Feldenkrais Resources & Recordings

NOTE:

When doing the lessons on your own, it's best to lie on a firm surface, start out slow and small and most of all, be comfortable and take good care of yourself! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need clarification on any of these.
Click here for instructions

Full Body Connection

This lesson uses coordinated full-body movements to connect your feet to your hips, to you back, shoulders, arms, neck and head. You’ll be opening up your hip joints and freeing your upper back and neck. Throughout the lesson I’ll be identifying core Feldenkrais principles.
February 12, 2025
Download Lesson - Start standing for reference movements

Walking on the Wall

When we take ourselves out of gravity and out of our usual walking habits, we can alert our nervous system to the subtleties that the impact of walking has on our skeleton as the movement travels through us. This lesson helps you tap into a deeper sense of alignment so when you do get up to stand and walk—you can use gravity to your benefit and also improve your bone health along the way. This is a good lesson to do if you’re recovering from injury and cannot bear weight without pain.

You’ll be lying on your back with your hands and feet on the wall. (click here for an illustration) You’ll also be standing and sliding your hands up and down the wall so you will need to have a wall that’s free of pictures and obstacles. Also, have a pair socks handy to slip on your hands to make sliding them easier and a folded towel to support your head.
Start standing
February 5, 2025
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Knees (and Hips and Ankles)

In this lesson we’ll be balancing the functioning between our ankles, knees and pelvis in relation to walking. If one of these joints is not participating in the function of walking, the other 2 joints are affected and have to make up for it. Oftentimes it creates an imbalance and could put you at risk for injury. If you have had an injury or surgery, you can develop muscular tension and holding patterns you haven’t had before because of compensation. Part of the healing process is getting all the parts of you functioning together in a more balanced manner.

We’ll be doing movements while lying on your back on the floor. You may want to have a towel or small pillow nearby for support.
January 28, 2025
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Shoulders, Ribs & Back: Reaching

In this lesson we’ll explore the relationship your arms and shoulders have with your back, ribs and even feet. When your whole self participates in reaching, your arms, shoulders and mid back can relax and be supported.
You’ll be lying on your back and a bit on your side on the floor. Grab a towel to support your head.
January 22, 2025
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Connecting Hands to your Whole Self

We’ll be connecting the movements of our hands to our whole self. You'll discover how our arms, shoulders, upper backs and even legs can offer support your hands. Our hands take up a huge portion of our brain’s real estate since we do so many intricate things with them. By relaxing our hands and corresponding nervous system, your whole self (especially our arms, neck and shoulders) will benefit from this lesson.

We’ll start lying on your back and then spend time lying on your side. Grab a towel to support your head.
January 15, 2025
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Flexible Backs & Hamstrings

Using flexion, we’ll explore the connection of the your hamstring muscles to your back in a lovely, lengthening way. You’ll be learning how to forward bend safely, distributing the movement throughout the length of your spine.
Start standing for a reference
January 8, 2025
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Neck & Balance

This lesson works with differentiating and freeing up the juncture between the base of your neck and your torso. Because of it’s location, you’ll also discover how it affects your spine, shoulders and arms as well. Mobilizing this juncture plays an important role in our balance.
December 18, 2024
Download Lesson - Start standing for a reference movement

Side Bending & Rolling

In this lesson we’ll be side bending and rolling our way to coordinating the movements of our shoulders and pelvis. When we get more flexibility in the corresponding ribs (between the two) our breathing improves. This lesson is very relaxing! You’ll be lying on your sides on the floor so grab a towel to support your head.
December 11, 2024
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Core Connections

This lesson gives us a deeper and solid sense of our core. We’ll be connecting and lining up our arms to our shoulders; shoulders to spine; spine to pelvis; and pelvis to feet. You’ll end up feeling strong and aligned with your upper torso over your bottom half.  
December 4, 2024
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Feet & Full Body Connection

You’ll learn how unused parts of your feet lead to muscular tension in other parts of yourself. These coordinated movements help you to feel more connected to your whole self allowing you to move with less effort and more ease. You’ll also be opening up your hip joints and freeing your upper back and neck.
November 27, 2024
Download Lesson - Start standing for reference movements

Neck & Whole Body Flexibility

This week we’ll do some small, gentle hand and foot movements to restore your nervous system and increase flexibility. You’ll learn to turn your head with greater ease using more of yourself. This lesson is done while lying on your back on the floor with your legs straight and then bent.
November 20, 2024
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Shoulder Stability & Mobility: Moving From the Inside

In this lesson we’ll be working with shoulders and learning how they can move independently from the ribs and how the ribs can support and help move the shoulders. This will help in both stability and mobility. This lesson was particularly designed to help recover from shoulder injuries. By moving from deep within vs. an outward focus, you’ll find new pathways to healing. You may need a towel to support your head when lying on your side.
November 13, 2024
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Float Your Bones & Pelvic Support using Image of a Clock

The muscles connected to our pelvis are vital to the support of our lower back. Sitting for long periods of time often causes these muscles to become tense, weak and less effective. Our hip joints tighten and restrict movement causing strain in our lower backs. We’ll use an image of your pelvis resting on a clock to access a variety of movements in your pelvis and sacrum that relax the deep muscles surrounding them. You will also discover how these movements connect to your head, shoulders, ribs, back and feet leaving you with a “floating” feeling.
You will be lying on your back for this lesson.
November 6, 2024
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Back and Legs Support Each Other

In this lesson we’ll explore how moving our backs can help move our legs and how moving our legs can help our back. Since your pelvis is between the two, you’ll also be moving it and lengthening your IT band. The end result is a nice lengthening throughout your torso and a better distribution of weight between your two legs. Most of the movements are done while lying on your side. Grab a towel to support your head or cushion your hips.
October 30, 2024
Download Lesson - Start standing for a reference movement with turning

Mobilize Thorasic Spine & Shoulders

In this lesson we’ll be mobilizing and reorganizing upper backs and shoulders for better mobility and flexibility in them... and in your neck as well. Your arms, legs and pelvis will also join the party leaving you to feel more whole and connected.
So, whatever you’ve been up to this summer...  gardening, hiking, swimming, working out, you’ll enjoy the rejuvenating benefits of this class.
October 23, 2024
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Get Smarter at Getting Strong: Coordinating the Extremeties

We are going to begin a little series on some Feldenkrais foundations of strength. We’ll learn to mobilize our strength safely by distinguishing the difference between strain vs. effort. Feldenkrais is more about organizing our movement better with less effort; and less about strengthening individual muscle groups. If we can get our core and center behind the use of our arms and legs (even if we’re not that strong), we can organize our strength safely without strain and injury.

For this class you will need a few props:
Hard cover book or a Weight (about 2#) – to lift as reference object
Towel (for head lying on side & to possibly use between knees)
Start out standing for a reference movement with your book and then you’ll be lying on the floor on your side.
October 16, 2024
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Hip Joints and Posture

This week’s focus will be on our hip joints and the extensor muscles of our backs. As we age, gravity takes its toll by pulling us forward and down. This causes the flexor muscles in front of us to shorten and tighten which then affects our posture. By opening up our hip joints in the front and connecting them to the extensor muscles of our back, neck and shoulders, we gain more of a natural upright posture.

You’ll be spending a fair amount of time lying on your belly so you’ll also be learning a fun and elegant way to roll over from back to front. Have a few towels on hand to support yourself.
October 9, 2024
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Joint Health

This gentle lesson encourages joint health and restoration in a non-strenuous and non-inflammatory way. The movements will help improve circulation in the tissues of your joints without the use of muscular effort. Unnecessary muscular effort or tension compresses the joints which increases wear and tear in them. As in all Feldenkrais lessons we’re improving our overall neuromuscular coordination which reduces uneven wear and tear in our joints as well. You’ll move easier and more comfortably.
We’ll be lying on your back for this lesson; have a towel or small pillow on hand for head or knee support.
September 18, 2024
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Note: this is the first part of a seven-part series on Joint Health & Recovery with David Zemach-Bersin, Feldenkrais Access. Click here if you’re interested in getting a copy of the whole series: https://www.feldenkraisaccess.com/joint-health

Healthy Hands

This lesson is helpful for repetitive stress and strain, stiffness and/or inflammation of your hands. We’ll explore how our hands are intricately connected with our eyes and head/neck. Since we use our hands so much, they take up the most real estate in our brains and nervous system. So when our hands improve, our entire self improves. This lesson leaves you feeling relaxed and refreshed.
We’ll be lying on your back for the whole lesson; it can be done while lying in bed if need be.
September 11, 2024
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Your Spine & Nervous System

We’ll delve deeper into our nervous system by exploring our spine’s primal movement pattern. This pattern underlies all of our movements. It stems from our flight/flight response to danger. In today’s day and age this response tends to get engaged more from our habitual responses to stress and anxiety vs. an actual attack from a tiger. This lesson will get all parts of yourself working together harmoniously leaving you in a deeply relaxed state

.We’ll be lying on our sides a good amount of time and also on our backs. Have a towel nearby to support your head.
August 21, 2024
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Mobile Pelvis & Sitting

Many of us tend to hang out on one side of ourselves more than the other--that could be on our feet in standing or through our hips in sitting. This imbalance puts undo strain on our necks and shoulders—especially in using our arms to reach for things. You’ll discover which side of yourself you prefer to hang out on and learn how to gain some balance and shift weight easily between the two. Using side bending movements, we’ll be inviting our ribs and torso to aid in reaching with our arms to help reduce stress and strain on neck and shoulders.

We’ll be spending time in a chair and then on the floor lying on your side. You will need a chair with a firm seat so you can feel your sit bones. A dining room chair works great. Also, have a few bath towels on hand to support yourself in your chair while sitting and for your head while lying on your side.
August 14, 2024
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Full Body Connection and Walking

When we allow each step we take to reverberate through our whole selves, we can lessen the impact on our joints. We’ll use coordinated full-body movements to connect your feet to your whole self, allowing you to walk with less effort and more ease.  
Bonus: You’ll be opening up your hip joints and freeing your upper back and neck.
July 31, 2024
Download Lesson - Start standing for reference movements

Get Grounded!

Balance and coordinate movement from your feet through to your head. You’ll end up with a stronger connection to your feet when standing, which will give you better sense of balance and feeling grounded. If you’ve had an injury to your feet or ankles, these movements will help restore neural connections and coordination between them and your legs and hips.

You’ll be lying on your back on the floor for the entire lesson (most times with your legs long) so you may need a towel or roller to support your knees.
Start in standing for a reference.
July 24, 2024
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Relax your Neck & Whole Self!

This week we’ll explore how our eyes organize our bodies for action. We’ll be using small, gentle eye and jaw movements to make connections to our head, neck and pelvis leaving your neck and your whole self relaxed and connected! You’ll be lying on your back on the floor. Have a towel on hand to support your head if needed.
July 17, 2024
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Strengthening the Arches

Many hip and low back issues can be traced to fallen arches in your feet. In this lesson you’ll activate your arches and their corresponding relationship to your legs, hips and spine. You’ll discover how the 4th metatarsals of your feet play an important role with arch stability/strength and posture.

This lesson will be done in a sitting position on the floor for a bit and then lying on your back. Have a few towels on hand for support.
June 19, 2024
Download Lesson - Start standing

Relax & Roll

This rolling lesson is fun and extremely relaxing and freeing for necks, shoulders and backs. You’ll be integrated your whole self in the function of turning.
June 12, 2023
Download Lesson - Start standing for a reference movement with turning

Hips & Shoulders

Here we’ll explore some primal movements connecting hips and shoulders in both side-lying and belly-lying positions. By opening up our hip joints and connecting them to the extensor muscles of our back, neck and shoulders, we gain more of a natural upright walking posture.

Have towels on hand to support yourself while lying on your belly and side. If you have trouble with your hands in a “push-up” position, so you may want to have a couple of rolled up socks or small towels or washcloths on hand for support.
June 5, 2024
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Free Flowing Hips & Walking

The unique structure of our hip joints allows us to have both stability and mobility at the same time--which is what we need when we walk. When we swing our leg forward and take a step, we have to balance on our other leg. Our hips form a synergistic relationship with our legs moving and supporting us with ease and stability.

We’ll mostly be lying on your backs on the floor, but in the beginning we’ll be doing a bit of standing. You’ll need a chair or wall to hold onto for support for the standing part.
April 24, 2024
Download Lesson - Begin standing with support from a chair or wall

Flexible Spine & Connecting Arms

Enjoy finding a more flexible spine. We’ll also be making an interesting connection of your spine to your arms and shoulders. This lesson is done while lying on our backs.
April 17, 2024
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Shoulder Stability & Mobility

In this lesson we’ll be working with shoulders and learning how they can move independently from the ribs and how the ribs can support and help move the shoulders. This will help in both stability and mobility. This lesson was particularly designed to help recover from shoulder injuries but can also help coordinate movements between your shoulders and pelvis used in walking. You may need a towel to support your head when lying on your side.
April 10, 2024
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Relax Your Mouth and Jaw

This class will help you interrupt the common habits of muscular tension that cause chronic contraction of the muscles of the mouth, jaw, eyes, and brow. Our mouth & jaw don’t exist independently, they are a part of our whole selves. They have a profound effect on the musculature of our neck/shoulders, breathing/diaphragm. 

You’ll be lying on your back exploring subtle movements that connect your feet to your pelvis to your head, jaw and eyes.
March 27, 2024
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Healthy Spine

Almost everything we do involves bending forward. Your spine’s ability to move left, right and backward is used less frequently. Bending freely in all directions is crucial to the health and comfort of your back.

We’ll explore side bending while sitting in a chair and on the floor lying on your side. We’ll also review how our feet connect to our pelvis and sacrum (from March 13, 2024) while sitting in a chair.

You will need a chair with a firm surface (dining room chair works great) and a towel to support your head while lying on the floor on your side.
March 20, 2024
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Floating Sacrum & SI Joint: Connection to Feet

The sacrum is the pivot point of where your spine and pelvis connect—making up the Sacral Iliac or SI joint. Through this joint you will discover how “The pelvis is the handle to move the whole spine.” You’ll then discover how your feet connect to and support the SI joint.

You will be lying on your back on the floor. No props needed other than a towel to support your head or bolster for your knees if you need them.
March 13, 2024
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Soothe & Calm (rotating hands)
(A 15-min. meditative lesson to restore your nervous system)

March 6, 2024
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Walking & Reaching

This week we’ll explore the subtle intricacies of walking while lying on your back on the floor. Being out of gravity gives our nervous system the space to sense and feel how the force travels from our feet throughout our entire body when we walk. We’ll also see how this force coming from our feet and legs can assist us in reaching with our arms. This “delicious" whole body lesson helps shake out stiffness in your hips, low back and shoulders.
February 21, 2024
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Low Back Comfort

This week’s flexion lesson is designed to reduce muscular tension in your back and improve the balance of muscular tonus between your abdomen and lower back. When your lower back is relaxed and comfortable, your spine will support your body’s weight more efficiently, and you will be less vulnerable to back problems.
January 31, 2024
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Neck, Shoulder & Arms: C7/T1 Juncture

In this lesson we'll explore the connection between our neck and shoulders. We’ll also be extending this out through our arms—paying particular attention to the base of our necks. This is an important junction where our necks, shoulders, collar bones, ribs and spine all come together. When we can differentiate movement among these parts, we can free up our necks and upper backs.

We’ll be lying on your back on the floor for the entire lesson so you may need a towel to support your head and/or a roller for your knees.
January 17, 2024
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Liberate your Neck & Shoulders

A common response to stress is to tense up our neck and shoulders. We actually develop a habit around it. You may also find stress likes to kick up some old injuries or other habitual patterns. In this lesson we’ll be liberating your neck and shoulders discovering some new habits of movement and support from your ribs and spine. 
August 23, 2023
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Finding Good Foot Support

When we walk or run, each step we take applies a certain amount of force into the ground. Physics tells us the same amount of force comes from the ground back up into us. We’ll work with transmitting that force from the ground up through our feet and throughout the rest of us so it’s not compacting our joints (knees, pelvis, back, neck). You’ll end up with a stronger base of support and sense of your core.
August 2, 2023
Download Lesson - Start standing for a reference. Then you’ll be lying on your back.

Eyes & Jaw Interconnectedness

This week we’ll be doing some small, gentle movements with your jaw, eyes, head and knees. Physically and neurologically there’s a direct correlation between your jaw and pelvis and between your eyes and head. Oftentimes you can affect one by working with its counterpart. This lesson can help ease TMJ issues and free up your neck and pelvis.
July 12, 2023
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Power Center

In this less we’ll use an image of a clock to move your head, shoulders, ankles and pelvis helping you discover a connection to your core. You’ll see how this connection to the center of yourself aids in walking. You’ll be lying on your back on the floor.
May 24, 2023
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Back | Hips | Legs

Our back, hips and legs are intricately connected and work together to support and move us. In this “delicious” lesson we’ll differentiate each part, then bring them back together in a more coordinated and balanced way. You’ll discover parts of yourself that may be unnecessarily working too hard and other parts that need to participate more in your movements.

We’ll start out with some gentle movement of our pelvis while lying on your back and then move to lying on your sides for a good part of the class. This side work involves a bit of rolling (which can be modified) so it will naturally get movement into our shoulders and neck as well.
Grab a couple of towels to support your head and/or pelvis while lying on your side.
May 10, 2023
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Walking: Hip & Shoulder Connection

We’ll explore walking while lying on your back on the floor. Being out of gravity gives our nervous system the space to sense and feel how the force travels from our feet throughout our entire body when we walk. In particular, we’ll explore how our hips and shoulders move in concert with each other as we take a step.
April 26, 2023
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Finding Balance

Many times an injury or even accumulative repetitive actions can create an imbalance in our neurological and muscular systems. This week we’ll use side bending movements to awaken and balance the left and right sides of your body.

We’ll be spending time in a chair and then on the floor lying on your side. You will need a chair with a firm seat so you can feel your sit bones. A dining room chair works great. Also, have a few bath towels on hand to support yourself in your chair while sitting and for your head while lying on your side.
April 12, 2023
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Breathing Movements & Pelvic Support using Image of a Clock

In this lesson we explore breathing movements in various positions to help you breathe in a more efficient and complete manner. In the second half of class we’ll explore tiny hip movements using an image of a clock
Start lying on the floor
February 8, 2023
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Sitting Easier

Sitting without sufficient skeletal support can lead to pain and muscular tension in your back, neck, and shoulders, in addition to hips. In this lesson you’ll learn how to sit in a better organized, and more flexible way. These gentle movements, done while sitting in a chair, reduce the stress of sitting on both your skeletal system and muscles. We’ll also be repeating these movements while lying on your back on the floor.

For this lesson you will need a stable chair with a firm seat (dining room chairs work great!) and a folded up bath towel and/or garden kneeling pads. We’ll be sitting for most of the lesson with a bit of time on your backs on the floor.
February 1, 2023
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Shoulders and Hips

In this lesson we’ll be working with the diagonal connection of our hips and shoulders and how it relates to walking. When we walk, we tend to focus on our feet and legs. What about our shoulders and hips?… they move in concert with each other as well. But oftentimes, we hold them still which creates tension and stiffness in our backs, shoulders and neck. We’ll also be bringing the concept of using ground forces to move with less effort and strain into the lesson.

This is a side lying lesson, so you may need a towel to support your head or cushion your hips.
January 11, 2023
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Float Your Bones

This fun lesson will be like giving yourself an internal massage. By gently sliding your spine up and down while lying on your back, you’ll shake loose your bones and the muscles attached to them.
December 7, 2022
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Strong Base of Support: Connecting Feet, Legs & Trunk

In this lesson we’ll learn how to connect our legs and feet with our trunk and core to give us a strong base of support and alignment. This lesson is also great for relieving low back stiffness and can even help you with squatting -- in your garden and elsewhere!
November 16, 2022
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Hip/Gluts/Extensors in Walking

This week’s focus will be on our hip joints and the extensor muscles of our backs. We’ll explore the diagonal connection of our hips/glut muscles with its opposite shoulder… those that we use in walking. As we age, gravity takes its toll by pulling us forward and down. This causes the flexor muscles in front of us to shorten and tighten which then affects our posture. By opening up our hip joints in the front and connecting them to the extensor muscles of our back, neck and shoulders, we gain more of a natural upright walking posture.

You’ll be spending most of the time lying on your belly so have a few towels on hand to support yourself.
November 2, 2022
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Arm & Torso Connection

In September we explored the connection of our hands to our whole self and discovered how much easier it was to use our hands with this extra support from the rest of our body. In this lesson we’ll move on up to our arms (with an emphasis on elbows) to explore their connection with the rest of our torso. Not only can this torso support help our arms, but these connected movements can also reduce strain on our necks, shoulders and upper backs.
We’ll be lying on our backs for most of the lesson with a bit of time on our sides. Grab a couple of towels to support your head and/or pelvis while lying on your side..
October 19, 2022
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Walking on the Wall

When we take ourselves out of gravity and out of our usual habits of holding ourselves up, we can alert our nervous system to the subtleties that the impact of walking has on our skeleton as the movement travels through us. This lesson helps you tap into a deeper sense of alignment so when you do get up to stand and walk—you can use gravity to your benefit and also improve your bone health along the way. 

You’ll be lying on your back with your hands and feet on the wall. (click here for an illustration) You’ll also be standing and sliding your hands up and down the wall so you will need to have a wall that’s free of pictures and obstacles. Also, have a pair socks handy to slip on your hands to make sliding them easier and a folded towel to support your head.
Start standing
June 15, 2022
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Side Bending using Image of a Clock

In this lesson we’ll continue (from June 1) working with our feet, pelvis and spine (still using the image of a clock) but with a side bending movement. We’ll be exploring movements in a chair and in lying on the floor on your side. If you are having difficulty lying on your side, options for lying on your back will be available. This lesson will give you sustainable options in working with gravity to hold yourself up in sitting and standing with greater ease.

You will need a chair with a firm surface (dining room chair works great) and a towel to support your head while lying on the floor on your side.
Start standing
June 8, 2022
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Nurture Your Hands

We’re going to explore the beautifully-subtle way your fingers connect to your ribs. These simple movements help keep your hands supple and relaxed as they enjoy the support of your arms, shoulders and ribs. We’ll spend part of our time lying on your side so grab a towel to support your head.
April 27, 2022
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Flexor Muscles of the Back

As we age, gravity takes its toll by pulling us forward and down. This causes the flexor muscles in front of us to shorten and tighten which then affects our posture. We’ll start out reviewing rolling over onto our bellies (from last week) and some simple side bending. Then on our bellies, we’ll work with the extensor muscles of our back, neck and shoulders to gain both flexibility and strength in our upper bodies which leads to a more natural upright posture.

We’ll be lying on your back and belly. If you have trouble with your hands in a “push-up” position, so you may want to have a couple of rolled up socks or small towels or washcloths on hand for support.
April 20, 2022
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Bone Health: Posture & Walking

This lesson is based on a program called “Bones For Life,” developed by Ruthy Alon who studied with Moshe Feldenkrais. She took what she learned from the Feldenkrais Method and developed it into her passion of bone health. As we age, we become increasingly aware of needing healthy bones and upright posture. This lesson helps you tap into a deeper sense of standing tall and walking using gravity and alignment to your benefit, without using extra muscular effort to keep you there. This excess muscular effort (pulling your shoulders back, pulling in your belly, etc.) cannot be sustained over long periods of time without causing stress and strain.

Since we’ll be working with posture and our bones carrying our weight, we’ll be standing a bit, sitting in a chair and lying on the floor. You’ll need a stable chair with a back and flat seat (dining room chair works great), a folded towel to support your head, and a place on the floor where you can put your feet up on the wall (click here for an illustration).
April 6, 2022
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Better Alignment Leads to More Strength

In this lesson we’ll be balancing and aligning the flexor and extensor muscles along our spine over our legs giving us a more solid sense of support, balance and stability.
You will be lying on your backs and rolling up/down through your spine.
March 16, 2022
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Whole Body Lengthening

This week we’ll be including our arms and shoulders in the movements we’ve been learning over the past two weeks. This culmination of movements ends up in a luxurious and delicious whole body lengthening. You’ll learn how you can let go of unnecessary effort and extraneous holding patterns by letting the floor support you. This can be a stand-along lesson or you can ease into it by doing the Jan. 19, then the 26th lesson.
February 2, 2022
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Arms/Shoulders | Hips/Legs

This lesson wraps up our little series that has to do with posture. Last week we crawled, this week we walk! This class demonstrates how your arms and shoulders move in relation to and support of your hips and legs. You’ll leave with a long spine and easy stride.

We’ll be lying on our backs, often times with legs long on the floor. You may want to have a bolster or towel on hand to support your knees if you’re back gets uncomfortable.
January 12, 2022
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Crawling

As babies we learn to propel ourselves forward by crawling. We mobilize our whole bodies: legs, feet, hips, shoulders and arms to get where we want to go. When we graduate from crawling to upright walking, these connections are primal in locomotion but get interrupted by injuries, non-use, overuse—whatever life offers. We’ll revisit some basic crawling movements to activate these primal connections -- making walking, hiking and swimming more coordinated with less stress and strain. We’ll be spending time on your back, sides and belly. Grab a towel for support.
January 5, 2022
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Posture | Coordinating Flexors & Extensors

In this lesson we’ll be working with our posture by coordinating the flexor muscles in the front of us with the extensor muscles in our back. These whole body movements will help you learn to engage support from unused parts of yourself that make other parts overwork and become prone to injury.  In particular, we’ll be exploring the relationship of your legs & feet to your whole spine. We’ll be lying on our sides for many of the movements so you may need a towel to support your head.
December 8, 2021
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Sitting Easier

If you add up the number of hours we spend sitting, the total is surprising. Most of us sit for one reason or another (during meals, travel, work, recreation, and rest) for 12-14 hours a day! Sitting without sufficient skeletal support can lead to pain and muscular tension in your back, neck, and shoulders. In this lesson you’ll learn how to sit in a better organized, and more flexible way. These gentle movements, done while sitting in a chair, reduce the stress of sitting on both your skeletal system and muscles. Once you discover the best sitting posture for yourself, you’ll sense the difference in your standing posture.

For this lesson you will need a stable chair with a firm seat (dining room chairs work great!). We’ll be sitting for most of the lesson with a bit of time on your backs on the floor.
November 10, 2021
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Video of Lesson showing positions available here until November 24, 2021.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for helpful articles on sitting.

Improving Hip Function

Here we deconstruct and breakdown the movement of your hips and all the different ways it can move and respond to how you walk and reach for things. These small gentle movements connect on a diagonal from head to foot and provide a sense of ease and relaxation.
October 27, 2021
Download Lesson - Start lying on your back

Connected Shoulders and Rolling

In this class you’ll explore the connection between your shoulders to your torso to your legs and learn how they work together to support each other—all in the process of rolling like a baby. You’ll be spending a good amount of time on your side, so may need a towel to support your head.
September 8, 2021
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Jaw, Neck & Shoulders

The mouth & jaw are directly connected to our involuntary nervous system. Because of this connection, the tension and discomfort we may feel are part of our stress response (to fear, anxiety, stress). We then clench our jaw unconsciously; only becoming aware of it after the fact. Even if you aren’t aware of tension in your jaw, you can still find this class beneficial. Our mouth & jaw don’t exist independently, they are a part of our whole selves. It has a profound effect on the musculature of our neck/shoulders, breathing/diaphragm. We’ll be doing movements while lying on your back on the floor.
August 11, 2021
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Healthy Functioning of the Legs1

The next two weeks we’ll focus on the healthy functioning of your legs which includes — of course — your pelvis, knee and ankle joints. In this lesson you’ll learn to use your trunk to support the use of your legs. We’ll be working with rolling so you’ll enjoy some nice movement throughout the whole torso including your neck, shoulders and back.
We’ll be lying on the floor on your side. So grab a towel for your head or between your knees.
July 21, 2021
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Balancing Strength Through the Trunk & Arms

This week we’re going to return to working with “Foundations of Strength” with a focus on having the support of your core behind the use of your arms. You will discover how to find balance between using your arms and using your core for strength. This will help you prevent injury and maintain healthy shoulders.
We’ll be lying on our bellies for the most part and will review a bit of what we did last week. You may need to have a few towels on hand to support your neck and shoulders in this position.
Start lying on your back
July 7, 2021
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Sciatica & Side Bending

The sciatic nerve network travels from your lower back down through your legs. You can see in this illustration how you position and move your pelvis and spine affect the comfort of your sciatic nerve network. In this lesson we’ll do some gentle side bending movements in a chair and on the floor (while side lying) to help you clarify, mobilize and free up space in these areas and other parts of yourself as well.

We’ll start out sitting in a chair, then lying on the floor on your side. So you will need to have a chair with a firm surface (not too cushy or mobile) and possibly a towel for your head or between your knees while lying on the floor on your side.
May 26, 2021

Download illustrated “Tips for Low Back & Pelvic Comfort”

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Healthy Functioning of the Hips: Back & Leg Support

This class continues with healthy hip functioning exploring how your back and legs provide support. These gentle and relaxing movements include “oiling the hip joints” and rolling. We start out lying on your back and move to lying on your side. You may want to have a towel or two on hand to support your head or cushion your hip for side lying.
April 7, 2021
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Healthy Functioning of the Hips: Sitting

Our pelvis is the biggest bone in our bodies and it’s connection to our back and legs gives us most of our strength and balance. We’ll look at the different ways the pelvis moves on its own, and in relation to your back and legs. I thought we’d explore the function of sitting since we do so much of it and because many of our chairs & car seats tend to clump these 3 parts of ourselves together instead of differentiating them giving us more mobility, flexibility and less stress and strain. We’ll also explore a new way to get down to and up from the floor via a chair. You will need a chair with a firm seat so you can feel your sit bones. A dining room chair works great.
March 24, 2021
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Side Bending - Lying on the floor

In this class we’re going to work with the deeper initial side bending movements that will give you increased mobility in your neck, shoulders, ribs and hip joints. We’ll be lying on our backs on the floor.
January 27, 2021
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Calming Your Nervous System

We’ll be lying on the floor working with simple movements that have a calming effect on your nervous system.
January 20, 2021
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Hips/Legs/Low Back & Breath #2

Here we continue working with our leg/hip/back/breath connection and coordinating movement between them. This will help improve your posture, stability, and sense of your core. We'll be reviewing what we did on December 23 and building on from there. Have a few towels on hand to support your head and cushion your hips if needed. 
January 6, 2021
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Hips/Legs/Low Back & Breath #1

In this lesson we’ll get our hips moving and you’ll see how the Hips/Back/Legs work together and how your breath supports these movements. You will be lying on your side so have a few towels on hand to support your head and cushion your hips if needed. 
December 23, 2020
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Turning with your Whole Self

This lesson explores and connects many parts of ourselves that are involved in the simple function of turning: head, eyes, jaw, ribs, knees and feet. We’ll be looking at which parts are overused or underused and how we can incorporate them to turn easier and more coordinated.
December 9, 2020
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Harmonious Coordination

In this class we’ll explore how we may be working too hard while we move and perform daily activities by coordinating whole body movements and balancing our flexor & extensor muscles. We’ll be lying on our sides for most of the movements so you may need a towel to support your head.
December 2, 2020
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Hip Joints and Posture

As we age, gravity takes its toll by pulling us forward and down. This causes the flexor muscles in front of us to shorten and tighten which then affects our posture. By opening up our hip joints and connecting them to the extensor muscles of our back, neck and shoulders, we gain more of a natural upright posture. We’ll be lying on your back, side and belly. Have a few towels on hand for support.
November 4, 2020
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Sit/Turn Well

Learn good sitting posture and how to turn with ease. We’ll spend the first half of class in a chair and the second half on the floor lying on your side.
You will need a chair with a firm surface (dining room chair works great) and possibly a towel for your head while you lie on your side on the floor.
October 21, 2020
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Get Centered

Take care of yourself, clear your head and bring yourself back to your center this week with a lovely, nurturing full-body lesson. Feldenkrais lessons tone the parasympathetic nervous system getting us out of sympathetic system’s flight or fight response.
October 14, 2020
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Balance Part 3: Pelvis, Knees & Ankles

Our Balance Series wouldn’t be complete without connecting on down through our legs and feet. This week we’ll balance the functioning of your ankle, knee and hip joints coordinating movement between them.
September 30, 2020
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Balance Part 2: Sitting & Standing

This week we’re going to continue to explore the different ways your pelvis and ribs move and how they can help you balance, walk and sit with more comfort and ease. You'll also learn a nice and easy way to release your psoas muscles and diaphragm that often tighten up from too much sitting. Part of the lesson will be done standing, but can also be done while sitting. So, you’ll need a chair with firm surface and perhaps a pillow to support your lower back. We’ll also be using the wall so you may want to set yourself up in a room where you have a blank wall you can slide your hand up and down on.
September 23, 2020
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Balance Part 1: Sitting

Balance relies on our ability to shift weight from side to side fully and comfortably. Shifting weight means moving all of us from side to side, not just our feet (while standing) or our sit bones (while sitting). You’ll discover how your ribs, pelvis and head participate in the process. In this lesson we’ll start off finding balance in sitting and work our way up to standing next week. You will need a chair with a firm seat and a couple of towels to support yourself while lying down on your side.
September 16, 2020
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Spine, Pelvic Tilt

We will start small; organizing yourself at subtle beginning of a movement so you can learn how to make adjustments to move more effortlessly as the movement gets more challenging. Align and connect w/ deeper places in your spine & pelvis for support and then make the connection to your feet so you can learn to draw on them as you move through your day.
September 9, 2020
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Hips & Hamstrings, Part 2

In Feldenkrais lessons we work primarily with your skeleton and movement to affect the neuro muscular system. In this lesson you’ll be moving your pelvis, spine and back to free up your hamstrings. This second half of the lesson is done lying on your side on the floor. You may want to get a towel to support your head. Start out lying on your back.
August 12, 2020
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Click here for tips for lower back comfort and hamstring care.

Arms & Hands, Part 1

For this lesson have a pen or pencil on hand to use as a reference for how much extra effort you may be using to hold a tool or instrument.
August 5, 2020
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Arms & Hands, Part 2

For this lesson have a small, light-weight safe object that you can hold in one hand. We will be using it to heighten the touch sensitivity in your fingers.
August 5, 2020
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Lift Shoulder to Roll Head

July 29, 2020
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Strong & Flexible Back
(includes tips for getting more out of your Pilates workouts)

July 1, 2020
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Sitting | Healthy Spine & Posture (You will need a chair with a firm surface)
Lesson starts in standing

April 2, 2020
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See graphic below for a visual of movement in this lesson

Below are a few articles. For more Feldenkrais Resources, click here.

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Contact me any time with questions or concerns.
Joan Jordan, GCFP, CMT: www.mindfulmovement.co • 720.988.7473 • joanpacosjordan57@gmail.com