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Sunday, February 24, 2019

For new people or people who can't come often, or need a grounding, reaffirming Feldenkrais class -- this week is for you Tue, Thurs, Sat.

Dear friends, ongoing students, new students, and potential students!

Next week’s (Feb. 25-Mar 2) Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement class is a short, simple and whole body class that provides comfortable movement in hips, legs, knees, feet, spine, neck, chest, arms and shoulders. Pretty much everything, but especially organizing in feet, legs (and knees), hips and pelvis. 

It is a straightforward lesson that is a particularly good one for people who need grounding and balance, or who are new to Feldenkrais or may have started class when we did a more complex, longer or vigorous lesson. 

This class will take you in a simple way into your whole body, help you feel a deeper sense of the dynamics of your posture, flexibility, balance and stability. It will pave the way to a new understanding of your skeletal support and structure, and so is a good introductory lesson and reinforcement of basic Feldenkrais principles, e.g., moving slowly, small and mindfully; distributing work through your whole skeleton, not doing any movement that is straining or painful in any way, beginning to know what our movement habits and patterns are, where we find resistance or limitation and where there is ease. Then the nervous system is engaged and the updating of the brain map begins. 

If you’ve been hesitating coming to class, or have been only once or twice, I invite you to join us for class next week. It will help you feel more confident about the process and your relationship to improving your learning and moving. 

Please come 15 mins early to your first class and be sure to let me know you are coming. I will confirm that I’ve heard from you and send you the class handout if you don’t already have one. That way, we can arrange to talk before class, either via email, on the phone or meet face to face. Or you can contact me using the form on this website, at the top right hand corner. 

In any case, let me know if you have any questions, or something to discuss.  And when coming to class, be sure to dress warmly in layers. Bring water, a blanket and towel. 

Tues noon-1:30pm at 250 Bell St., park behind and come in the back door;  
—Thurs 5-6:30pm at the Reno Buddhist Ctr., come down the long hallway to the Hiroma Hall;
Saturday 10-11:30am at 250 Bell St., park in front and come in the front door. 

Happy Sunday! Looking forward to seeing you. 
Carole 


Friday, February 15, 2019

Winter Feldenkrais classes in Reno -- in case you are wondering about weather-related cancellation policy

Dear friends and students,

During the winter months when the weather is often cold, snowy, or rainy and unpleasant, Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes in Reno pretty much always occur as scheduled.  The atmosphere inside is heart-warming,  healthy, open,  mindful and friendly -- no matter what the weather is doing or what the world outside is like.

I feel strongly that the consistency of classes is an important part of developing our commitment to wellbeing, self-care, and/or healing or improving whatever elements of personal growth that we are working on.  And equally important, that this commitment helps everyone around us and beyond. Intention is powerful.

Thus the only time I cancel a class is if the weather and/or streets are genuinely dangerous or if I am sick. Otherwise classes go on.  If only a few people attend, that is fine. Lucky for them! It just means that we sometimes have smaller, more intimate, lively groups, with more individual support and sometimes a little more playful.

Valentines Day at the Reno Buddhist Center on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14 was one of these; we ate chocolates together and did my favorite seated lesson, an interesting, rich and varied lesson that includes working with the eyes and the entire body.  We are doing the same lesson tomorrow at 250 Bell St., 10 am, and I will be there.

If I ever do cancel a class, I will text you if I have your phone numbers. I will also post a notice here on my website, and on both of my facebook pages. And you can always contact me to ask if you have a concern. But generally speaking, I don't cancel classes unless the weather is truly treacherous (which actually has never happened), or if I am sick or out of town, and neither of those things happens often.

So now you know.  I'll see some of you tomorrow! Just drive safely if the roads are icy. I'll be there.


Monday, February 11, 2019

Whole body + eyes workout in a seated position. Feldenkrais® class week of Feb. 4-9.


A chair lesson that works on the whole body, connects to the pelvis and improves turning, while aligning and organizing your skeleton, AND working on vision. 

CLASS THIS WEEK: (all 3 days, we will study the same lesson) Tues Noon - 1:30pm, 250 Bell St., Thurs 5-6:30 pm, Reno Buddhist Ctr., Sat. 10 am-11:30 am, 250 Bell St. Please join us! 

Use the contact form above right if you are a first time student or want to ask questions, get more information. Plan to come 15 minutes early, and email me for the class handout. 

Dress warmly, wear layers, bring a blanket or similar, and water. Looking forward to this great class and to see you there!

Carole 



Thursday, February 7, 2019

Reducing Injuries by Increasing Self-awareness, Internal Stability and Strength with Feldenkrais: In Healthy Beginnings Magazine - January 2019

Injuries are awful and many are avoidable. 
Learn to stop injuring yourself in 2019! 
You might consider the Feldenkrais method when looking to ease joint pain and other injuries en route to a healthier 2019. Courtesy photo

Reducing injury by increasing self-awareness, internal stability and strength with Feldenkrais!



Let’s face it — injuries are horrible, ghastly. They happen quickly, and suddenly we are hurt or in the hospital. Life gets painful, scary and complicated.
With serious injuries like broken bones or severe tissue damage, our problems accelerate. It makes sense, as chaotic and difficult as life is now, to minimize the likelihood of injury causing accidents.
To do this, we’ll focus on the 2 kinds of accidents/injuries that can be avoided:
  1. The first is things that happen to us because we aren’t paying attention to our environment, like falling because we tripped on a rug or a dog, or running into something because we weren’t looking, or hurting ourselves with a tool by not watching what we’re doing.
  2. The second is different — injuries that happen because we aren’t paying attention to our bodies.
Our bodies routinely send us signals (discomfort/pain) that something needs to change, but we ignore them or don’t recognize the warning; or don’t take it seriously, thinking somehow that pain is OK: the “no pain, no gain” mentality. Then suddenly we’ve herniated a disc, torn a muscle or ligament, or worse. And there is no “do-over.” It’s too late. The accident has happened.
In Feldenkrais, we step back and find a better strategy. The first step is to acknowledge that we live mostly in our heads, with little awareness of our physicality, meaning we’re mostly unconscious of our bodies in space. We don’t feel our feet on the ground or our bottoms in our chairs; we have no clear idea how we move at all.
If we get interested in noticing our bodies and movement, we work with our nervous systems in a totally new way. This helps neural pathways form and new brain mapping occur.
The Feldenkrais Method classes and private sessions, aka somatic education or neuromuscular re-education, does this with slow, small, non-habitual movements, teaching us about our movement habits, revealing what is easy for us, and, what is not.
Learning about our habits is critical because they contribute to our pain, weakness, lack of balance, bad posture, and disconnection between body and brain — all things that can cause injury.
David Zemach Bersin, one of my Feldenkrais teachers and co-founder of the Feldenkrais Institute in NYC, says, “The Feldenkrais Method is a sophisticated form of sensory-motor education, which interacts with the brain in a special way to improve the comfort and function of the body … The exercise are designed to engage the brain’s ability to change in response to stimulus (neuroplasticity) to improve the body’s underlying neuromuscular and skeletal organization. It improves the way the brain coordinates posture and movement.”
This means we develop new connections with our skeletal structure/support that our brains recognize quickly and instinctively. We can avoid injury because of this increased awareness.
We feel our bones — and a new relationship is formed connecting us with the ground below. This affects our balance, alignment and how we move. We “occupy” our bodies more fully, with confidence and intelligence because we sense our skeletal support.
Look at people on the street or in your office. Very few move with awareness or a sense of conscious connection to themselves or the environment. When they do, you can see it and it is impressive.
Here are some ways you can begin to do this:
  1. Stand and notice which leg and foot you stand on more. Shift your weight from foot to foot. Feel the difference.
  2. Visualize the lines of your legs, from your feet to knees, to your pelvis.
  3. Wiggle your toes, feel how the bones in your feet and ankles provide support for the rest of your body.
  4. Notice gravity coming through the bones in your feet; practice standing with pressure on different parts of your feet. Hold onto something for stability; keep your movements small and slow.
  5. Revisit these skeletal connections often and re-experience them.
This will help you begin the process of increasing body awareness and reducing accident and injury in your life: from your yoga class, to the gym, to your home. Improving your connection with yourself, engaging your brain and body, and being more effective in the world around you is a fabulous way to start 2019!
Wishing you an accident-free, more conscious and joyful new year!
If you have questions or want more information about the Feldenkrais Method, please use to contact form above right to reach me. Thank you!  Carole Bucher, BA, GCFP

Sunday, February 3, 2019

A testimonial from a new student in Feldenkrais class yesterday

It is always heartening when someone really has a positive experience from their first Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® class. Here is one such:

"I attended this class this morning. It was my first ever Feldenkrais Method experience. I was utterly gobsmacked at the wonderful difference in my body from the beginning of the class til the end. Thank you, Carole. You made my day! Your class will have a positive effect on my health and wellness all week until the next class."

If you want information about classes or the Feldenkrais Method, please use the contact form above right to contact me. 

There is so much you can learn to do to feel and move better and more comfortably!