Tag: nervous system

Believe In Yourself, and All Things Are Possible….

What we believe is what we become. What we tell ourselves, and what we hear from others, is what we eventually believe. Even if it goes against our inherent belief system. Unfortunately, not everything we hear is positive. Nor is it always in the best interest of our health and well-being. Some messages we receive are so subtle that we might not even be aware of them. Others are blatantly shoved in our face like a cheese grater peeling away at our self-confidence.  Okay, the cheese grater analogy might be a bit extreme, but I’m sure you get the point. And, quite honestly, those are easier to deal with, because we can see them coming a mile away. And we can chose to ignore them. It’s the insidious messages that are far more dangerous to our belief system and our self-image. That’s because...

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Quick Tips for Stress-Less Holidays

I love the holidays. It’s a magical time of year. However, along with the excitement and eager anticipation comes a significant amount of stress and anxiety. After all, no matter how carefully we plan our holiday festivities, sometimes they don’t always work out quite like we planned. The warm, cozy evenings with friends and family, the carefree winter days spent playing with the kids in the snow, out of town family coming to visit, and the fun-filled weekends at the shopping mall sound wonderful in theory. And then reality hits.  Let’s face it–the holidays can be an awful lot of work. Also, high expectations can lead to deep disappointments, especially when we invest so much of ourselves and our time making this the perfect holiday season for everyone else. Even...

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Halloween, Feldenkrais, and the Magical Movement of the Skeleton

Halloween has to be one of my favorite holidays. I loved it as a kid, and I still love it to this day. There is something special about the decorations, the costumes, and the sheer spookiness of Halloween. And of course there’s the candy corn. At Halloween you can be anyone you want to be. You can even be yourself if you like. Another thing I love about Halloween are all of the skeletons hanging around, so to speak. As a physical therapist I’m used to looking at the skeleton in a variety of different ways. But I fell in love with the skeleton during my Feldenkrais training. Because there is something magical about the skeleton. Our skeleton is the very core of our being, and it is responsible for holding our structure together. It’s just like the foundation of a house or...

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What is Feldenkrais(R)?

The Feldenkrais Method is a highly sophisticated form of neuromuscular re-education based on the scientific principle of neuroplasticity, which simply means that our nervous system is capable of changing and learning new patterns during the course of our entire lifetime. Feldenkrais’ unique approach to neuroplasticity accesses our nervous system in a very gentle, but powerful way, through movement. We all have habitual patterns of moving, sensing, feeling and thinking that help us move easily through our day. However, some of our patterns may be harmful and destructive, resulting in chronic pain, joint dysfunction, headaches, neck and back pain, anxiety, stress and fatigue. With Feldenkrais lessons, habitual patterns of stress, strain or “holding” are gently interrupted,...

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