By Lavinia | Published:
July 15, 2010
The morning of my birthday, I dreamt I worked in a Parisian parfumerie as a clerk. All the women were delicate, formerly lovely creatures who still dolled up every morning as if to meet a beau. There was a distinctive Umbrellas of Cherbourg vibe to their cheery, twittery chatter as they compared new kinds of [...]
Posted in Emotions, Thought, laughter | Also tagged ALS, Birthday, breakthrough, chicken mushroom, emotional breakdown, failure, happiness, manifest, meaning, prosperity, self image, success, wish |
By Lavinia | Published:
May 20, 2010
A frozen rib cage interferes with freedom of expression. After all, even an exhale is an “expression” of air! In theater there is a saying, “The chest does not lie.” This statement infers that your true emotional state is reflected in the carriage of your chest. Unconsciously, we are both communicating as well as reading others’ emotions in sometimes subtle, but sometimes large shifts in the chest. For the last 200 years, science and medicine insisted that the organs in the torso are merely mechanical devices; pumps and bellows that keep the human machine running. The idea that emotional life is somehow connected to these physiological functions was ridiculed. And yet, we would talk about someone walking around with his chest “puffed up.” Or having a “gut feeling.” Neurotransmitters have been found in the stomach indicating that a “gut feeling” may be a kind of intelligence that informs the thinking brain.
Posted in Emotions, Movement | Also tagged attention, behavior theater, body language, breath, emotion, feldenkrais, Movement, pain, posture, ribs, self image, senses |
By Lavinia | Published:
October 7, 2009
For a month, I kept banging my head. Unintentionally, or so it seemed. Suddenly everywhere I turned, I encountered a barrier. Obstacles leapt in to connect with my forehead, my temple, the top of my skull.
Cursing, but pushing on, I walked into more doors. I hit my head on the car door frame more [...]
Posted in Emotions, Movement, Sensation, Thought, Uncategorized, laughter | Also tagged change, choice, feldenkrais, happiness, happy, mobility, Robert Pirsig |
By Lavinia | Published:
September 1, 2009
Marcie showed up for a workshop the other day. I was surprised, because she had come to see me the other day after being diagnosed with a herniated disc. Her doctor had recommended a cortisone shot and/or surgery. I’m always really careful when someone shows up in my office with a “diagnosis.” Moshe Feldenkrais often [...]
By Lavinia | Published:
April 2, 2009
I was an extremely clumsy child, the one that always missed the last step coming downstairs.I crashed into the kid in front of me as we marched from the gym to the classroom and executed unintentional pratfalls on sidewalks because invisible obstacles tripped me up. The whole family held its breath as I carried [...]
By Lavinia | Published:
December 27, 2008
I was having a conversation with a psychotherapist friend today who exclaimed, “It’s all in the body after all, isn’t it?” Our thoughts, emotions, dreams, fears, injuries, aspirations, opinions reside in our bodies, not outside of us. As a Feldenkrais teacher for all these years, I’ve long agreed with Moshe Feldenkrais who believed “The body [...]
