by Lavinia Plonka | Sep 1, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter |
According to the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s “somatic marker hypothesis” we recognize we are about to make a bad decision long before we actually do it. Card players hooked up to sensors exhibited stress signals before admitting they knew the game was rigged. So...
by Lavinia Plonka | Aug 7, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter |
“In the future, everyone in the world will be famous for 15 minutes.” – Andy Warhol You may not have noticed it, but I became famous almost a year ago. It started with my self-published “best seller” You’ve Got the Power: Four Paths to Unlocking Your Archetypal...
by Lavinia Plonka | Jun 27, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter |
My Father lost everything: his home, his store, almost his life, to the Nazis. After the war, he lost everything again trying to open another store in London. And finally in his later years, he lost everything again, bankrupting himself with an ill-fated travel...
by Lavinia Plonka | Jun 2, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter |
I don’t remember any of my Mother’s stories. I do remember her by the bed, leaning over me, singing: Tell me a story Tell me a story Tell me a story And then I’ll go to bed There are more verses and I remember them as well. But I can’t conjure the image of my Mother...
by Lavinia Plonka | May 1, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter |
There is a theory that before humans developed words, they sang to each other, like birds. Imagine the nuance of melody as the angry female demanded to know why the man was so late coming home from the hunt. Or the cooing of a lovers’ conversation. Diplomatic...
by Lavinia Plonka | Apr 15, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter
It was a beautiful relationship. Always there when I needed it, scooping, wiping, scraping without ever a complaint, our orange spatula had been with us since the days before silicone utensils. It had traveled with us when we moved from New Jersey 22 years ago, a...
by Lavinia Plonka | Mar 11, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter
I have worked my entire life on softening. Whether it’s my DNA, my upbringing, my astrological destiny, my Human Design, my karma, my Chinese designation as a Dragon, or the fact that I grew up in NJ, I’ve always been a “hardass.” I have been quick to judge, dismiss,...
by Lavinia Plonka | Feb 26, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter
It started innocently enough. I was working with a retired client and asked how she had done with her movement practice during the last week. I had given her 5-10 minutes of movement explorations to support her learning. She sighed, “I haven’t done it once. I just...
by Lavinia Plonka | Jan 8, 2024 | Kinesa Newsletter
I was on a walk the other day and passed a woman who smelled like she had just stepped out of the shower. The fresh, pleasant scent wafted down the street, making me smile. Why would that scent make me happy? We live in a world of smell: the scent of bread and...
by Lavinia Plonka | Dec 19, 2023 | Kinesa Newsletter
Merriam-Webster has announced that the word of the year is “authentic.” Apparently it was searched more than any other word this year. You’d think we know the definition: not false or imitation: REAL, ACTUAL. The folks at Webster explained that humanity’s concern over...
by Lavinia Plonka | Nov 21, 2023 | Kinesa Newsletter, The Creative Body
The harvest is done. The deer got all the grapes. The voles feasted on the sweet potatoes (I rescued eight). The tomato hornworms had their way with, yes, my tomatoes – in spite of my propitiating the devas, thanking the parasitic wasps who laid their eggs on...
by Lavinia Plonka | Oct 11, 2023 | Kinesa Newsletter
Shortly after I had given up my performing career, I was invited to a Halloween party. I had just spent the last 25 years donning costumes, performing on stage and at hundreds of parties as everything from a Florida retiree to a Star Trek character. The idea of...
