This post includes my first video! It’s a 12-minute movement lesson about rotation in sitting. The main point is not really the specific movements in the lesson, but the general thinking process that generates the lesson, which can be applied to other movements. The video describes a four-step template for exploring movement that I discussed in a post a… Read more ..read more

Disc resorption When a disc herniates, a healing process starts reabsorbing the disc material. A recent study provides some information on how long this might take. The study recruited 90 patients with acute disc herniations and performed multiple MRIs over the course of a year to view the condition of the disc every three months. Within one year, all 9… Read more ..read more

Announcement: I am offering a 2-hour workshop on comfortable sitting on Sunday February 11 at 10am PST. Attend live or watch a recording whenever you want. Lifetime access. Sign Up Now The premise of this workshop is that sitting in a chair with relaxation and comfort is a trainable skill that can be improved. The workshop will teach 6-8 short movement lessons that build awareness and skill the following movements: flexing and extending the spine side-bending rotation breathing scapular movements reaching with the hand translating the head forward/back and side to side Our goal ..read more

Following are some monthly highlights from my reading. Top-down control of nociception is fundamental The common view of pain perception is that it is controlled entirely by “bottom-up” nociception from the body. Less well-known is that nociception can be suppressed by “top-down” processes in the brain. For example, descending inhibition of nociception p… Read more ..read more

I have written a lot about a play-based approach to exercise. This a big topic with many different dimensions, and in fact I wrote a whole book about it. In one chapter I touched briefly on the mental health benefits of play for growing kids. Here’s a post with a relevant excerpt, which explains why risky activities like climbing trees and roughhousing can build confidence and resilience, and why helicopter parenting and “safetyism” can unintentionally make kids more fragile and subject to anxiety. Since I wrote the book, new evidence has emerged suggesting that kids today have higher levels ..read more

Announcement: I am offering a new series of online movement classes focused on “core” movements that use the big muscles in the middle of the body. Classes start October 29 and run for five weeks. Attend live or watch a recording whenever you want. Sign Up Now Here are the details: The Class Five fifty-minute classes based on Awareness Through Movement® lessons from the Feldenkrais Method.® (For more information on Feldenkrais click here.) Each class will work to develop awareness and coordination in movements that use the big muscles in the middle of the body: the glutes, abs, hip flexors ..read more

As a source of human suffering, chronic musculoskeletal pain ranks pretty high. Low back pain - just one kind of pain! - is one of the biggest heath problems in the world in terms of medical expense, days missed from work, and economic burden. So it’s strange that we actually don’t talk that much about chronic pain. (At least outside of blogs like this.) I thought about this recently when watching an episode of the Morning Show where Jennifer Aniston’s character experiences some severe back pain and has to miss work. It occurred to me that I have almost never seen a movie or TV show with a plo ..read more

I've written and podcasted before about the research showing that, when it comes to performing or learning a movement skill, attention on the task or the environment (external attention) seems generally superior to attention on the body (internal attention.) But there are some caveats: although external attention has a general advantage, internal attention may have some unique benefits in some contexts; elite athletes and coaches frequently use internal attention, and we should presume they know what they are doing; internal focus that is “holistic” may avoid the drawbacks of internal fo ..read more

Apologies for the lack of posting recently! I have been on a family vacation and will be back to normal posting in a week. Until then, here are some interesting links and some quotes from my reading over the last few weeks. A great quote from Roger Kerry (via Mark Kargela) Play Peter Gray is a leading expert on play and has a new blog that is well worth r… Read more ..read more

Most new pains go away in a few weeks or months, but some will remain for years. Why? The transition from acute to chronic pain has been studied for years, but the process remains mysterious. Epidemiological studies have identified catastrophizing, self-efficacy, and mental health as important variables. Some studies using MRI have found that people who… Read more ..read more