The Kissing Contest Answer
0 Comments Published April 27th, 2010 in Bones for Life, Feldenkrais Method.
“A kiss is just a kiss, a smile is just a smile, sigh is just a sigh…”
When is a kiss not just a kiss? In February’s Weight Training for the Brain, we asked, “How can kissing one’s forearm make the action of getting up from the challenging position of a squat easier?” To see winners and their answers, jump now. Continue reading for my own answer.
The mouth is one of over 40 ring muscles. While only three of these are called sphincters, the mouth is in fact part of the sphincter network. These primitive anatomical structures were some of the first means of locomotion in one-celled organisms. When I see jelly fish rhythmically moving about, I also think of sphincters. In the human, the sphincters are in constant communication with each other creating a network.
We commonly think of these button-hole like structures for keeping contents where they belong. Sphincters allow us to swallow down the right tube, to keep stomach acid in the stomach, to keep our urine and feces in their assigned places until such moment that we are ready to void and then the sphincter opens.
The Anti-Gravity Network
The rich interaction with the abdominal and buttock muscles and the domes or diaphragms of the body which particularly interests me.
Try this experiment, sitting wherever you are now, bring your body to an upright position. Strongly contract your anal sphincter and release. As you contract, perhaps you notice that the sitting bones narrow, the heels lightly increase their contact with the ground and you get taller. If you don’t notice these details—not to worry. It is still likely happening.
Now play with slower rhythmic contractions and shift your attention to the sensation in any of the following places:
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Sphincters such as the mouth and eyes (both the eyeballs in the socket change position but you may also be able to notice a change in the pupil—it might help if your eyes are closed).
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The diaphragms (domes) under the ribs, arch of the feet or the roof of the mouth.
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The musculature throughout the belly and buttocks.
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A rather fun one is to feel what bones change position such as the base of the skull narrowing, the lower jaw relaxing or the lower ribs both narrowing and dropping.
Are You Saying a Tight A#% is a Good Thing?
It might sound like I am suggesting that walking around with a tight anal sphincter is a good thing. Actually, the brain should communicate with all the sphincters for continually changing tone. When a tight a#% is present 24/7 there is a likely asymmetry in the way in which the muscle is contracted which will lead to digestive, sexual, back and joint challenges.
We started this contest with the mouth and then slid way down. Try kissing your forearm now and I believe you will notice that your anal sphincter is responding.
Nice Party Trick, But What’s the Point?
By working with the sphincter muscles there are a whole host of physical functions and ailments that can be improved. Bowel, bladder and sexual are the obvious ones. But posture, power, metabolism, neck tension, TMJ and general spine health can also be improved.
This just in…Moshe Feldenkrais recently appeared at a Feldenkrais® training program, shocking the 
somatic world. Dr. Feldenkrais died in 1984, according to all accounts.
He walked in with a wry grin on his face exclaiming, “Oy vey! I started doing Bell Hand in my imagination for a few hours and the next thing I knew I had been declared dead and buried. How can you be so unaware that you could not even tell when a man is just doing a lesson in his imagination?!”
A masterful storyteller, Feldenkrais took several hours to let his story unfold but the short version is encapsulated in this statement, “It took me 35 years of slow movement to get myself out of that predicament.”
Before revealing himself to his surprised students, Feldenkrais spent a year enjoying his newfound freedom and looking for a replacement studio for the famed place on Alexander Yanai Street where he did his original work. He also revealed that the time in internment allowed him the opportunity to create 1000 new lessons that are vital to human potential.
“I certainly never dreamed I would meet the old man,” mused recent trainee Jimmy Jenks.
Moshe, as his students always call him, says this event is important proof that his Method is great and everyone should be doing it.
As of this edition, we have been unable to reach Dr. Feldenkrais directly but we will certainly keep trying.
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This post from our Future Life Now monthly e-newsletter special edition for April Fools Day. Enjoy!
From Susan…
0 Comments Published February 14th, 2010 in Bones for Life, Feldenkrais Method, Your Experiences/Thoughts.“Each time I’m with Cynthia I am amazed at what I learn about my body. It is as if I was divorced from it for all these years and am now just learning step-by-step to really be in this body.
The results from my last session were astounding. My feet changed so much that I really feel grounded and for the first time in ages I don’t have to struggle to maintain balance (even on uneven ground). Fear of falling is not nearly so present in my mind. As someone who recently suffered from a fall and fractured pelvis, this is a tremendous relief.
I am so grateful. I am actually making friends with my body!”
- Susan Yurchuck -
NOTE: Susan participants in a combination of private sessions and classes in the Feldenkrais Method and Bones for Life at Feldenkrais Within according to what she feels she needs.
Classes are a wonderful and cost effective way for many, many people to heal from injury or invest in their health. If you would like help deciding which class to take–either Bones for Life or Feldenkrais Awareness through Movement–please don’t hesitate to ask.
February’s Weight Training for the Brain Contest
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feel the effort. Now, pucker up. That’s right. Show yourself some love and kiss your forearm with a series of smack-er-roos. After a pause, squat and come back up and feel the decrease in effort.
Let’s turn this into a Kissing Contest. Post your answer. Its painless and if you aren’t used to blog posting, will give your neurons something new to play with. Alternately, email your answer to support@futurelifenow.com. We will post it for you. A $20 certificate will be rewarded to the winning answer. In the event that there is an avalange of correct submissions (and we hope there is), we will draw among the correct answers.
In the past few years, I have had an increase in clients who are seeking to keep their mind sharp. Some simply express the desire to improve their memory and cognition while others have been diagnosed with dementia.
In current literature the brain is often described as a muscle. There may be a tendency to think of our brain as something we are born with and that’s that. Nothing could be further from the truth. The brain is a complex, organic process which can be enhanced with intentional engagement - or diminished - just like a muscle.
There are two excellent videos on the web from The Mind and Its Potential Conference; I think we would all benefit from listening to them.
The first is: Changing the Brain: Mind Over Matter
This panel discussion amongst diverse scientists is very interesting and extremely accessible. There is excellent information for parents and/or teachers of small children, as well as for aging adults seeking to keep their relationships with others and their minds on a healthy plane.
The second, from the same conference, is: Neuroplasticity: The ‘Use it or Lose it’ Brain.
In this talk, neuroscientist, Michael Valenzuela explains neuroplasticity and how neural pathways work. He goes on to tell us how we can make the most of our brain. Valenzuela won the prestigious Eureka Prize for Medical Research for one of the great scientific breakthroughs of our time: proving that mental exercise reduces the risk of dementia and how that works.
Of particular interest to me - besides his great explanation - are the three most powerful keys for keeping the brain healthy for as long as possible:
Cognitive challenge: something enjoyable but complex such as learning another language.
Social: the challenges of engaging in human relations are vital but should also generally involve some physical activity.
Physical exercise: a general “tonic” for the brain that also decelerates the rate of cognitive decline.
Valenzuela’s own person favorite activity that incorportates all three is Salsa dancing.
In my view, a somatic education approach - such as the Feldenkrais Method or Bones for Life - is an excellent way to engage with the issues (although certainly not the only way).
In any movement, we are feeding the physical self, but by engaging in unique, brain-challenging movements we are activating or building the ‘brain muscle.’ I regularly hear from accomplished athletes or dancers that they are quite challenged by our sessions. This exact same sentiment can be expressed by someone age 70 who is struggling to maintain daily functions. What is perhaps unique about a somatic approach is that the content of sessions can be different for different people, but not always. In a class, participants fit into a wide continuum of functional capacity and yet sometimes the most challenged person in the room is the athlete.
An analogy I often use is that participating in a Feldenkrais Method class is like learning another language and perhaps even another culture. In reality it is learning about yourself which can surprising feel like a foreign land. To what end? To the end of increasing your brain muscle which in turn can help you physically, spiritually and emotionally.
The world of who you are is a vast uncharted territory, but as your awareness grows its impact is amazing. I will wrap up with a quote from Einstein which I have used before and that is also used by Valenzuela in his talk. It is worth repeating:
”The most beautiful thing that we can experience is the mysterious.It is the source of all true art and all science.
He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”
Oh yes, consider taking some time to watch the videos. I believe you will be pleased.
Cynthia Allen, January 8, 2010
From Edith
0 Comments Published October 3rd, 2009 in Bones for Life, Feldenkrais Method, Your Experiences/Thoughts.“I have been taking classes and occasional private sessions with Cynthia for the past 2 years. I started a Bones for Life class soon after I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. I knew I needed to start to do something that would help strengthen my bones and my back or at least learn how to avoid making anything worse. Bones for Life sounded promising and I was ready to try anything.
I enjoyed the classes and noticed small things that helped me feel better during or right after class, but it was months before anything really started registering on a deeper level. I don’t know if that’s typical but that was my experience.
One of my first break-throughs was when I finally understood how to Continue reading ‘From Edith’
Boot Camp for High Heels?
0 Comments Published June 21st, 2009 in Bones for Life, Feldenkrais Method.
Got to love this. A Good Morning America reporter showed up for High Heel Boot Camp at the Feldenkrais Institute in New York City and then by golly she got Feldenkrais on the show.
While high heels are not “high” on my list of healthy daily walking apparel, a somatic approach can do wonders for walking with balance and health even in stilettos.
Bones for Life® is chalked full of movement processes such a Roman Sandals and the Water Carrier’s Walk series that gradually train the rebalancing of weight between the toes and the heels. This is good for anyone, but also for someone going out on the town at night in spiky, red shoes.
Using Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® there are great possibilities in freeing the hip joints, low back and neck as well as learning to balance without extending or flexing in any of these areas inappropriately.
In our Integral Human Gait™ program, we use variations on tandem walking to train the counter rotation of the torso. We also have some easy-to-learn Continue reading ‘Boot Camp for High Heels?’
In Love With Spring
4 Comments Published April 9th, 2009 in Feldenkrais Method, Spirituality, Your Experiences/Thoughts.My gosh it is hard to say how much I am in love with spring. Life arising brings about a feeling in me that surely most others feel as well.
Before bulbs began emerging outside, I was watching amaryllis and paper whites put on their long show. I adore every stage. The dormant bulb has its own kind of beauty when first it sits surrounded by rock or soil and our asian-etched bowl. The unrealized potential yet to emerge feeds me as I watch for daily changes. When those first shoots begin to emerge and I really get excited. Everyday, several times a day, this same enthusiasm is rekindled when my eyes land upon them. I even enjoy watching the sculptural shifts as stems now heavy, bend and sway, this way or that, elegantly draping at the end of this life cycle.
Right now, I walk about the yard at least twice a day and when I am home between appointments, I will take another stroll just to witness the new life signs. Last fall I planted quite a lot of bulbs. We have never had tulips at this house, and for the past 12 years, the daffodils come up but never bloom. Currently, several kinds of daffodils are strutting their stuff. Actually there are even more than expected as the old daffodils decided to bloom as well. Apparently they feel compelled to compete with the new kids on the block. The parrot tulips start with the most wild, fringed edges even when quite green and barely out of the ground. Who knew!
It is similar to the excitement of a child learning (or an adult for that matter). We are all revived by our own emergence. A new client left this week saying, “maybe I will have a whole new me.” Someone else walks in who can’t wait to show off the new ways she can move and explore. Their childlike pleasure begats the same in me.
Recently I began a weekly ritual of listening to Hildegard von Bingen’s Gregorian chants, taking a hot bath, reading the poetry of Rumi or Hafiz, and exploring my own movement. Through the watery container, rhythmic music and mystical verse, I am transported. I listen and sense myself in new ways. Suddenly, after many years of putting my own poetry writing on the shelf, the urge is present and persistent. My pen is coming to paper.
Another new way of growing in my life is bowling. Larry and I bowled several times in the past couple of weeks. I was never a bowler and really didn’t enjoy it when I did. But getting out with the grandkids over Christmas, it was surprisingly fun. My recent play has been to bowl both left-handed and right-handed. I tried my right hand on a whim when perplexed at what my dominate hand and arm seemed to be doing. It is a classic Feldenkrais technique to employ, so why not?
Can you guess the outcome? I made the first strike of that game. Sometimes I switch hands within the game. Sometimes I bowl one game with one hand, the next with the other. Thus far, I feel good about the playful way in which I am approaching the game and particularly that I am not fixated on getting a score that is not yet within my reach. My scores are woeful when looked at competitively, but in terms of enthusiasm and playful excitement it is a lot of fun.
We have begun dreaming of biking and camping and more gardening. It is spring! Yes, I am in love and hope you are too.
In this time of year where we are reborn through the innocence of the Christ child, the end of one year and the birth of another, and the discovery that through a miracle there is still more oil to light our lamps, we each have the chance rediscover or perhaps to confirm our unique presence in the world.
Famous dance and choreographer Martha Graham told a struggling Agnes De Mille.
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all Time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.
”The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine: how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions.
“It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.
“Keep the channel open … no artist is pleased…there is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
While Graham’s inspiration was directed towards DeMille as an artist, I posit that to live life is an art.
A life of meaning is not lived for the viewing pleasure of others but lived from within. Lived from this place, others are touched, challenged and encouraged by your exploration of purpose and instinctual composition.
For me, today, I am taking away this particular pearl from the above.
“You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.”
Martha-the Life and Work of Martha Graham by Agness De Mille
Can What If lead to Big Bang?
2 Comments Published October 24th, 2008 in Integral Practice/Ken Wilber.
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With the longest running ever presidential campaign, it is easy to lapse into a place of disinterest even amidst the historic nature. Some people are so very tired of it. Others indicate they don’t plan to vote at all. To that end, in these last few days before the presidential election, perhaps you can catch some passion from me.
I believe this is one of those rare transformational moments where a nation (or an individual) can choose to be passive or actively leap. Leap where? UP! Such leaps require going for it, despite fear or malaise.
To leap, first we choose to vote.
To leap, we choose to become real about what a President can and can’t do.
To leap, we choose to examine the contrasts between candidates
To leap, we choose to overcome our disbelief and ask “What if? What if….my choice can make a difference?” Continue reading ‘Can What If lead to Big Bang?’