2013 Feldenkrais AWARENESS THROUGH MOVEMENT Class Schedule and DESCRIPTIONS

(1) TUESDAY  10 am-11:30 am - ACHIEVE Fitness, 600 Center St., Reno, NV 89501 (Down the hall to right, then keep going till you've completed 3 right turns.)

Starts January 8, 2013

LEARN TO MOVE YOURSELF OPTIMALLY WITH FELDENKRAIS

If sedentary lifestyle, surgery, injury or pain have disrupted your quality of life, Feldenkrais classes can help you. For more than 60 years the Feldenkrais Method has offered an effective, non-drug, non-surgical approach to movement improvement and pain management, helping you to find or sustain your optimum level of movement.  Regain and sustain flexibility, strength and balance, while improving cognition, coordination and overall well-being. Easy-to-do lessons you can learn and do at home. Suitable for beginners and ongoing.  $12 drop-in, affordable 10-class cards and need-based discounts. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers; contact me at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

(2) THURSDAY 4 pm - 5 pm Reno Buddhist Center, 820 Plumas at Taylor, Reno, NV

Starts January 10, 2013

FELDENKRAIS PELVIC FLOOR CLASS 

Ongoing Pelvic Floor System class. The class is highly recommended for people of all ages who are concerned with pelvic floor and/or urogenital function, pelvic structure imbalance, injury and/or surgery; scoliosis, spinal problems, low back pain, and/or problems with balance or breathing.  The class is very effective for equestrians who want to improve performance and comfort in riding and/or who suffer from injury.  Many people experience significant improvement in symptoms and function in a only  few weeks time. Meets each Thursday before the ongoing 5:30 class.  You may combine classes or take them separately.  $12/class. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers.  Contact me (Carole) to sign up at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

 (3) THURSDAY 5:30 pm - 6:50pm Reno Buddhist Center, 820 Plumas at Taylor, Reno, NV

Starts January 10, 2013

MOVE YOURSELF HEALTHIER WITH FELDENKRAIS:

Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement is a fascinating journey into physical and mental wellbeing and sustainability that is life changing for many people. Working with self-awareness, doing movement sequences slowly with focused attention, you activate the proprioceptive responses in your joints throughout your body. Connections in your neural pathways improve; range of movement, balance and stability increase and you relieve pain. You will remember the pleasurable and easy movement you had as a child. $12 drop-in, affordable 10-class cards and need-based discounts. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers; contact me at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

 (4) SATURDAY 3 pm - 4:30 pm ACHIEVE Fitness, Reno, NV 89501

Starts January 12, 2013

MOVE YOURSELF HEALTHIER & YOUNGER, WITH FELDENKRAIS:

If things like injury, accident, aging or illness have limited your movement and quality of life, these classes can help you; for 60+ years Feldenkrais has provided non-surgical/non-drug support for pain management, movement improvement and stability, including scoliosis, stroke, chronic pain, and orthopedic issues. You'll find new strength and balance as you improve coordination and cognition. Slow movements done with focused attention help to reestablish and sustain communication between brain and body. $12 drop-in, affordable 10-class cards and need-based discounts. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers; contact me at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

2013 Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Class Schedule and Descriptions:

(1) TUESDAY  10 am-11:30 am - ACHIEVE Fitness, 600 Center St., Reno, NV 89501 (Down the hall to right, then keep going till you've completed 3 right turns.)

Starts January 8, 2013

MOVE YOURSELF OPTIMALLY WITH FELDENKRAIS

If sedentary lifestyle, surgery, injury or pain have disrupted your quality of life, Feldenkrais classes can help you. For more than 60 years the Feldenkrais Method has offered an effective, non-drug, non-surgical approach to movement improvement and pain management, helping you to find or sustain your optimum level of movement.  Regain and sustain flexibility, strength and balance, while improving cognition, coordination and overall well-being. Easy-to-do lessons you can learn and do at home. Suitable for beginners and ongoing.  $12 drop-in, affordable 10-class cards and need-based discounts. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers; contact me at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

(2) THURSDAY 4 pm - 5 pm Reno Buddhist Center, 820 Plumas at Taylor, Reno, NV

Starts January 10, 2013

FELDENKRAIS PELVIC FLOOR CLASS 

Ongoing Pelvic Floor System class. The class is highly recommended for people of all ages who are concerned with pelvic floor and/or urogenital function, pelvic structure imbalance, injury and/or surgery; scoliosis, spinal problems, low back pain, and/or problems with balance or breathing.  The class is very effective for equestrians who want to improve performance and comfort in riding and/or who suffer from injury.  Many people experience significant improvement in symptoms and function in a only  few weeks time. Meets each Thursday before the ongoing 5:30 class.  You may combine classes or take them separately.  $12/class. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers.  Contact me (Carole) to sign up at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

 (3) THURSDAY 5:30 pm - 6:50pm Reno Buddhist Center, 820 Plumas at Taylor, Reno, NV

Starts January 10, 2013

MOVE YOURSELF HEALTHIER WITH FELDENKRAIS:

Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement is a fascinating journey into physical and mental wellbeing and sustainability that is life changing for many people. Working with self-awareness, doing movement sequences slowly with focused attention, you activate the proprioceptive responses in your joints throughout your body. Connections in your neural pathways improve; range of movement, balance and stability increase and you relieve pain. You will remember the pleasurable and easy movement you had as a child. $12 drop-in, affordable 10-class cards and need-based discounts. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers; contact me at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

 (4) SATURDAY 3 pm - 4:30 pm ACHIEVE Fitness, Reno, NV 89501

Starts January 12, 2013

MOVE YOURSELF HEALTHIER & YOUNGER, WITH FELDENKRAIS:

If things like injury, accident, aging or illness have limited your movement and quality of life, these classes can help you; for 60+ years Feldenkrais has provided non-surgical/non-drug support for pain management, movement improvement and stability, including scoliosis, stroke, chronic pain, and orthopedic issues. You'll find new strength and balance as you improve coordination and cognition. Slow movements done with focused attention help to reestablish and sustain communication between brain and body. $12 drop-in, affordable 10-class cards and need-based discounts. Bring blanket or comforter, wear layers; contact me at renofeldenkrais@aol.com and come 15 minutes early to your first class.

My Apologies for Schedule Confusion

Dear Students and Friends,

I tried very hard to get the word out about the holiday schedule for Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes, and am sorry that the information did not get posted through the RBC.  My error. Thus to clarify, there will be no classes at any location during December 25 and January 8, and I am very sorry if you chose that time to come to your first class!

We look forward to your joining us in January, and in the mean time, please contact me via email, facebook or meetup.com to sign up and let me know about you.  Kindly make sure that I have your email and other contact information.  I really do try to minimize confusion and difficulties, and having adequate contact time and info helps very much.

Now more than ever, it is important to feel and move our best, to conserve our energy and use our most precious resource, our body, at its highest and best level, with ease and comfort.  I look forward to continuing in this quest with you in 2013.  There is so much more we can learn to do to feel and move well, and to continue doing the things we love for a very long time.

Best wishes and Happy New Year to all!  
Carole
renofeldenkrais@aol.com

Sat 3 pm class RESCHEDULED to 3 pm SUN, Dec. 23

Feldenkrais CLASS CHANGE -- 3 pm Saturday Awareness Through Movement class (today Dec. 22) is rescheduled till tomorrow due to weather.

The ongoing Saturday AWARENESS THROUGH MOVEMENT will be held 3 PM ON SUNDAY at Achieve Fitness. If this is your first class, contact me and come 15 minutes early.

Wishing you peace and many blessings for the holiday,

Carole

renofeldenkrais@aol.com

How Feldenkrais works and why it will work for you:

Our bodies are truly remarkable instruments, sensitive and responsive, and surprisingly easy to influence with our minds. Our systems actually desire and move toward balance and healing from within, and are capable of continuous learning and changing. This is true at every age, and in just about any condition, when we support this action in natural and simple ways.

So it is odd, really, how effective we are at using our minds negatively, to undermine our potential, instead of using this power in a positive way. We become expert at disrupting our natural abilities to find balance and potency,  and choose instead, to use our natural gifts to dis-empower ourselves! Think how we use our imagination to scare ourselves, causing us to 'choke' under pressure, dread the future, worry endlessly, creating stress, or even worse, making ourselves sick.

Doing Feldenkrais counteracts this negative tendency by bringing our attention deep inside  our body to the skeletal level.  We begin to find and sense the deepest and most supportive structures of ourselves.  And as we slowly engage in doing simple, though highly structured non-habitual movements, and follow them with our minds (to whatever extent we can), the effort itself, reestablishes a deep connection of support at the level of our nervous systems.  We begin to find something new: a wonderful feeling of empowerment, flexibility and support that comes from reconnecting and relearning about ourselves at this deep subconscious level.  How we move and feel improves almost immediately.

Thus rather than trying to change how we think about ourselves, we 'feel' ourselves into change, as we study and explore movement in our bodies in a slow and deliberate, focused way.  This study produces a change in our inner connection with ourselves, and opens the door to a new understanding internally. We begin to feel and see how our movement patterns and habits get in our way and where we can look in ourselves to find real improvement.

We become intuitively able to use our bodies differently, more potently and much more supportively. We begin to know where we are in space, with our feet on the ground, and our spines more naturally erect.  We are able to sense and let go of tensions and 'mindless muscular movement' that wear out our joints and cause injury and accident.

Dr. Feldenkrais developed this method to restore his own movement and function following crippling injuries to knee and arm. And it is just this same ability to refine and improve the connections between our bodies and brains that bring elite athletes and performers to the Feldenkrais method -- people who desire to obtain a higher level of performance or gain a critical, competitive edge.

The transformation that this 'sensing' knowledge and 'movement' learning can unlock in us, consciously and subconsciously, is life changing.  It naturally relieves physical and mental tensions, and reconnects us with our healing and balancing capacities.  We genuinely feel better as we move more comfortably and efficiently; we are more stable and graceful, and can engage in all our activities more effectively. And we already have everything we need to begin -- our bodies and our minds.

If you are interested in attending a class, please contact me at renofeldenkrais@aol.com, on facebook at facebook.com/RenoFeldenkrais, or via meetup.com/Reno-Feldenkrais-Awareness-Through-Movement-classes.

The picture shows a Saturday class at ACHIEVE Fitness, in Reno.

Feldenkrais Teaches Us Sustainability In Our Bodies

One of the hardest parts of beginning to work with the Feldenkrais Method® is realizing and accepting that we don't inhabit our bodies very much. This is true even for those of us who work on consciousness in various ways, or engage in physical activities like riding, skiing, running and golf, where agility and balance are part of our skill set.


But in fact, we really aren't very aware of how we use ourselves; whether we expend more energy than needed in our movement, and tax our steadily aging systems unnecessarily--especially our joints. We overuse our necks and lumbar spines, wreck our shoulders, damage our hips and knees.


As we begin, in classes and at home, to practice sensing ourselves more deeply, we quickly regain our ability to be connected.  We begin to see how often we engage in mindless muscular movement throughout the day, don't know where we are in space, or feel our feet on the floor. 


This experience opens the door to positive change of our movement patterns on a subconscious level--intuitively making better movement choices, sensing and finding better balance, breathing, and simply being inside ourselves, OCCUPYING US.


As we learn internally, at the level of the nervous system, we apply this information to all our activities, naturally improving our sensitivity, stability, capacity and comfort.  And it is from here that our sustainable body begins to emerge, ready to take us into the future!  Contact me to join me for a class or to learn more about the Feldenkrais Method®.

Great scoliosis, hip, shoulder, and back Class this week.

Because of its powerful effects on scoliosis, hips/pelvis, back and shoulders, I am giving this lesson again this week.  You can take it at the ACHIEVE Fitness 10 am class TUES, or 3 pm SATURDAY; or at the Reno Buddhist Center on THURS at 5:30 pm.

If it is your first ATM class, pls come 15-20 mins early.

This week's Awareness Through Movement lesson is a BEAUTIFUL LENGTHENING, VERTICALIZING study -- #5 from Chava Shelav, Ph.D. Feldy. Side lying, it is especially good for balancing the pelvis and moving ribs and spine, thus helps scoliosis, breathing and helps reduce tension and pain in all parts of the back and hips. It also opens the shoulder joints and chest as the arms move outward away from the torso, and circle. It is comforting, strengthening and healing, has very positive and immediate benefits. Please join me.

November invitation for a free Feldenkrais class

PELVIC FLOOR SERIES at RBC STARTS NOV. 1

I will begin a new Pelvic Floor Series next Thursday, November 1, at 4 pm, Reno Buddhist Center.
It will continue with the pelvic floor work done in previous sessions.  If you are new to Feldenkrais, you must contact me on facebook or by email at renofeldenkrais@aol.com, and come 20 minutes or more early to the first class.

Pelvic Floor work can greatly help people who have issues with SCOLIOSIS, BALANCE, BREATHING and other subtle, but critical functions that follow pelvic surgeries, injury, hip replacement, in addition to UROGENITAL FUNCTION in both men and women.  Working with the pelvic floor also provides a very refined sense of pelvic balance for athletes, dancers and equestrians.

The class is based on the work of renowned Feldenkrais practitioner and EPT, Deborah Bowes.  I took an advanced training in Feldenkrais Pelvic Floor work in San Francisco last June, which covered her her decades long pelvic floor work and research. Deborah has since completed her doctoral degree in physical therapy based on her Feldenkrais pelvic floor work.  An interview with her about this work is available here:  http://www.feldenkraissf.com/pelvichealthinterview.cfm.

GENTLE, COMFORTABLE, CREATIVE HANDS

THIS WEEK's WONDERFUL Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement (ATM)® Lesson - Sensitizing your fingers, hands, arms, while moving hips and shoulders (with a little rolling at the end!)

A back- and side-lying Awareness Through Movement lesson especially helpful for people who work with their hands, including riders, artists, musicians, AND for people with scoliosis and any pelvic or skeletal imbalance or issue. AND for everyone else too!

The lesson involves 2 parts
1) softening the USE OF FINGERS, HANDS, ARMS, as you explore face, neck, sternum, clavicle and shoulder structure, and 2) SEPARATING AND FREEING MOVEMENT IN HIP JOINTS while tracking effects on legs, back and shoulders (and of course ribs and spine) and keeping hands, jaw, etc. very soft and relaxed.

Most people tend to use more force than needed for practically every task. This lesson helps us learn to modulate force in the hands especially, by internal sensing. Sensing in this way helps us to keep from tensing our hands and jaws as we move other parts of ourselves that aren't being helped by this tension. IT SAVES OUR JOINTS!

The lesson increases sensitivity in our hands while improving flexibility in shoulders/hips/spine. It is a lovely lesson from Cliff Smythe, one of the incredible Australian Feldenkrais trainers. He is partners with Deborah Bowes, the SF Feldenkrais Pelvic Floor guru I studied with in San Francisco this year.