My teacher Russell Delman For me, Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® is mindfulness in motion. And in my experience, no one makes this connection more clearly than my teacher Russell Delman. Russell and his wife Linda will be teaching a two-day seminar on Freedom Through Awareness June 15-16, 2019 in Newton MA, with a free talk on the evening of June 14. (Save $30 when you register by May 31!) This will be Russell and Linda’s second seminar in the Boston area, following their sold-out workshop in November 2018. This time, they will focus on connecting the inner work of self-awareness wi ..read more

How do you physically feel when you see these images? Last week was a hard one for me and pretty much everyone I know. The mere mention of the name “Kavanaugh” seems to be enough to make people visibly cringe, like they were sick to their stomach or tasted something bitter. I personally spent that week mostly in bed with a nasty cold, listening to the news, spending way too much time on Facebook, and watching so many of my friends get truly rattled, shaken, knocked off balance. Maybe you can see where I’m going here, but bear with me. I’ve been thinking about this since the 2016 election, wh ..read more

LESS: effort, strain, injury, pain, stiffness, stress, suffering… MORE: ease, agility, power, creativity, flow, flexibility, pleasure, satisfaction…   These claims are made by Feldenkrais teachers (including myself), as well as by teachers of other mindfulness-based approaches to self-improvement. But how exactly is it supposed to happen? Here’s how it works in the Feldenkrais Method®. Less effort = more awareness Imagine yourself at a train station, trying to hear someone speak while a train goes by. Now imagine that you are holding the same conversation by a quiet lake. Your nervous system w ..read more

By Aliza Stewart, GCFP The Feldenkrais Method supplies musicians with the missing links that allow them to make the leap from good playing to remarkable playing. These missing links are self-awareness and effective movement patterns at the instrument. Dr Feldenkrais said that in order to do what you want to do physically, you have to understand what you’re already doing that gets in the way. He developed movement “lessons” which shine light and potency into the “blind spots” of our self-understanding. These gentle but enormously effective lessons, create new neural pathways to make everything ..read more

Note from Josh: I am honored to be involved in organizing the upcoming Boston Feldenkrais Training, slated to begin in August 2016. I am especially excited about this training because it will be directed by Aliza, who, like me, specializes in working with musicians. Over the next few weeks and months I will be posting on my blog a series of articles by and about Aliza and her approach to teaching the Feldenkrais Method.  Making Music in the Field of Gravity By Aliza Stewart, GCFPMusical performance begins with a musical intention, which is translated into a series of movements involving weight ..read more

When my friend and colleague Buffy Owens of ConsciousMovements.com asked me if I’d contribute to her new project, I began to prepare myself to resist the temptation and offer my regrets. After all, there are only so many good projects I can work on at any given time. But once I found out that the theme was “how Feldenkrais moves me” I knew I had to say yes. Here’s the result of our collaboration – just under 90 seconds on why and how I am moved to practice and teach Feldenkrais for musicians. Words and music by me, technical, visuals, and vision by Buffy: Here’s the text from the video – in c ..read more

It is said that when two martial artists of different traditions fight, the winner does not prove the superiority of his martial art, but merely the superiority of his own kung fu, or fighting ability. Similarly, when you are on stage, the audience doesn’t care what degrees you have, who you studied with, how many hours you practice a day, or even how good your chops are. Your audience wants to be moved. They want to feel a connection with you and with the music you are presenting. How well you do reflects your ‘musical kung fu’ – your ability to perform and convey the music behind the notes ..read more

One of the most frequent requests I get in my private Functional Integration® lessons is for help with sitting. My students tell me they have trouble finding a comfortable position to sit in, or that they can’t make it through a work day or meditation session without discomfort. They have lower back pain or RSI, hand pain, tight neck and shoulders… you get the idea. We all sit a lot, and we all face these challenges. “I know I have terrible posture,” they often say. Or else “I try to sit up straight, but I get tired,” or “I keep reminding myself to sit up, but the next time I check, I’m slouch ..read more