roots

I love walking through Schmitz Park, here above alki beach. It's a land of old growth trees, ferns,

a wonderful hilly and scenic trail network, and a creek down the middle.

This picture reminds me of my own roots to this park as a young child.

Our kindergarten class at Schmitz Park elementary took a field trip to and through it.

How do I sense the ground under me?

As long as we sense enough connection to our environment, we'll move through with a greater degree of comfort.

For every step we take with uncertaintanty tenses up our entire system, nervous, muscular, digestive, etc.

When the person is able to sense the ground under them,

how each part of the foot,

and the individual toes,

contacts its opposing surface.

The nervous system then gets a chance to settle down a bit.

The feeling of safety has increased.

The more you can sense as being there will broaden your options as you navigate the daily dance of life.

Most of us have settled on 1 or 2 ways of doing anything, our habits are set,

which works well enough when we're strong and healthy.

"having only one choice, and acting on it repeatedly, is compulsion. Two choices are an ultimatum. In the presence of three or more options is when we can be fully human."

- Moshé Feldenkrais

Come find your roots at Alki Feldenkrais.

1st timers complimentary lesson

erik@alkimoves.com

Erik LaSeur

206-406-8154

http://www.alkimoves.com/

For more on The Feldenkrais Method:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Running a business and teaching a Feldenkrais lesson

I had an interesting conversation tonight with a fellow West Seattle businessman at a West Seattle Chamber event.

We met at a previous function a few months ago and talked about our similar ways of looking at life. He studied martial arts, and I worked in a profession that was partially based on the martial arts, Judo in fact.

After talking with him a bit tonight I was curious how long he'd worked for himself, and how long it took him to feel successful in his current venture.
He told me he started working for himself at the age of 13 when he lived in Argentina and was in his current business for 10 years.

The conversation got really interesting when he started talking about the way he viewed his business and how he took time often to step away from it, to get a different view of it.
Some key things I remember him saying as a way of running his business were:

Stay creative
Be flexible
Step outside your business sphere on occasion to get a different look or perspective
Have fun and play with the process
Don't be afraid to make mistakes, sometimes these are really gifts
Have a strong foundation to build upon

Now, if you've ever had a Feldenkrais lesson, either in a class format or a private lesson you may recognize the above points as things we also use to enhance the learning process.

So running a business can be like giving a Feldenkrais lesson....who knew?

For more on the Feldenkrais Method:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Erik LaSeur GCFT
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher
Alki Feldenkrais

http://www.alkimoves.com/

Learning to move, moving to learn

Often when marketing my work I only have 45 seconds to tell a clear, compelling story to my audience.

So usually it revolves around learning to move easier.

This is something that most people can relate to, and doesn't send them running for the doors too quickly.

...

But it's a funny thing...this feldenkrais stuff.

...

Yes, you can learn to move with less effort and greater ease. But the point of the Feldenkrais Method is to use movement as a means of learning.

...

We use movement mainly because it's easier to measure than our feelings, thoughts, or senses.

.

Learning to learn so we can escape the 'fix' mentality that is prevalent in our society.

We're addicted to someone fixing us when we're broken.

"Doctor can you put me back together?"

.

Taking back our own inner knowledge of how to help ourselves.

This is the learning that is available to each one of us, at all times, wherever we are.

.

This learning isn't new to any of us.

We all did it when we were infants.

"How do I pick up my head so I can see Mommy?"

"If I can only figure out how to reach farther up, then I can grab that funny thing they hung over my crib."

.

No one taught us how to sit up, roll over, stand up, walk, etc.

These are things we all figured out. That we learned by exploring how we could find support from the environment we were in.

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This same ability to learn is available now.

To learn how we can work and play without hurting ourselves, and do so with pleasure.

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To learn more about the Feldenkrais Method:

http://www.feldenkrais.com/

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Erik LaSeur GCFT

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher

.

http://www.alkimoves.com/

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Felden Christ

"Felden-Christ!"
.
That's often a response when I tell people what I do for a living.
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"Uh, it rhymes with 'paradise'" I usually retort with a smile.
Feldenkrais is paradise as it allows us to move with more freedom and less pain.
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For the first 4 months of BNI networking meetings I never mentioned that I was a Feldenkrais Teacher. Didn't want to spin people's brains from the utterance of the 'F-word'.

For a little paradise in your world check out the Feldenkrais Method.

Erik LaSeur GCFT
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher
http://www.alkimoves.com/
Improve your movement
improve your life
.
For more on the Feldenkrais Method:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/

Learning from mistakes

In the world of learning mistakes are a welcome part of the process. We have room to explore, try something one way, try it another way, and still another.
The goal in this type of learning isn't necessarily to do it right, but rather to test out other ways of doing something.
To see if there is another way of doing the same thing.
Knowing more than 2 ways of doing something gives us a choice in how to live our lives.
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Moshe Feldenkrais said doing something one way consistently is nothing more than compulsion.
Knowing only two ways is an ultimatum.
But when we can know 3 or more ways how to do something then we can truly learn to be human.
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So we play while in lessons, to see what other possibilities can become available for us.
So we can become more fully human.
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Let go of the myth of perfection and allow yourself the room to make mistakes, it's the best way to learn how to do something new.
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For more information on the Feldenkrais Method:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/
.
Erik LaSeur GCFT
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher
http://www.alkimoves.com/
.
Improve your movement
Improve your life

Moving forward into 2010

Okay, I know it's the 3rd week of 2010.
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I've been a bit busy with marketing (face-to-face) my business, figuring out the logistics of my wedding (yes, I'm getting married on February 14th.
And helping with the remodel of our rental house we just bought over in Boulevard Park.
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I've been so busy I forgot to post any new blog articles.
.
One of the new changes with regard to my business - AlkiMoves Feldenkrais -
is that I'm planning on changing the name to:
Alki Feldenkrais.
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When I originally decided upon AlkiMoves as my business name I was running from the 'F' word or Feldenkrais, mainly because it means nothing to the majority of people I talk to. The mere utterance of 'Feldenkrais' would derail my conversations in a way that I would feel on the defensive.
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Now that I've got 6 months of public speaking behind me, both at BNI (Business Networking International), and at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, my confidence level has risen to a level where it's easier to say what I really am.
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Another reason is that some think I'm a moving company...such as "will you move my couch?"
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In the coming months I'll officially change the name to Alki Feldenkrais, but still use the Alkimoves.com domain as it's easier to spell than alkifeldenkrais.com.
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Here's to moving forward in 2010!
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Erik LaSeur GCFT
Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher
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http://www.alkimoves.com/
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For more information on the Feldenkrais Method:
.
http://www.feldenkrais.com/
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Adventures in Feldenkrais: Public speaking

On the road of learning how to market my work, I've been focusing my energy on the face-to-face meeting.

I primarily choose this way over passive means because the words 'feldenkrais' 'Awarness through Movement' and 'Functional Integration' mean nothing to the vast majority of people (9 out of 10 in my rough estimation).

So I've been doing the 1 to 1 meetings in an attempt to make myself more visible.
Meeting people for an hour to talk and/or demonstrate what I do and how I work.

To speed things up I've become a member of my local BNI (Business Networking International) chapter.  I see this as a way of working on clarifying my message in front of larger groups.
Every thursday morning I meet with 35 other entrepreneurs and we all have a chance to talk for 45 seconds.
It's only 45 seconds, yet these are precious golden moments where I can craft a clear, compelling message to my audience.
.
How do you say what you do in 45 seconds or less.
Or as my business coach puts it:
Benefit
Benefit
Benefit
Testimonial
Offer
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Over the past 5 months I've been playing with my elevator speech at these weekly meetups. This has really upped my confidence level not only in marketing what I do, but also in my actual practice.
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Feeling my support
and feeling confident in how I can use this support in a clear and compelling fashion.
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For more on the Feldenkrais Method and how it can help you:
http://www.feldenkrais.com/
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Awareness through Movement®


Classes now offered:

Monday 7:00am - 8:00am

Monday 6:15pm - 7:15pm

Thursday 6:15pm - 7:15pm


www.alkimoves.com/

Erik LaSeur GCFT

Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher®

erik@alkimoves.com