Take Care of Your Shoulder!

Today, I thought I would change it up a bit and get with the modern world, which seems to be all about video! So, to that end, here is a brief video that explains what you need to know for optimal shoulder function.

An Amazing Method: How It Works!

An Amazing Method: How It Works!

The man behind the Feldenkrais Method^® was way ahead of his time. This powerful practice for improving your life was brought to the States when Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais was invited by the Human Potential Movement.

A physicist who applied those principles to the human structure to promote ease, in the process, Feldenkrais discovered that it improves cognition and helps people change self-limiting habits.

Too Young to Feel So Old? THIS STUFF CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. IT IS NOTHING SHORT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL. 3 Reasons Why:

1) It's an easy process to learn that distracts you from whatever you are stressed or impatient about, while at the same time teaching you to focus on EASE, and COMFORT and WHAT WORKS in your movement. Movement is a concrete metaphor for discovery of these capacities in every area of life.

2.) It releases tension and gives you the opportunity to practice expansion of awareness which allows you to navigate space and solve problems systematically. In this way, each lesson is an exercise in applying the scientific method to human experience, so that you regain a sense of power because you now have MORE OPTIONS, and more FREEDOM.

3.) It creates a state change which is measurable as a change in brain wave frequency. When you learn how to do it, it takes you out of the chaos of alpha and into beta and theta frequencies. This has been shown to interrupt the kind of knee-jerk reaction that wrecks havoc on relationships, helping you find your natural STILL POINT of CALM.

Ultimately, a serene mind equates to a state of being open to new possibilities that you could not even see before. Thus, you learn to put yourself into the optimal state for decision-making, cognition, spontaneity, creativity and new insights into the very nature of that which most intrigues you, whatever that might be. It helps you follow your bliss!

Image of Dr. Feldenkrais teaching at the Amherst Training curtesy of the IFF.

Make 2020 the Year of Reaching for An Excellent Life!

3 Steps to Unlimited Learning

A Simple, Do It Yourself Process to improve the Quality of your life!

What’s the most rewarding work you can do? Attain mastery and skill:  when you learn to master the process of learning easily, so that you can apply it to whatever you want. Reach for the stars!

Time to reset your thermostat! You’ve already become aware Step One, which is to notice that limitations seem to be creeping in as the years go by. But what can you do about it?

The range of what you do every day over years sets your unconscious thermostat, meaning it creates a set-point for what is “normal” for you. But when you consider the difference between the range of moves that children make, and the range of moves that adults make, it becomes clear that the sheer diversity of things we do in a day diminishes as we move into adulthood. From childhood to young adulthood, you are expected to expose yourself to new situations which always promote new learning. As an adult, however, most people contract in terms of what they expose themselves to, if only because most work environments are repetitive.

What happens when we stick to a routine? Some things get easier, it’s true. Those are the kinds of things that we need to be able to do without thinking. But just like it’s good to do the dishes and clear out the cupboard once in a while to inventory what’s useful and what’s not, you need to do the same thing with yourself at least once a year. This allows you to make sure you are doing what you intend, what is most fun, and what feeds your soul as well as your wallet.

For example, in the hurry and scurry of life, it’s easy to forget that we work to live well, not the other way around…How can a movement class such as Awareness Through Movement (ATM) improve Quality of Life (QOL)? It’s an opportunity to check inside, to assess if you are living with as much freedom as you would like. Movement is just the canvass for learning. It’s just a very concrete way to learn the process of ATM which allows you to assess, improve and refine anything you wish to learn.

Some might say that it’s better to focus on helping others than on yourself, but if you allow yourself to get depleted, it becomes a catch 22 situation. When your life has become a series of choices that diminish your options out of habit, rather than expanding your range of options, you become more and more stiff, sore and irritable over time. This is a sure-fire way to land in a state of burnout. In that state, no one has anything much to offer when it comes to being of service to others…

When you don’t take time out periodically to renew, to refresh, to assess, it leads to a life lived on autopilot. This is like making NO decision to take care of your own wellbeing. The consequences of making no decision to alter things or to look at what and how you do things is that your self-image of what is possible for you either remains static or diminishes over the years. Because whether you are conscious of doing so or not, you HAVE made a decision about what you can and cannot do, about what’s possible for you. Think about some of the things you used to do that you miss, but somehow don't even consider doing now! When you take the time to reassess, you don't loose so much of yourself along the way.

To enter into this process of resetting your internal Thermostat of what you assume is possible for you, take a brief trip back to beginner’s mind.To enter into the process, have the humility to get comfortable with being uncomfortable for a short period of time while you are exposing yourself to new understandings. This is a pre-requisite for any kind of learning.

If you want to expand your limitations, it’s as simple as being willing to do what you ask any high school student, or any student to do, for that matter: be willing to sit in the momentary discomfort of not-knowing, trusting that the discomfort will go away quickly as the learning is initiated, as understanding dawns.

Understanding is actually a very rewarding feeling and satisfying in its own right. But what’s really rewarding is mastery and skill: learning to master the process of learning easily, so that you can apply it to whatever you want.

The Steps of Unlimited Learning:

1. Awareness - of a limit to understanding (be it how to move more freely after injury - or in any other realm – as mentioned earlier, movement is used in ATM because it is more concrete than ideas. Movement offers a topic to practice with that yields concrete results: you feel the improvement in your body. You feel lighter, more grounded, more secure. Your mind also participates. It calms itself through focus on movement, which is much easier than focusing on not thinking the way mindfulness meditation stipulates! You slip easily into a state of receptivity: which makes fun, love, inspiration and spontaneity much more openly accessible.
2. Differentiation - is the act of noticing a difference between what works, and what does not work, instead of mindlessly doing things one way because that's what you always do...This is done by exploring different ways of completing the task, whatever it might be. The best learning happens in an environment that is safe, comfortable and without pressure. Then, when you do the task under pressure, it’s easy, because you have allowed some time for it to become habitual on some level, requiring much less thought to accomplish than ever before.
3. Processing Time: is the key element that allows the brain to make sense of the data, or the experience you present it with, so that it can assimilate the new into the already known. This is where the neuro-plasticity of the brain takes over, but it must be given that time and quiet to work quickly and easily. The biggest mistake people make when teaching or learning is to just cram in as much information as possible as if the goal was to just get it over with. This actually impedes learning because it kills the requisite time-out for assimilation. 

Thus, the process of Unlimited Learning is superior to random learning that is done without understanding how the brain works. Unlimited learning evolves from an awareness of a need, to a curiosity about how something could be done differently, to a willingness to sit temporarily with not-knowing, while trusting the process. From this place of opening, the mind will run over options automatically, because the mind runs through open questions until it finds some explanation or solution. When you add awareness to the mix as you try new options and new possible ways to do something, an easier way is found more quickly. It is assimilated more easily and with fewer repetitions. It quickly becomes part of the unconscious repertoire of known skills or understandings.

Find a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Class near Medford, Oregon:

ATM classes meet on Tuesdays in Jacksonville. Classes resume on January 7th, 2020.

In only a few lessons, you can discover a whole new world of enjoyment: a process that allows you to learn from your own experience. You can learn to tune in, to refine, to hone the perfection of your own pitch-perfect ability to discover new ways to access ease, comfort, freedom and joy!

Cheap, 5 Minute Fix for PLANTAR Fascitis!

Here's a free 5-Minute TIP for HAPPY FEET even if you don't have problems with your feet! Improves balance, too...        Get a foam swimming noodle from the $1 store. Myofascial release takes at least 90 seconds, so as you stand on the soft roller, shift to put the balls of your feet on the ground, then your heels as in the second photo. Then lower your center of gravity by bending your knees as you shift your weight forwards and backwards over the roller. Then stand on flat ground for minute or two to enjoy the sensation of happy feet! Balance yourself with a hand on the wall as you go up on your toes 10-15 times and you will find your relationship with cramping is no longer intimate and your feet have regained something much closer to a healthy resting length of the fascia and muscles.        The swimming noodle solution is both much cheaper than physical therapy rollers AND the foam is much softer, hence more comfortable for sore feet. Do this at least 3-5X week. It takes five minutes! Can you be kind to yourself for just five minutes a day! If you need support with that, I'm there for ya! Come to class for more about happy feet! Feldenkrais ATM Class: Small Changes Make a BIG Difference Every TUES 6:30 at yoga studio in Jefferson Farm Kitchen 135 S Oregon St Jacksonville, OR Heres the event link on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/383523535671738/ OR Discover New Options for Feeling Better All Over at https://go.oncehub.com/FeldenkraisBookNow Please join us for another great Awareness Through Movement (ATM) Class this Tuesday, 6:30-8 pm at Jefferson Farm Kitchen Yoga Studio, 135 S. Oregon St. in Jacksonville. Text me to RSVP! 541 777-0124 I look forward to it…This week, free the hidden potential of your feet to experience the incredible lightness of being! Hope to see you soon! Gabrielle www.yourlifematters.solutions Moshe Feldenkrais, who developed the method, was ahead of his time. People used to believe that after a certain age the brain did not make new neural connections. But new research confirms that our brains evolve, grow new synapses and adapt, given the right conditions. ATM offers exactly the right conditions! Come experience happy feet!

Copyright © 2019 Your LIFE Matters, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Your LIFE Matters 235 West Main Street Jacksonville, OR 97530

FEET DON'T FAIL ME NOW!

understanding the foundation of your base of support...

When you have chronic pain, it’s usually because of an unconscious habit of overworking that the part of your body. For most people, it’s the low back or the neck…but the base of support is in the feet. What is "break over?" What can you bring to the table that you are not yet aware of?   When I encountered this novel way of thinking about pain that the Feldenkrais Method presents us with, my toe hurt most of the time. I was concerned because I thought maybe “bad feet” were hereditary. My mother had been a child in Switzerland, during WWII, living across the lake from Germany. The Swiss army, closing ranks, requisitioned sugar, butter, flour, chocolate and shoes. This meant my mother had to wear shoes too small for her feet during those war years. By the time I saw her feet as a child myself, they were full of bunions and corns and clearly painful. When my toes seemed crunched together, at first I considered that it might be gout, for I loved all things rich: French cream sauces, the pungent cheeses of Appenzelle and the fluffy lightness of Napoleons, the incredibly flaky layered butter pastries. Rich foods cause gout. It seemed appropriate. I had always felt as if I was born in the wrong century and I was drawn to the middle ages. Gout is a disease of the middle ages, both past and present! But it wasn’t gout. I noticed that my toes were as if crunched together even with no shoes on. Maybe it was from wearing high heels at work for an eight hour shift every night at the Mirage Hotel where I was working while I was first training for my career in alternative health. Surely that would cause the toes to smoosh together? The beauty of the Feldenkrais Method is that it doesn’t matter what the reason is, what matters is the current moment. What can be done to change the pattern now? When we did lessons in Awareness Through Movement (ATM) that revolved around walking, I learned so much, not only about myself and my feet; I learned about my other passion: horses. For in horses, breakover is a big deal. It can mean the difference between a sound horse or a lame horse. As it turned out, my point of breakover was caddywampus. What’s that, you say? Caddywampus, cockeyed, uneven, askew…when I was stepping off the foot, I bent the ball of the foot in such a way that my weight rolled over the inside of the big toe. Because of gravity, this caused my weight to go through my entire leg in a line of force that was indirect, placing more stress on each of the joints above AND more stress on the big toe. All I had to do was learn to walk by breaking over between the big toe and the second toe and all that pain disappeared. It was a functional issue: hence the term: "functional integration." It was like flying an airplane with no understanding of how to use the flaps. It’s true, the body doesn’t come with an instruction book. It comes with something far better, far richer, far more fulfilling. The body comes with its own feedback loop: your ability to sense yourself. Once you tune in, your nervous system is like a GPS system that will never steer you wrong. The thing is, most people tune it out, instead of tuning in. I hope to meet you in ATM class any Tuesday this month. In only a few lessons, you can discover a whole new world of enjoyment: a process that allows you to learn from your own experience. You can learn to tune in, to refine, to hone the perfection of your own pitch-perfect ability to discover new ways to access ease, comfort, freedom and joy!

Be Well! Gabrielle Pullen, MFA, GCFP Somatic Resilience Coach Feldenkrais Practitioner - Guild Member Since 2002. Writing Instructor - MFA and Certified by MNSU 2017.

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What Does the Butterfly Effect Have to Do With Resolving Chronic Pain?

Small variances in initial conditions can have profound and widely divergent effects on a system. In this case, we're talking the Human Nervous System, which controls muscular tension, the visual field, perception and learning, among a zillion other things!!! Learn More