by Lavinia Plonka | Jan 6, 2022 | Body Language, The Creative Body
Image: Jeff Sheridan performs in Central Park, NYC, circa 1970s. More than 45 years ago, I was sitting in a café at the end of an afternoon of performing in Central Park with our felliniesque collection of buskers ranging from the infamous Philip Petit to… well, me...
by Lavinia Plonka | Aug 2, 2021 | Body Language, Humor/CosmiComedy
I was pondering the wonders and stories of our anatomy the other day, and realized I could probably write a post about every part of myself. Who knows how long this inspiration will last, this could be a very long series! That led me to reflecting on my hands. When...
by Lavinia Plonka | Oct 21, 2020 | Body Language, Humor/CosmiComedy |
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash So many people have prefaced recent conversations with “I’m so worried about the election that….” or “I just don’t know what to trust,” or “Those people are insane!” or “Do you think it...
by Lavinia Plonka | Oct 11, 2020 | Body Language, Humor/CosmiComedy, The Creative Body
I go outside and look up at the stars in the winter night, imagining that the light is coming to me from millions, even billions of years ago. I think of myself, a speck on this piece of rock hurling through space, and I imagine someone 1000 years ago, looking up,...
by Lavinia Plonka | Aug 11, 2019 | Body Language, Movement as Medicine, The Feldenkrais Method®
During my tween days, when it seemed like I didn’t have a friend in the world, my mother would say to me, “It doesn’t matter whether people like you. What’s important is that they respect you.” Webster’s defines respect as “a...
by Lavinia Plonka | Aug 7, 2016 | Body Language, Movement and The Spirit, Movement as Medicine, The Creative Body, The Feldenkrais Method® |
Learn at first, concentration without effort; transform work into play; make every yoke you have accepted easy and every burden that you carry light.From the Magician Card – Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism, AnonymousI was having...
by Lavinia Plonka | Jul 8, 2015 | Body Language, Movement as Medicine, The Feldenkrais Method®
My synesthete friend Gretta once told me that my name is white and green with shades of pink. Two musical synesthetes, from different parts of time and space have sung my name in an identical melody as if they knew a secret language. I have often envied people with...
by Lavinia Plonka | May 10, 2015 | Body Language, Humor/CosmiComedy, Movement as Medicine, The Creative Body
“A person who smiles a lot is either a fool or an American.” Russian saying Gray skies are gonna clear up Put on a happy face. Brush off that frown and cheer up Put on a happy face. From Bye Bye Birdie I...
by Lavinia Plonka | Nov 25, 2014 | Body Language, Movement as Medicine, The Feldenkrais Method® |
I opened my new refrigerator, reached inside without thinking, pulled out the perfect eggplant, shiny and black and ready to become my meal. And then I stopped, overwhelmed with gratitude.; for everyone involved in getting that eggplant into my hand, for my...
by Lavinia Plonka | Nov 1, 2014 | Body Language, Movement and The Spirit, Movement as Medicine, The Creative Body, The Feldenkrais Method®
In the hit TV series, Once Upon A Time, the beloved children’s story character Peter Pan is a malevolent trickster demon whose shape shifting shadow helps imprison people in an eternal hellish present. The X-Men are all shape shifter heroes, though often tormented by...
by Lavinia Plonka | Jun 13, 2014 | Body Language, The Creative Body
Put your hands on your hips. Now, cross your arms across your chest. Now extend your arms straight out in front of you with your palms up as if pushing. Repeat each of these, and hang out for a while in each position. Does your stance change? Your breathing? Did you...
by Lavinia Plonka | May 17, 2014 | Body Language, Movement as Medicine, The Creative Body, The Feldenkrais Method®
Having a little fun with my head, the Feldenkrais way.