After the thaw, sun and wind.

After about 2 weeks of snow, ice and slush, it's finally in the past.

Now we have strong winds, top reported gust I saw at the Beach Drive weather station was 56mph!

My empty garbage can was blown across Admiral Way, empty of it's 3 weeks worth of trash.

With the new year comes the symbolic gesture of setting goals.

For myself, I've found that the 'attained' goal usually arrives not out of striving for the end goal, but rather honoring the path I'm on and meeting with what ever presents itself...the rain, thunder, snow, ice, wind, and even the sun.

The process of an Awareness through Movement lesson is one of paying attention to how you do something. The simple command 'lift your arm' for some can be one of a compulsive need to compete, raise their arm quicker, higher, longer.

Moshé called these 'stupid movements' only because the movement itself wasn't really that important, but rather the attention given to the movement. So even though there are over 1000 Awareness through Movement lessons floating around for different movement/sensing sequences, they all can teach the same idea of paying attention.

Have a happy new year.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/
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Coming Tuesday, January 6, 2009!
Awareness Through Movement® lessons (group) at:

West Seattle Wellness in the Alaska junction.

Every Tuesday

9:00am

11:30am

1:45pm

happy solstice!

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hmmm...it's 4:04am...

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It's winter solstice time!

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Break out the volleyball net 'B' and meet ya down across from Dukes.

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I've been up all morning excited by the latest snowfall. Went out and cleared the walks and a path to the car.

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Whatever holiday tradition you follow, I wish you and yours the best!

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

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Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/

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Coming January 6, 2009!

Awareness Through Movement® lessons (group) at West Seattle Wellness in the Alaska junction.

If you know what you're doing, it's correct.

We're all brought up to think of the duality of life. Some things are right, some are wrong.

When it comes to movement we often think of doing it right or wrong and inevitably the student will ask "what is the right way to do this (or move)?"

Moshé's answer to this question would be "if you know what you're doing, then you're correct."

This answer sets the Feldenkrais method apart from how all other methods and techniques look at health and how they go about attaining it.

Setting aside our preconceived notions of what good posture or movement should look like, and relying upon the student's ability to become aware of how they do something, whether static or dynamic. This is the simplicity of the Method.

This is also why the Method isn't classified as 'therapy.' We don't work to some ideal of what proper movement or posture should be or look like. Since we're all constructed a little bit different and all have unique experiences while growing up, we all will have our own way of being in the world...

...and the answers for each won't be the same.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Coming January 09! Awareness Through Movement® lessons (group) at West Seattle Wellness in the Alaska junction.

count the colors

My new neighbor unveiled it's paint job today....yikes!

I count 7 colors and woodtone...lol.




I guess the pressure is on. How manycolors can I paint this house?






For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/


Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/


Coming January 09!
Awareness Through Movement lessons (group) at West Seattle Wellness in the Alaska junction.

Fall colors - red

I took these pictures about a month ago on a walk around the neighborhood.

The fall leaves were at their full-on red glory...

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This was my favorite tree on the street.

The brightness of the leaves helped me see it from 3 blocks away with ease.

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Some mid-sized berry like things down at the beach.

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The combo of pink and green looked delicious!

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One of the christmas cactus flowers in my living room, a few days ago:

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/

Coming January 09!

Awareness Through Movement lessons (group) at West Seattle Wellness in the Alaska junction.

Back pain? Just pay attention

I hear so many people complain about their sore backs and the many ways they try to alleviate it.

They go see their Massage therapist/chiropractor/Physical Therapist/Acupuncturist/herbalist/ect. ad infinitum.

While these methods all do wonders for temporarily alleviating the suffering and sometimes even long-term, none of them addresses the lifetime of habits that eventually led to this state of being.

I believe one of the most effective means is simply to pay attention to what you're doing. Once we begin to re-learn how to pay attention to how we do any action we then find how we incorporate (or not) the rest of ourselves in our actions.

The most efficient action is one where it's spread out evenly throughout the whole body.

Every action.

There is a reason Moshé entitled his last book "The Elusive Obvious." The Feldenkrais method is simple mechanics of efficiency, but this seems to elude most of us. If you want to watch a master at this type of learning look to the nearest infant, they're the most potent learners on the planet.

You can pay me (or the multitude of other LMP's) for a relaxing massage, or have a PT or physical trainer put you through the paces of strengthening your weak muscles, or have a chiropractor adjust your spine, or someone can balance your chakras, or do a voodoo dance to chase away the sore back demons.

But in the end did you learn anything about your habitual nature that got you into this condition in the first place? I do see the value in the other professions, I also believe that when the client feels they have control over their own healing, it's that much more powerful.

"If you know what you're doing, you can do anything." Moshé Feldenkrais

The next time you feel a muscular pain, whether it's your back, neck, shoulders, ect. pay attention not to the pain but rather to how you are using the rest of your body. How are you standing? Is more pressure on one foot than the other? Where on your feet do you support more of yourself? How are you sitting? Is there more pressure on one sitz bone (butt) than the other? Do you hold your breath during certain actions? Pay attention to excessive strain or holding patterns....etc.

You just might experience a little bit of your own magic (although I hesitate to use this word as it's really not magic just the nervous system responding to new information).

For more on how to apply this simple (fun and playful too!) yet very effective method for alleviating pain:

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

I'm currently teaching individual lessons on Alki.

Gratitude today and always

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the traditional day of the year when we give thanks for our lot in life. For our family and friends, home, job,health...etc.

In my own life I've found that regular sessions of thanks or gratitude have really opened up the beauty that life can be.

I find that not only having gratitude for all the things we deem 'nice' but also for all the people/things that we feel have given us challenges is important for us to move along in our growth as fully functioning humans.

It's those tough situations/people that have taught me valuable lessons in patience and forgiveness among other attributes. I've found it easier to put my experiences in perspective of how they shaped my life...to thank those that forced me to learn the tougher lessons.

In the end we all do the best we know how, the best we were taught by our siblings/parents/and other family members while we were in our formative years. In addition to this familial learning we also add in our extra-familial experiences and learnings that form how we are as mature (more or less) adults.

Hopefully today you'll take the moment to give thanks to all those (whether you judge the experience as positive or negative) that have impacted your life. And tomorrow....and the next day....and so forth.

Gratitude or giving thanks is one of the most powerful tools we have for our own growth.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/

Curiosity cured the cat

The Grand Canyon has lots of ecosystems in a small space because of it's intense elevation changes.

Cats seemed to prefer this South Rim area.

Despite the sign it's tough not to let your curiosity roam for the sheer beauty of the canyon.

Curiosity is an important element in living a fuller, more spontaneous life. It can also play a role in our healing. When we begin to pay attention to smaller and smaller changes in our bodies during the lessons and after, we start to bring in more of ourselves to every movement. Every part can do a little and no one part does a lot.

No one can know you better than yourself, so you might as well be curious!

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

I've lost 30lbs this year, so I'm going as a skeleton.

I built this guy (Dennis) in my trainer's garage in Bend, OR. A fun weekend with fellow classmates as we wielded drills and bungy-cords and the occasional brew.

I was warned...'Sasquatch Crossing' sign in Piercy,CA on Hwy 101.

Foggy morning in the Redwoods. They hide best in these conditions!

Fall colors in the Redwoods on the 'Avenue of the Giants'.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/

Travel scenes

I don't think this guy was too amused at me backing my car up to take his picture, he was strolling along the shoulder just inside the West Yellowstone entrance.

One of the painter's pots....

Boys being boys....

Larry checking out the snow in Yellowstone...

This guy stopped all traffic just outside Jackson, Wyoming...

Zion National Park, one of the tunnel vents...

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Sunset over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon...

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Keeping faith

Faith was born with her hind legs and part of a front leg (which had to be amputated).

She learned how to adapt to the situation and walks nearly erect. Notice how her tail is used for counter-balance.

Teach a person (or dog for that matter) how to function and their form adapts to the stimulus given it.

The common perception is that if you change someone's form then their function will change. I agree with this to a degree...once someone is in a chronic state then they can more easily address their habitual natures and learn to change their functions to more satisfying and efficient experiences.

Learn to live life more fully as a human being, or as a more full human doggie!

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/

To give us a perceived sense of weightlessness...

Ummm..Alex...."What is a skeleton for?"

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correct....for $500!

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When we're well organized and the weight comes through our skeleton, there is no perceived sense of weight. With a high center of gravity and a low moment of inertia we can be quick in our movements using minimal effort.

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Watching the movements of world-class athletes, dancers, musicians, etc. gives us a glimpse of the beauty we can display in our own lives.

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After a few lessons many people report a feeling of 'lightness' (I've never seen anyone levitate though), feeling taller, or the sense of using less effort for the same tasks.

How does this happen? What's going on?

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The genius of Moshé was to create lessons that help us develop our ability to 'be' in space. From the moment we're born that is our job; to learn where we are, who we are, continually seeking refinement. This is how we become highly functioning healthy humans.

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We're all just tall, unstable cylinders either seeking stability (security) or refinement. The evolutionary aspect of our nervous system is one of refinement, given that we're not in a survival situation. Learning can only happen when our necessary needs are taken care of first (Maslow's heirarchy ;-).

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The good thing is that we can always, at any age, pick up this ability to learn...how to feel 'weightless.'

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Happy birthday

Today I turned 47!

And what a beautiful day it was. Sunny, 75 and a slight breeze.

The boy and I ventured on down to the cookoff that was still going on at the beach to have some more of that beef brisket.

An added bonus after we chowed down was that a very nice girl brought Larry and I a pork rib from their grill...I was ever thankful to her. She was with a family group from Portland, Klamath Falls OR, and Reno.

Had a leasurely pedal into DT this afternoon and really appreciated the fact that I can pedal 20 miles a day without much stress. I'm up to 826 miles in the last 7.5 weeks.

To life to life, I made it another year!

And here's to an even better one.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/

folks makin music

That's what folk music is...

I spent a wonderful weekend in Sisters, OR at the folk music festival. Saw many cool acts, none I've ever seen before.

The one act that left a very strong impression on me was Joe Craven. Joe spends his time at these festivals teaching ordinary folks how to create music. In his act he uses the simplicities of a recording device that can record loops of sounds, he also used pots and pans, etc. as instruments. I never saw Joe before or went to any of the music writing workshops, but what he said at the end of his act truly has inspired me.

I'm paraphrasing since I never wrote any of this down yesterday:

"We all have a story to tell, and we can only do it our way, not anyone elses. The more we suppress letting who we are to shine, the more we die. Whatever art you feel is inside you needs a way to come out, pick it up for 10 mins a day. The world will be a much better and happier place."

I played my saxophone today for the first time in a month or so...for at least 15 minutes!

8-)~~

And the memories of that beautiful sunset as I was cresting 4800' Santiam Pass on Friday night...pink and blue sky...white trunked burnt out forest...crescent moon on horizon.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Summer cleanse

It's monsoon season!

Other than taking the dog on his usual mile and a half walk I haven't been outside today.

It's wet.

The yard looks happy though. A good shower for all the living beings that inhabit my environs.

The process of change can include the occasional drenching, sometimes near-drownings. It's not that it rains, but how we respond to it.

If the rain would let up a bit...I just might have to go for a bike ride.

I've got lights.

8-;

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Roll on

I've taken up an olde friend. The bicycle.

In the past 3 weeks I've ridden the distance from my front door to the the Bend,OR city limits (325 miles). To add some context; in the prior 12 months I've pedaled almost 300 miles.

At a friend's house this past Saturday I sneaked a look on his scale...I've lost some lbs. too. That was 80 miles of pedaling ago.

Aside from losing some weight I've also noticed some increased range due to less soft tissue opposition! (less fat!)

And mostly, my energy level has risen to a much different place.

Tomorrow will be some beach volleyball...should be hot.

8-)~

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
http://www.alkimoves.com/

Buh bye!

Today was my last as a Macy's corporate whore. Officially laid off...about time...they told us 6 months ago we were toast.

I can now enjoy the summer. Yeah!!

I'm standing in a room that I've mostly reclaimed (got rid of lots of stuff). I can do lessons in this room soon. I'm sure I'll learn a lot about restoring/replacing wood flooring in the meantime. It can't be too hard?

There...I just saved 60-100 grand by not trying to change my attic into a livable space :-)

This is a time for myself to be more present in my being. Having let go of stuff (guaranteed salary and a room full of clutter) a void has been created. Will my behaviours tend toward the known to quickly find an equilibrium?

In lessons it's important to allow the nervous system a chance to familiarize itself with new movement patterns, with rest. The kind of rest where you lie in the position you initially came back to, without any stretching, ruffling, straightening, or any other means to find an older, more familar resting position.

It's a way of teaching us to be comfortable with the unknown.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Finding support

Arches National Park, Utah. This place is on my agenda for the fall road-trip.

The fragile looking setup is held together by a capstone on top, taking the forces of both sides to allow them to remain standing.

A talk Moshé gave once, he talked of how the majority of relationships (personal, business, religious, etc.) are formed based on mutual insecurities of both parties. He described an arch as representative of these relationships. A strong structure. In the above picture the two sides have a better chance of standing up if they can mutually lean on something, each other.

If they were standing in a more erect fashion they probably could rely on their own mass and the forces of gravity to stand up.

When two parties have this relationship and one decides to stand up, the other partner has a choice to make.

Oh crap! I have to change!

Some of the options could be to stand up on their own, to fall down, or to hold onto the other one for dear life. I'm sure there are many other variations on a theme here.

One of the bylines I thought of using when first thinking of going online a couple years ago was...'Finding support, nurturing growth'. It was a nifty Flash page that had two hands come together, then a tree would rise out of the hands.

I was heavy into the support aspect of the lessons. Reeling from the loss of my beloved Yvonne and trying to find my ground, my support. I had to choose to stand up (to be that tree on the webpage template). Fortunately the Awarness through Movement® lessons I periodically taught myself helped me in this process. Now I'm a fledgling redwood tree... 8-)~

A question I often ask myself when feeling out of sorts is "where is my support?", or "how am I standing (sitting, lying)?"

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Bouncing Back

I spent part of the 4th of July over on Alki Beach playing beach volleyball.

This was the first time I've played volleyball in at least 10 years, and the first time in sand.

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Needless to say, I trashed my body.

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But I'm happy.

I met some new friends, found my serve :-), and now have a new (fun) way to get/keep in shape.

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Physically, I know I'll be ready the next time we play as I've learned how (through my feldenkrais training) to reset myself.

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The lessons take on a much more personal flavor when I've compromised my own abilities to move easily....lol.

The notions of moving less, and slower are easier when it hurts to do otherwise.

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Mentally, I feel I've made another huge step in my own recovery.

During the six years that Yvonne battled breast cancer I slowly removed myself from most friendships and activities, as I focused more on being there for her.

I hadn't realized what I done until after she passed on and I all of a sudden felt very alone, fat, and old.

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I've had to basically start a new life (luckily I had a job, a house, and a handful of good friends left).

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Moshé once gave a talk on 'What is health?'

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Part of his definition of health was the ability to overcome adversity, to bounce back. To take a hit and find a way to come back and live life...kind of a 'fuck you' to whatever tried to knock you down.

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I may never make a living in the feldenkrais profession (very few do), but you can't take away the invaluable learnings I received and continue to hone for my own self-preservation. The ability to re-set myself (derail any habitual patterns that I become aware of that aren't good for me) by the simple act of laying on the floor and allowing gravity to teach me a better way of being.

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For those who've never experienced an Awareness Through Movement lesson the above paragraph probably seems non-sensical. But it is a simple process for anyone to learn how to teach themselves to be their own best advocate for health.

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See you on the beach!

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Early summers eve

To celebrate summer...

Larry had a bathe...

Look at that sexy bod!

The pampas is giving its salute to summer!

Some evening color from the yard, in celebration of summer!

The black bamboo is certainly excited about it being summer.

So is the crooked bamboo....woohoo!

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

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http://www.feldenkrais.com/

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Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

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http://www.alkimoves.com/

Slouching deserves its day

We all have habits, and slouching is probably on everyone's list. But unfortunately most people would put it in the 'bad habit' column.

How is slouching good for us?

When we slouch we engage muscles that are useful for many functions in our daily lives (tying our shoes, wiping our ass, picking up something from the floor, dancing, sex, etc....).

To limit our use of those muscles by trying to be 'straight' (which is nearly impossible per this post: http://alkisandbox.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-straight-do-you-want.html 'how straight do you want? April 11...) we then limit what actions we can take.

So if the poor kids in this picture really learn that it's bad to bend forward by rolling their pelvis back and rounding their backs, how will they learn to reach forward?

Usually when people talk about how bad slouching is they also add in that it's bad posture to do so.

So again I ask...what is good posture?

Most people would say it's when you are standing straight.
Okay, so can you have good posture while sitting? While laying down? How about rolling?

The definition of good posture or acture is when the forces of gravity are sustained by the skeletal system, leaving the muscles free for action. This is an active definition of posture as opposed to the static definition of standing still.
If you feel deep relief from a shoulder massage then you are using your muscles for stability and thus your posture is less than ideal.

By this definition you can slouch and have good posture.

If you want to find out how this is possible you can either read more at the guild website below or contact me.

Happy slouching!

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Awake, conscious, aware………zzzzz!

Dr. Feldenkrais’ body of work is unmatched in the scientific world with regard to how humans develop and how they eventually hold the key to their own health and dignity.

While I enjoy listening to his talks there are many challenges I face in trying to assimilate the message.

For one, my hearing sucks. And it’s not enough to crank up the volume because I still have a tough time differentiating the sounds to make a meaningful sentence for me.

Adding to this is that he is a Russian Jew, so the dialect throws me.

And finally the way he thinks is so different from how we normally think about things, when I do hear what he’s saying I then have to process it through unknown filters.

The whole process is a catch-up game for me and can be tiresome.

So anyway.
Last night for probably the 20th time I was listening to a talk he gave in Amherst, MA in 1981…it was a general reading of letters moment where students had written down questions for him, and he was reading and answering some of them.

This talk centered around the question…’What is attention, and what is awareness?’

So he asks “How do you pay attention?”

What do you need to pay attention? You definitely need to be interested in the subject in order to pay attention. If there were no interest then there’d be no attention spent on it.

Then he moves onto the concepts of being awake, being conscious, and being aware.

There are no definite dividing lines for any of these.
We all kind of have an idea of when we’re awake, and when we’re not awake we must be asleep. And all the varying degrees in between.

All animals are conscious, unless you’re knocked unconscious. You can be asleep and be conscious.
But to be Aware, one must not only be conscious and awake but they also must know what/how they are doing something. Most of our daily lives are spent in the conscious only realm with very little awareness attached to it.

Are you aware of how you breathe? Are you aware of how you sit? Are you aware of what you eat and how it moves through your body? Are you aware of how you walk to your mailbox?

Sure we’re conscious of the facts that we’re breathing, sitting, eating, swallowing, pissing, shitting, fucking, etc. (Moshé was never shy in using these clinical terms...lol)
But are you ever aware of yourself in these acts?

Simple but complex questions that really help us to understand ourselves and to help us heal ourselves.

So it was at the point in the tape where he was asking….”How do you fall asleep?” “Are you aware of how you fall asleep?”

……zzzzzzzzzzz

I woke up an hour later laying on the floor……..crap!

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One of these days I’ll make it through this entire hour without falling asleep….and, no I’m still not aware of how I fall asleep, but I certainly know what to listen to if I can’t.

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

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Erik LaSeurGuild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

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http://www.alkimoves.com/

Are babies really smarter than us grownups?

Okay, that picture kinda gives me the creeps...lol.

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Your baby might not be able to figure out differential equations or make sense of the current political lunacy (who can?). But one thing all babies have over us grown-ups is a powerful grasp of organic learning...the ability to learn from their environment using their own selves as the measuring stick. They use this to learn how to suck, to roll over, sit, stand, etc.

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I bring this up because I've heard a bit lately about 20 somethings with sore backs and their solutions to remedy this....strength training. Babies have very little muscle tonus compared to an older child or adult, yet you don't hear them complaining of sore backs...lol. So what's their secret?

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Use of self.

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What a baby is doing as they explore their world is a continual self-education in how they can use themselves efficiently to get what they want...a toy...candy...mommy...or some shiny object that fascinates them. The baby certainly isn't a muscle-man and can't power their way to do things. As we get older and stronger, and our actions become more compulsive due to familial and societal conditioning, we usually end up powering our way through things and letting the organic nature of our learning lay to waste.

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Why doesn't strength training help my back?

We have our habits. And when we lift weights we do so by strengthening those habits...the same ones that gave us a sore back in the first place. Also, with stronger muscles we have a tendency to use them to 'hold' a position as a way of guarding ourselves against injury. This limits our possible actions (and thoughts), and makes for a rigid experience.

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So, in short this kind of answers that question of what is feldenkrais?

Assist others in regaining their organic learning abilities. It doesn't have to be hard, and really can be childs play.

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

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http://www.feldenkrais.com/
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.Erik LaSeurGuild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®
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.http://www.alkimoves.com/

A pattern is a pattern is a pattern

This is a Fire Rainbow - the rarest of all naturally occurring atmospheric phenomena.

The picture was captured last week on the ID/WA border.

The event lasted about 1 hour.

Clouds have to be cirrus, at least 20k feet in the air, with just the right amount of ice crystals and the sun has to hit the clouds at precisely 58 degrees.

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I spent a couple days last week laying on the bulkhead at Alki staring up at clouds, enjoying the various patterns. I remember as a child we would lay in the yard and gaze up at the different clouds and 'see' different animals and even people we knew!

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To see a pattern in how someone walks or moves I've gotten good at guessing how they also form their thought patterns. There is no separation between mind and body, the pattern of our thinking manifests itself in our physical actions and vice versa.

Eg: If I see that someone has a challenge with stopping their action and reversing course I can make a fairly educated guess that they also have a tough time changing their mind about something they believe...course not easily reversed.

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Our bodies are metaphors for how we see the world, like it or not. I choose to use this information for bettering my own personal experience of the world.

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"I'm not interested in flexible bodies, but rather flexible minds"

Moshe Feldenkrais

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I have to admit I enjoy watching people and the patterns they display that we can all, with some practice, learn to read like a book without ever talking to them.

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Last week on the bus on the way into downtown Seattle I overheard (yes this is rare because most conversations to me sound like the adults in Charlie Brown cartoons..."Wohk wohk wohk wohk") a guy talking on his cell with his work about a little financial problem they were having...he was loud. A bit later when he was getting off the bus a lady behind him said "Mr.! you dropped your wallet". Now it would've been interesting to spend the day with him and see if he had a few more financial mishaps, but the pattern was set with those back-to-back incidents for him for a day to examine his beliefs about money and scarcity.

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Sometimes it's a bitch to have this kind of awareness that I can see the potentialities (good and bad) of people by the patterns they splash before me. But telling people what you see usually pisses em off so I have to just let nature take its course.

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Ways to see your own patterns are as simple as examining the words you use, whether verbal or not. Words are a window into how we think and the experience that we live. Noticing the words and changing them won't necessarily change your experience right away though...because of your history and the momentum this has created.

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Just like in a lesson it's important to notice what you do and/or think, without changing it. The observation of the act or thought is more important at this point than changing it. To immediately change how you do something would be a form of denial that you never did it that way. So you'd end up still doing it, and denying it ever existed.

It's okay to acknowledge your idiosyncracies, it's what makes you unique, who you are. To deny that is not healthy.

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

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Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

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http://www.alkimoves.com/

Les Izmore

This is part of the extensive trail network in Sun River, OR. I lived about 7 weeks a year here during my 4 year feldenkrais training.

It was one of the cheapest short-term housing alternatives for a group in the Bend area.

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I spent hours after class walking or biking these trails. Occasionally crossing paths with the local deer herds or the wandering coyotes keeping a wary eye on me keeping a wary eye on them.

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Often I was alone on a trail in the middle of nowhere left to contemplate my simple existence while on this simple trail through the simple woods, next to a simple river, with simple mountains off in the distance.

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One thing I've learned about simplicity is that having less doesn't necessarily mean enjoying less. I can learn to be more efficient with what I have, this is of course assuming that base needs are met.

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There is a reasoning for why we often say during lessons to do less. Make the range smaller, the speed slower, less repetitious. This is in hopes that you learn to discern differences better.

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In scientific circles it's called the Weger-Fechner Effect...

... the less stimulus applied to a subject, the easier it is to measure change.

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Eg: a weightlifter is holding up a 200lb barbell, someone adds a feather to one end. Or the same weightlifter is still standing but without anything in his hands, someone adds a feather to his hand.

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Which scenario above is he more apt to note a change in weight?

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Fence building

Part of the fence I, with the help of my bro-in-law, built last Monday.

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Have I ever built a fence before? No.

You'd laugh at the plans I drew up for this thing. They were completely in my head.

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My boss at my day-gig where I've been handling the payroll for about 10,000 people is used to this from me.

This is a typical conversation between us...

boss-lady: Erik can you help me understand this such and such numbers problem?

Me: Sure, it's blah blah blah blah.

boss-lady: Cool....Do you have a written procedure for this?

Me: Uh...no. But it's in my head!

Such is how I make it through life.

There is a madness to my methods though. Having been profoundly deaf my whole life I've had to do things differently than most people.

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I'm a visual and tactile person.

Auditory, not so much.

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But with loss of one ability I've been blessed with others to pick up the slack.

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One of the strategies we use in our lessons is that of visualization. For some people this can be very effective in learning new ways of moving and being in the world.

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Many world-class athletes have been using visualization techniques for years to enhance their performances.

When we visualize ourselves doing the act the nervous system still sends signals to the muscular system. The muscles may not move, but they've received the instructions. So learning is still going on.

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Whatever you plan to build, whether it be fences or castles in the sky, visualization is a potent technique that can help you get there.

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For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

The dance of not doing

The red clover is filling out the parking strip nicely. These are the first types of flowers that'll bloom in this space over the next few months.

Since this short strip abuts a 'STOP' sign there is no parking allowed, so the past two years I've planted it with wildflower seeds to beautify the corner.

To Do or Not to Do

One of the biggest challenges feldenkrais practitioners run into is the concept of not-doing. Most of us come from health and or medical fields and are used to doing something to someone, or working on someone, or otherwise being the expert of someone elses experience.

But what if we looked at it from a different perspective?

No one can know you better than yourself. And to use this to it's greatest success it's in our best interest (feldenkrais practitioners) to find a way for you to become more connected to yourself.

Another way of saying it could be: To Do or to Be.

If I can be with you I'll have a better chance of figuring out how you do something than if I just do stuff to you. To be with someone forces me to set aside any agenda I may have or preconceived notions of what 'should' be done to you.

This helps set the stage for learning, when the student realizes there is a two-way communication going on. To do something to someone implies a one-way communication....me to you. Sure I have moments when I just want to put someone in a posture I feel would be better for them, but this would take away any sense on their part that they're part of the solution.

When was the last time you touched or talked to someone without trying to impose your agenda upon them? Without trying to fix their problems?

Going through a 6 year disease process with my late wife I came face-to-face with many well-meaning people that were trying to tell us what to do. Not only was this unsolicited advice but it also made us feel at times as if we couldn't do anything right or that there was a 'reason' for this disease and if we would just try out their latest treatment everything would then be fine.

The unknown violence we cause in others lives by trying to help them....doing it to them.

Take a moment when with your loved ones or friends (or most importantly...yourself) to just be with them, happy that they're part of your life, and perfect the way they are. Of course you have better ideas of how they should be, but try keeping it to yourself.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Rocky terrain

Various rocks amongst the weeds in my backyard sunroom. The flat river rocks on the left can and have been used for hot stone massage.

We live in a flat world, modern society has done it's best so that every surface we walk on is flat. This has helped us to be more efficient in our movements whether by foot or wheel. A downside to keeping our experience flat is that it limits our options on what we can do or at least what we perceive we can do.

Correct posture or acture is one of a fluid experience rather than a static one. We have our self-concepts of what standing or walking with good posture is, but does this also include while on rocky terrain?

In our lessons we're looking for what we can learn to make our life easier and more enjoyable. And if we can learn to have the same sense of stability in an uneven world it makes life in the flat world that much better.

Take a walk on rocks (small ones, medium ones, sure....even big ones). Feel how your feet interact with the rocks. Notice what parts of yourself (pelvis, ribs, your breath, etc.) are used, or not used when moving over this uneven surface.

I find that walking on rocks helps me function in the flat world with much greater ease. So rock on!

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Can I keep it?

Last weekend we had our first taste of real warmth, it got up to 78 here at the beach.

So one of the remnants I found on my (okay, it's really all of ours) sidewalk was this hat-------->

I really don't want the hat and am hoping whoever lost this hat comes and gets it...>

Pleaassssseeee!.....lol.

It's on the fence...............................___>>>>>>>

Can we keep what we learn?

I hear this question from students "how can I keep this position?" after a lesson. With new attention comes the want not to slip back to our old habits. And anyways....how long have you had the old ones?

"I'm not after flexible bodies, rather flexible minds." moshe feldenkrais.

One thing I've learned on my journey is a greater ease and ability in changing course...to deal with change.

Okay, so what does changing the body have to do with the mind?

Usually when we're spinning our day's travails through our mind we're only using our head at best. Our brain is more than our head. Wherever a nerve impulse is possible we can consider that the brain too. How often do you catch yourself thinking with your head only?

Self image is the image (picture or actor or alter-ego) you employ in your every day life. What part of you do you know is here?

The more in touch with who we really are, physically and mentally, the more whole our existence can be. To life!

But back to the original question. Yes, you can keep new, more efficient patterns. It takes time, and many different approximations before it's yours. Only remember that it's not about keeping anything....okay!

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Taking a stand

I've had a love affair with giant trees, especially redwoods, for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite places to meander is through the Avenue of Giants in Humboldt County, CA. It's home to some of the oldest and largest redwood trees still standing in the western U.S.

We all have moments in our lives when we have to take a stand for something, if not for ourselves. While this may look like many things in your individual thought processes, it can also be looked at from a metaphorical perspective.

Because the physical and mental areas of our brain are so close together we can use this to our advantage.

Taking a stand can be as simple as feeling the ground beneath your feet. How do you stand normally? Where do you put more weight on your feet? Do you collapse your arches?

These are all questions you can ask yourself whenever you're about to take on a new and/or stressful situation. Often we find ourselves up in our heads going over possible scenarios before we actually act, and also while in the act. Only afterwards wondering ... what just happened?

Next time you're about to move into unfamiliar mental territory, whether it's an interview or meeting someone new or having to confront a troublesome neighbor, check in with how you physically stand.

You can practice this by giving a test talk to yourself (out loud) while changing where you have your areas of support. First you can collapse your arches, bringing your knees a bit closer. You may notice a rounding of the back, rolling forward of the shoulders, lowering of the head, and a shorter breathe. Then slowly roll your feet so that your support moves to the outside edges of each foot.

This might be a strategy I'd use with someone who wants to be heard better, carry a nicer singing tone, or learn to fill the room with their presence more effectively. Surprisingly, it's also useful in the act of going from sitting to standing.

I know this doesn't necessarily take place of what you can learn in a group (Awareness Through Movement®) or one-on-one lesson (Functional Integration®), but hopefully you can glean something out of this to help the next time you feel an uncomfortable situation arising.

For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you may go to:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Compassion and more potent action

An original by my late wife Yvonne

All the buzz lately has been on the Dalai Lama's Compassion Tour 08'. Yes, I agree with him that we all need to show more compassion for those around us. But I think a more potent strategy, and one less people are probably willing to undertake, is to have more compassion for ourselves.


When we put ourselves out to others we can only do so to the extent that we know. We can only love others to the extent that we know how to love ourselves. There is that saying 'God helps those that help themselves.' While I'm about as religious as a rock, I do find many sayings from many different religions to be spot on. What most of the participants at the Dalai's events this weekend will most likely experience when they 'practice' their compassion on others is that they'll end up confronting themselves, and the limitations of their own experiences.

I by no means am a saint and am speaking mainly on my own experiences (I'm a Virgo, so self-deprecating behaviour is ever present).



How do we learn to be more compassionate to ourselves?


There are ample opportunites throughout the day to get a base measure of your self-compassion.


One is to check into the internal dialogue or self-talk that you have about yourself. Are you being compassionate to yourself or self-deprecating? What do you say to yourself, both outloud and in the silence? To witness your own language can be eye opening, it was for me.


Another way, which is an easier tool for measurement, is to watch how much effort you put into the simplest of movements. When you strain to do any movement is that an act of compassion? I think of those in yoga class that strive to attain a yoga position. The pain and violence we can put ourselves through to attain that position, as if once we get there we'll attain some sort of enlightenment.
I see enough joggers and runners carrying themselves in positions that have to be causing damage, if not immediate then long-term. Arthritis is mainly the long-term shearing force of using yourself in non-compassionate ways.


There are many challenging Awareness Through Movement® lessons in Feldenkrais® that no way could I 'attain' some theoretical position, not without injuring or at least inflicting some sort of violence on myself. Fortunately, in ATM® lessons it's not about attaining anything but rather a chance to observe oneself in the act to see how we do it. And the chance to notice the violence, whether it's physical or emotional, we inflict on ourselves in our every day existence.


So, yes, practice compassion. It begins at home, with yourself. I know it can be scary, but it doesn't have to be. :-)


For more on the Feldenkrais Method® you can go to:


http://www.feldenkrais.com/




Erik LaSeur
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

http://www.alkimoves.com/