We discuss how reframing an illness can improve the healing process. How your brain is predictive, and how to build resilience through intentionally engaging in challenging situations. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings ..read more

A fundamental concept of the Feldenkrais Method® is the brain cannot think without motor movement. We get into this concept through some movement explorations and discussions. We talk about thinking, feeling, sensing, and acting and how we move our attention to these different domains of experience as needed in our daily experience. Shifting our attention like this is primarily outside our conscious awareness. However, we can bring this process to consciousness. Donna guides us through a series of imagined movements that make this phenomenon more explicit.  Norman Doidge, The Brain's Way ..read more

We talk about the work of Alia Crum and the studies she has done on mindsets and their influence on our health and biology. We get into the effects of social suggestions on aging. We discuss auto-suggestion and how health care providers could improve their communication skills. We return to Dr. Feldenkrais and his interest in auto-suggestion and hypnosis and how these concepts became influential in developing his method.  Thinking and Doing: https://achievingexcellence.com/thinking-and-doing/ Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Ge ..read more

How does the mind influence the brain? It was a widely held belief that the mind was a result of the brain, and the mind could not reflect and affect the functioning of the brain. It was just around 2000 that this belief started to change. Dr. Feldenkrais understood this decades ago and applied the idea of using the mind to change the brain in his Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration® work. Dr. Feldenkrais is considered one of the first neuro-plasticians. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesso ..read more

What is reversibility? Dr. Feldenkrais considered this an essential concept of the Feldenkrais Method®. We give examples and do some explorations with reversibility. We also discuss good posture, cultivating quality movement, and choice. We end with how the method is generalized to daily life and how the benefits show up spontaneously without practice. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20 ..read more

We discuss the functioning of the mouth and jaw. What is the relationship between the jaw, neck, and eyes? How does the pelvis influence the functioning of the jaw? What part does the tongue play in a well-organized jaw? We discuss and explore these ideas in this podcast, which introduces our audio program, "Release Jaw Tension Now." https://achievingexcellence.com/release-jaw-tension-now/ Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20 ..read more

We discuss a concept Dr. Feldenkrais presents in his book Body and Mature Behavior. Which is that there are two paths of development. One is the pathway of improvement in which a person continues to make finer and finer distinctions. The other is the pathway of decline in which a person lumps their experience into larger and larger categories. We discuss this in reference to movement, the Feldenkrais Method®, and hobbies such as painting, gardening, and building.  Body and Mature Behavior: https://achievingexcellence.com/body-and-mature-behavior/ Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com V ..read more

What happens in the brain as we age? How can we use the Feldenkrais Method® to continue to improve ourselves and do the things that are important to us in life? We each share our insights on how the Feldenkrais Method can keep you moving and vital while aging. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20 ..read more

We discuss how Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett’s books “How Emotions Are Made” and “7 1/2 Lessons about the Brain” confirm what Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais taught decades ago and offers a modern way to language what we do as Feldenkrais practitioners. We go into detail about how language creates an internal response in the speaker and listener. Language matters while guiding Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® Lessons. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to sa ..read more

What is spontaneity? How do social constraints inhibit our spontaneity? Experience spontaneous changes through Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® Lessons. Discover how we develop responsiveness to our changing environment. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20 ..read more