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/