Just relax …
Lie down and relax …
Uh
Your body doesn't work this way - it’s like someone yelling at you “Stay calm!” expecting you to actually calm down …
When I was pregnant with my second baby, my massage therapist told me I needed to relax my lower back. For the life of me, I had no idea what he was talking about. I was not aware, not an iota, that I was doing something with my lower back and therefore needed to “relax” it. Can you relate?
So why “relaxing” doesn’t always work?
How do I even explain Feldenkrais® without using a 4-letter F-word?
Here I’ll say it: F - U - E - L
Imagine that you have two cars:
Read MoreDuring Book Week this year, I was invited to talk to Class 2 children at Waikato Waldorf School about people who are not mentioned too often when we talk about books: translators. My previous professional identity is just that: I did a lot of translation. What does it mean for you when you come to see me now as a Feldenkrais® practitioner and pain educator?
Read More“Most women can’t deliver a baby without medical assistance because the human head is so large” … Ouch. I love science. Recently I got across a YouTube channel called BeSmart that explains science to kids in funny and engaging ways (and adults like it too). I was enjoying the episode on “Evolution FAILS in the Human Body” (I know) when the host, Dr. Joe Hanson, made that statement. The whole thing is supposed to be kind of funny, but let’s hang in there for a few minutes and clarify what we are dealing with.
Read MoreRecently I had to reflect on my journey to where I am and what I do and be reminded of my why's as your Feldenkrais® practitioner. I got together with Carla Sargent from Healing Birth to talk about my birthing journey and choices, eventful initiation to motherhood and what it took to heal from it.
Read MoreMary had a fall on her bathroom tiles. Tania was coming back home at night when she had a car accident. Becca was playing with her kids in their newly built swimming pool when her son hit his head against hers.
None of these women was engaged in high-impact sports. None lost consciousness. None of them suspected concussion … for a while.
Read MoreWhen Fleur made her first appointment with me following her midwife’s recommendation, she was only 8 weeks pregnant. One and half years prior to that, though, she had had a big ovarian cyst removed surgically, followed by diastasis recti, stress incontinence and pain.
Read MoreBefore the festive season madness starts whirling around at full speed, I wanted to remind you that more effort is not necessarily useful. And these were the words I found …
Read More“The pain was a nuisance. It didn’t stop me from doing anything, but it hurt. When I was going to sleep, it really hurt and I couldn’t sleep because it was painful. … I got quite close to being burnt out about 2 years ago. And coming back from that, I had to look at different things to do so that this doesn’t happen again. …
I definitely feel a lot better. I get 90% less pain than before. I can have occasional pain, but it’s nothing noticeable. I have more techniques to use. Experimenting with moving it in different ways really helped. My mental health has improved.”
Read MoreImagine yourself being a toddler who figured out how to move through space independently while staying vertical – as soon as you can take yourself fast enough to spaces you want to explore, there is no real need to refine your walking so you accept what you learned as a good way and that’s how you will know walking. Of course, you will continue learning and adjusting to some extent, but sooner or later you will reach your “good enough”.
Read MoreHelen is a young woman who has a sedentary job and loves horse riding. Years ago, her riding instructor recommended Helen come to a Feldenkrais® class because it complements and informs the horse-riding practice so well. But it was not until Helen had a serious knee injury (torn cartilage that ultimately required surgery) that she started working with a Feldenkrais® practitioner individually and in a class.
Read MoreMarch is Endometriosis Awareness Month. And it is nearly a year that I’ve been supporting women living with endo and trying to get the best information I can.
This is the list of my favourite resources at the moment – something I watched, listened to or read myself and selected as "recommended" without a doubt.
Read MoreTere sat in my room and I was hearing the words “insomnia”, “fibromyalgia” and “chronic fatigue syndrome”. But the most frequent word was “PAIN”. The pain was dominating her and governing about 60% of her life. She was taken care of by her doctors and taking a handful of medications that she didn’t always appreciate the side effects of.
Read MoreEvery time I tend to my garden, I think about how gardening can be made easier, and how the principles of the Feldenkrais Method® can be applied to this. So, I thought I’d share.
Read MoreA couple of weeks ago, I saw J. who had complaints of pelvic pain: her pain originally started on the right side, but now is affecting both sides, and on the left, it even goes down her leg.
Read MoreI must confess I used to think of “endo” as a condition where the pain that comes from the tissues and therefore not too much could be done about it, except for, perhaps, some relaxation techniques for the pelvic area.
I was so, so wrong!
Read MoreDo you know borsch? The beetroot, cabbage and tomato soup from Ukraine and Russia?
Pain is like a borsch: real, complex and very personal.
Read MoreI had beautiful midwives and my mum was around to help with no. 2 and no. 3, but it took me a few more years, a Feldenkrais® professional training program and putting together and teaching a few Pelvic Floor workshops and courses to figure out how my postpartum care was supposed to be in the ideal world ….
Read MoreThis is the worldwide Continence Awareness Week, and here I speak about how no any leak is normal, how sport activities impact teenage girls’ pelvic health, and how we need start thinking beyond “kegels”.
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