Moving Forward~

I want to start this off by thanking so many people that are on the front lines. Sadly, I have witnessed many heroes in hospital settings because of a dear friend having an accident and my beloved aunt in her final hours of life. The experience is surreal at best. Imagine not being able to comfort your mother when just a hug will suffice while her only sister is passing. My mother, like many others, is in the very high risk group. To comfort her without keeping social distance would put her at a higher risk as well.

So where do we go from here? I’m listening to a very meaningful podcast, Following Harriet. I am reminded of the enduring human spirit. I am not claiming that I am near the noble spirit of Harriet Tubman, but listening to her history emboldens me at this time.

Like many, I am exploring options, which is what Feldenkrais teachings have helped me understand deeply. I am also feeling the support from my Physical Therapy Associations on how to act with a healthcare license and provide the safest care I am able.

I am getting up to speed on virtual teaching with the support of my beautiful colleagues, Allison Rapp and Larry Goldfarb to name a few. Looks like I will finally teach Smartroller®️ classes online soon, thank you for your patience. And I hope to teach more virtual classes with my dear friend Cindy Fraser and the lovely staff at Santa Monica Yoga studio. Be well, and stay tuned for more announcements!

Bob and Ms. Bones meet

~COMING BACK

It has been awhile since I’ve posted here, but time has been more elusive lately. I recently closed my PT clinic after 24 years and I now work solo just down the street. Although I miss many parts of the practice, i.e. a great partner and staff, I am relieved from the stress that running a healthcare practice had become. I am able to listen to my own advice, take time to reflect and notice.

As a result, I have a wonderful space that allows me to be the integrative practitioner I have become. in addition, I was able to reach out to find alternative spaces to teach Feldenkrais® classes. This has been the bonus of my new work life. I am now teaching at Santa Monica Yoga to great life long learners, and will be teaching for UCLA’s extension program this Winter segment. One of the Feldenkrais class participants is a journalist. She wrote beautifully about what Feldenkrais offers people that suffer from pain.

I am looking forward to this new chapter in life. I feel very grateful for the opportunity to continue doing what I have loved to do, supporting and helping others.

Four Ways to Relieve Stress Amy Bowman, OPTP Staff Writer - May 21, 2019

What were you doing the last time you felt calm, comfortable in your body, free of stress, and positive about life? Were you walking in the woods? Playing golf? Skiing? Spending time with a particular person or a particular group of people? Stacy Barrows is a Los Angeles-based physical therapist and Feldenkrais® Pilates instructor who wants you to start paying attention to those pleasant experiences, so you can develop more of them.  Read more here.

Smartroller LAB

“You have to do this as if you wanted to waste your time, but waste your time efficiently" (Feldenkrais, rg94, p. 149).”I have often been asked how do you use the Smartroller tools. Lately I am reminded of this concept and have tried to act on it with playing with the Smartroller tools to inspire new ideas and kinesthetic inquiry. I hope they inspire you.

Here are some visual aides on how to use the Smartroller and tools. Feldenkrais strategies work best with less use of the eyes. However, it can sometimes be challenging to know if you are on the right track. I am posting a few here, but I also recommend following on Instagram (@Smartroller) for weekly add ons. Here’s the thing, you don’t have to subscribe to Instagram to check out the vids, just search for Smartroller with Instagram and you will be able to see novel ways to use your Smart tools. Move to learn and enjoy! #LearningThroughTheNervousSystem

Mastering Ourselves: Smart Somatic Solutions

Attuning our senses to empower mastery in our everyday movement is our birthright. But somehow finding ease in getting up out of a chair, or finding quiet postures such as standing or sitting can be overlooked as ways we can find true grace with gravity.

I was recently reminded of what called me to teach in the field of movement. Helping others was so foundational to the core of how I was raised, so the field of physical therapy seemed to be the obvious place to start. My husband thinks I’m an enigma because I’m still passionate about my work. He also reminds me that not every conversation with others needs to be a discussion on becoming more aware of their movement.

So when I was introduced to foam rollers in my Feldenkrais training, I became excited on how these tools could help create the right conditions for learning through movement.  We applied this experiential learning which is  similar to how we learned as children to feel the freedom to move and sense ourselves in our environment. This playful learning allows us to foster our most innate intelligence to solve and evolve our movement and embodied skills. As adults, we need to be reminded of this. We become distracted with what we think we should do vs. what we feel we should do. This happens partly because our felt sense has been diminished through the lack of creative self guided movement. There also is a lack of trusting ourselves, and feeling the need to ask others to direct us to move correctly. 

“You have to do this as if you wanted to waste your time, but waste your time efficiently

-Moshe Feldenkrais ”

Here is an example of my most recent experience with this…

A dear friend, Susan Dopart, a highly respected international Motivational Interview teacher offered this story as she was teaching Life Style Solutions–

She witnessed one of her students was experiencing back pain from his long commute to her workshop. She offered to him her Smartroller® to see if this could ease his discomfort. As she describes it, she just told him to get on the Smartroller without telling him what to do. He not only trusted his own sense of curiosity to play with movement, but he later says, “2 minutes on the Smartroller was like an hour of Yoga.” He was also observed to move more comfortably the rest of the day. 

True mastery :-)

Join me as we explore further with smart somatic solutions at the FGNA 2018 Conference. 

“2 minutes on the Smartroller is better than 1 hour of Yoga” Maynard Hearns”

Meet Susan Bass AND Century City Physical Therapy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Bass.

Susan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My business partner, Stacy Barrows and I worked part-time as independent contractors in a well respected orthopedic practice. Due to a multitude of factors, the corporation broke up and we were offered the physical therapy practice including the equipment. Within one months time, with no prior business experience or knowledge of how to operate a practice, we rented space in the existing medical building and started Century City Physical Therapy Inc. (CCPT) With no initial capital structure nor financial backing, Stacy and I were required to see patients outside the practice to help subsidize our new endeavor.

Neither of us were able to withdraw any income from the practice for the first 6 months and had no support staff. Within 1 year we were able to hire our first employee and work solely at CCPT. Our phenomenal culture of high-quality evidence-based care incorporating wellness with rehabilitation in an intimate patient-focused environment has sustained us for 23 years. Besides traditional physical therapy, we also offer complementary healthcare such as pilates, Feldenkrais®, and personal training. Read more here! 

No Pain, all Gain

Felden...Krais? Some people claim that this method is easy to experience, but may be difficult to explain. I would agree. After years of studying this work, and teaching this method, I do find it hard to explain in our modern world of "no pain more gain." 

I am copying an article here written by Cate Montana that helps illuminate this work and supports why we should all investigate learning the Feldenkrais way. Read more here.