensegrity informs Human movement

Studies:

Divided Attention acoustically

Attention Shifting

Attention in the digital world

Nature: Hub for Attention Studies

Courses and Classes:

Stacy’s Website class info and private sessions

Upcoming Online Course with UCLA: Attending to Your Attention online series

Weekly hybrid Awareness Through Movement courses

Feldenkrais Project: recorded classes, free and subscription

Applied Biotensegrity in Physiotherapy

Bones for Life: Applied Feldenkrais for osteoporosis

Videos:

Short animated film, excellent intro to the Feldenkrais Method

Other Resources:

App: Pauseture- Nervous System Regulation Through Movement 7 day free trial

Stacy’s Huffington Post Blog

Smartroller Products: Don’t forget to catch the sale through OPTP this week.

Grief and the neuroscience: mentioned in Stacy’s talk

Podcast recordings:

Stacy on Pain

Feldenkrais and Attention

CHECK BACK FOR UPDATED RESOURCES AND FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO STACY IF YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS. Smartroller1@me.com

 

HEALING TO LEARN: Being Patiently Patient

“Remember the whole as you explore the parts.” BARBARA CONABLE

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and the numbers are rising. Sadly, the Federal funding freeze will pause breast cancer research.

I am one of many women who is grateful for recovering through scientific discovery.

I had the privilege to share my story at this weekend’s National Feldenkrais Conference. Here are many of the references I drew from. I hope you can pass them forward.

Survivors and their support

I have categorized them here, please comment if you have one to add.

Breast Cancer.org

Rest and the research:

To promote learning

The Rest Test, largest International study

Lifelong learning:

Curiosity and aging

Curiosity and learning

Biotensegrity:

Biotensegrity archive

Lymph:

Self care

Modified garment

Osteoporosis:

Prevention and classes

Movement:

General modified PT home strategies

Books and other readings:

Nature and the Mind

Quench: Hydration as a key way for healing

Interview with Gaby by Elizabeth Beringer: Feldenkrais Journal No.5

Feldenkrais lessons derived from Feldenkrais Education and Ralph Strauch recordings

Tools:

Small inexpensive self care 5” balls

Smartroller products

Podcasts:

10% Happier

I will continue to add more resources, so stay tuned~

THE HIDDEN YOU

Let’s take a look and start here~

This week I spoke about developing a movement practice that sticks.to be informed with Your whole self, will be a journey not a destination. Here are some resources that May guide you through a more inclusive practice to move more optimally.

Remember books?

How about a course?

Self exploration~ Somanaut fun

Please share your new insights and reach out with any questions.

Calm your nervous system

As physical therapists, we are always looking for innovative non-pharmacological approaches to pain management. We actively seek out therapeutic tools that offer our clients effective self-care solutions. Among these are foam rollers.

I sculpted the Smartroller® with human anatomy in mind to create greater comfort for my clients. This allows them to rest on it longer, breathe with freedom and engage more deeply (and without incurring more pain). The increased comfort of lying on the Smartroller encourages users to tune into subtle interoceptive cues and find alternatives to painful, habitual movement patterns. Diminished signals from over-active pain responses can then clear the way for more efficient movement possibilities.[1]

The unique configuration also increases affordances for rocking movements. Patients can explore self-soothing by gently rocking back and forth, much like rocking a baby in a cradle. They typically find that slow, rhythmical rocking softens bound up tension, increases their range of comfortable motion, and decreases hyper-reactive responses to sensory input. [2] Once these responses are down regulated, there is an improved body awareness to tune into subtle interoceptive cues that offer alternatives to painful actions.

“The Smartroller challenges the whole nervous system in a safer way than foam rollers.”
— Dr. Carol M. Davis, PT, DPT, MS, FAPTA

Less Pain

More Gain

By learning through a Less pain, More gain approach, patients and clients can then:

•     Move with less restrictions by increasing skill, not will

•     Find new ways to access a wider range of comfortable rest positions for imagery-based learning

•     Discover how to refine easier breathing possibilities

•    Learn ways to return to activities that bring enjoyment back into their lives

 

The Smartroller® can empower our clients by gently supporting embodied self-education and safer, open movement exploration, which is the gateway to acquiring higher functional skills—every therapist’s ideal outcome.

 


[1] Paolucci, T., Zangrando, F., Iosa, M., De Angelis, S., Marzoli, C., Piccinini, G., & Saraceni, V. M. (2016). Improved interoceptive awareness in chronic low back pain: a comparison of Back school versus Feldenkrais method. Disability and Rehabilitation, 39(10), 994–1001. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2016.1175035

[2] Sawant, V. (2022) Effect of facilitated movement in reducing vaccination-induced pain in young infants: a randomized control trial Yadav et al.
Bulletin of the National Research Centre (2022) 46:117 https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-022-00807-y

 

REIMAGINING SELF-CARE: MOVING BEYOND HABITS

FOAM ROLLER FOR WHEREVER YOU GO!

Biotensegrity in Biology: http://www.tensegrityinbiology.co.uk

Free Feldenkrais lessons: https://feldenkraisproject.com/collections/

To order Smartroller tools and to hear Stacy’s talk: https://www.optp.com/SMARTROLLER

Using the principles of the Feldenkrais Method® and the concept of biotensegrity, you can explore for your clients, or yourself to create new learning pathways. These tools will refine body awareness to help self-organize and move better.

As with any movement practice, make sure you seek health advice if you suffer from any condition that movement may be contraindicated. These are movement explorations for experimentation to help discover better ways to move with ease. For the best results, avoid moving into discomfort, move more slowly, and use smaller movements to assist learning something new. Imagining movement is always a wonderful option.

The rolled blanket was introduced to me by the late master Feldenkrais teacher, Dr. Ruthy Alon. This inspired me to create a foam roller to access these benefits. With the right conditions, the Smartroller® can help you self-organize movement for the better.

Figure eight~ Standing can be a difficult long term position for many people and once you can sense open space in the body, you can access more ease in standing. I learned this from a Feldenkrais colleague when we taught a high heeled workshop and I have used it ever since.

Walking scan: By scanning upright posture while walking, many of our kinks melt off without specific direction. That is the beauty of our self organization.

Shoulder opener: How many times have you noticed your shoulders tighten involuntarily without your conscious consent? This movement exploration/idea offers you a way to feel more ease in your shoulders and makes it easier to carry over in your daily postures.

Floss your nervous system: Jiggle like you did as a kid, here is an idea! Also, tickle your nervous system with a head massager~ They make great patient gifts 😊

And of course the Feldenkrais Method: for researching, Neuroplasticity, or bio-plasticity and applications.

For more self care resources, here are a few on hydration, biotensegrity, restorative soup, and more~

Strengthen Your Mind, Educate Your Body Using the Smartroller®

For more information, read on:

We start out playing with toys to explore ourselves and our environment, and this process never stops. The evolution of the Smartroller® was designed from Dr Stacy Barrows background as a PT and her Feldenkrais® training of somatic education. Dr. Feldenkrais, a physicist and martial artist, originally introduced the foam roller to assist sensory motor learning and to promote higher states of body awareness. Building upon his ideas, the Smartroller delivers an improved integrated experience to deepen motor learning. Stacy wanted to help her students return to this movement intelligence to find optimal self-improvement.

In this five-class series, we will use the Smartroller to explore guided movement puzzles that are designed to engage in organic learning to discover novel solutions for everyday needs .Stacy is excited to follow the Smartroller Guide to Optimal Health to support her plan to help all her students move well and find their true strength.

A peek at what you will be learning~

ROCK TO ROLL: Self-care for finding easy ways to undo body tension to prepare for action

WIDEN YOUR WINGSPAN: Learn how to open your chest and organize shoulder mechanics that follow tensegrity principles

BALANCE FROM WITHIN: Do ‘this before you do that’; build internal orientation through better sensory awareness

PERCH YOUR POSTURE: Discover through mining multiple positions, how to organize an improved functional posture

LOAD UP WITH FELDENKRAIS: ‘Align then load’, to reduce strain and coordinate efficient body mechanics

Join Stacy and all somanauts, to discover the awe of moving well.

Click here for more details.

Posture or Posturing

ART BY SINESTRA F. BARROWS

ART BY SINESTRA F. BARROWS

Awhile back, I was able to contribute to the Huffington Post blog. It was at the time they reached out to people in their fields of expertise.  What a wonderful opportunity to create a conversation about posture and somatic education to set the record straight. 

 

Since then, the research has continued to support my understanding by working away from shaming people about their posture (a large problem we see as physical therapists and sometimes from the PT’s themselves). We are now recognizing how important an inner sense of our bodies is, to access a posture of easy alignment.

 

This week I’ll be teaching for the LGBQT+ Feldenkrais Festival.  This subject seemed like a great way to promote feeling good in our bodies, while finding support with grace and comfort.    

  

Here are some resources from this talk. Please feel free to share with others:

TOOLS FOR FITNESS~KNOWLEDGE FOR HEALTH

© International Feldenkrais® Federation Archive, Robert Golden

Smart Somatic Solutions

Over the years, and following my Somanaut curiosity, I have built Smart Somatic Solutions to bridge gaps and support learning. If you joined me for our Pro Talk through OPTP, here are some of the references that I discussed. In addition there are offers that support knowledge for optimal wellness. You can still register HERE and get access to all the Pro Talks.

 

#SmartSomaticSolutions don’t forget to share!!! Click here to watch




Is available to webinar registrants at 10% discount (List price: $45.00 / £33.00). Use code optp10 to claim this discount. Click here

make sure to find it…

#SmartSomaticSolutions