Time Off to Slow Down
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It was as if I’d stepped off of a year-long roller coaster ride and even though my feet were now on solid ground my insides continued to churn.
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Staying Mobile While Sheltering in Place
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I take my time, resisting the urge to “fix” what I think should move more gracefully. If I stay within today’s comfort zone, movement gradually becomes freer without force.
Read MoreStrength: A Wake-up Call
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I have never been very robust in my fitness program. Having a flexible body, I’ve always been drawn to movement disciplines where that is at the forefront: yoga, improvisational dancing, Tai Chi. Strength training and competitive sports were not my thing.
Read MoreHow to Sit in Your Car
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Car designers seem to devise seats to support the lowest common denominator of posture, believing that people need soft seats that cradle the derriere, and backrests that ignore the capacity of your spine to support itself.
Read MorePosture in Motion
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I practice yoga to keep my fascia silky enough and my joints adaptable enough that my coordination can stay smooth even as the aging process diminishes my stamina. Yet, here I was, post yoga class, walking in this awkward way. I teach movement, for heaven’s sake. How had I slid into this familial pattern?
Read MoreEmbodiment During a Heatwave?
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Going outside felt like walking into an oven or like being punctured by thousands of hot little needles, one in every skin pore.
Read MoreMastectomy, Spatial Perception and Movement
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After explaining these phenomena to my client, I suggested she notice any sense of diminished movement on the affected side. To become more aware of the space around her body she could imagine a sphere—something like a snow globe—and standing within it, notice differences her sense of the qualities of the space on each side.
Read MorePosture and Politics #1
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I’ve decided to try a different tactic: I’m going to choose to watch him (and his henchmen) while at the same time drawing on every resource in my body awareness arsenal to sustain my space and energy.
Read MoreLiving in the Sagittal Plane
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Not merely aware of the space around them, our ancestors were integrated into their surroundings. We can imagine that they viewed themselves—if they viewed themselves at all--as aspects of the tensional integrity of all life.
Read MorePosture & Perception: Naked Skin Moments
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Contemporary living undervalues body awareness and overrides it most of the time. But could it be that listening to our interior body signals has an evolutionary advantage? If so, we undervalue this capacity to our detriment. We need to practice activating it.
Read MoreSitting with Pelvis Support
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When you’re feeling self-confident and assertive, there’s an automatic uplift to your chest, spine and neck—your posture automatically organizes itself for the better. But no one feels terrific all the time, right? By teaching yourself the physical sensations that correspond to a good mood, you can use your body-mind connectivity to good advantage. Body awareness helps you cultivate positive outlooks in humdrum situations…
Read MorePosture, Elbows and Consciousness
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As a Rolfing® practitioner, I've observed that tension in the elbows affects the whole body. Habitual flexion there, however slight, pulls the upper arm forward in its socket, starting a chain reaction that pulls the shoulder blades forward, and the collarbones and chest down, and the neck forward. Elbow tension often corresponds with flexion in the spine just behind the diaphragm, and that interferes with fullness of breath. The postural end result feels, and certainly looks, nothing like the upper crust ladies of Downton…
Read MorePosture, Perception and Presence
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Since I’m not prolific—one every 10 years is all I can manage—it was easy to forget how stressful writing a book can be. I’m organizing the new book in a non-linear way, so I keep reviewing and revising–I want to hold it all in my mind and not repeat myself. This takes time and patience. Despite my efforts to stay present with the process, I experience surges of fear that I’ll never see the last page…
Read MoreRounded Shoulders and Elbow Tension
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I often observe a particular pattern of tension in nurses, mothers, and caregivers in general. It’s a pattern of being ready to help at a moment’s notice. If you have this habit, you’re likely to complain about neck and shoulder discomfort. The source, however, may be lower down in your arms…
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