Are you (or someone you know) pregnant?

This precious time, while exciting, comes with so many changes… physical changes in how your body is aligned to the internal changes of our own awareness of our ever-changing bodies.

As I write this post, I am almost 37 weeks pregnant (home stretch!). I started feeling those common pelvic joint aches and pains a few weeks back, but more alarmingly (to me) I found that I am constantly misjudging where my body is in space. My innate sense of body awareness has definitely been affected! Closing a car door into your baby bump is no fun… 😉

I am not sure why it took me so long to realize how beautifully the Feldenkrais Method could help revive my body awareness and with finding more ease in my daily movement! And with that realization, I developed a short Prenatal Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) Series to share with you all.

This series focuses on some of the main challenges I have been facing in my third trimester:

• Finding a more expansive breath
• Rolling from side to side with ease (hello, frequent night-time wake ups due to rolling struggles!)
• Getting on/off the floor with ease
• Pelvic awareness
• Squat preparation for optimal birthing positioning

All of these ATM videos can be found on my YouTube channel. Watch this informational Intro video for details!

Ever wonder what our bodies have in common with puppets? Watch the short video below for a (hopefully) clear and concise explanation of the nervous system, why it is such an integral part of the Feldenkrais Method, and why our skeletons are just puppets….

This blog post and video was my reaction to other informational videos I was finding out there of how to properly get up off of the floor while pregnant. As you can see in the video, the other options I tried were difficult and frankly painful for me. The option I demonstrate (option #3) uses Feldenkrais techniques to utilize the body as a whole unit, requiring very little muscular effort, and thus results in an easy transfer to standing.

If you are in your third trimester of pregnancy (like me), have knee pain with kneeling or just plainly have difficulty getting yourself up off the the floor, this alternative option I demonstrate should make life a little easier. You can even see in the video how easy it is to reverse the movement to get down to the floor with ease. Try it out and let me know how it goes!

Here’s your opportunity to try out Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes for FREE from the comfort of your own home!

This upcoming series is focused around Postural Pain Relief – something we can all use now that we are using our phones and computers more than ever to stay connected with each other.

Each class will be one hour and offered live via Zoom:

Monday 8am and Friday 4pm PDT (Friday’s will be a repeat of the Monday class – you have options!)

Schedule:

May 18 & 22 – Part One: Connecting the Head and Torso in Turning

May 25 & 29 – Part Two: Connecting the Head and Torso in Side-Bending

June 1 & 5 – Part Three: Finding Ease in the Neck and Jaw

The classes are designed to be taken as a series, but if you miss one, you can easily jump into the following classes.

For this class you will need:

*A quiet room without distraction
*A standard flat bottom chair
*Floor space to lie down (a bed is fine, if you are unable to tolerate the floor)
*Something like a yoga mat if you will be using the floor
*A towel or blanket for head support
*A computer or phone where you can access Zoom (we will mostly be using the audio, you will not need to see me during the class unless for clarification).
*A curious mind 🙂

Once you register, I will email you the weekly Zoom Link for access (Please type “Zoom” in the message field).

Register Here

Pain is messy business, it rarely exists in just the physical or emotional arenas. If a physical pain moves from an acute injury to a more chronic, or persistent, sensation, it has begun to intertwine with our emotions and behavior. 

A brief background on pain:

• Acute pain – such as stepping on a tack or burning our hand on the stove.  We can easily see the cause of the pain sensation, and if treated appropriately, these pain responses recover in a few days to weeks without lasting effects.
• Chronic/persistent pain – the causal relationship is more vague. It can be movement related (ie low back pain with certain activities) or more generalized (ie fibromyalgia). Once we tip into this realm, our behaviors and habits begin to change.  Going forward, we will discuss this type of pain.

With persistent pain, we may notice that we become fearful or resistant to performing certain activities.  

Let’s return to the back pain scenario: If every time I bend forward, I know that historically my back will hurt, I will change by behavior and movement habits to avoid the pain.  This isn’t always a bad thing – our bodies are built for survival, but if I carried on like this for years, I have now lost the ability and range of motion to move in that forward direction as well as developed an underlying fear of perceived pain. Our overall physical abilities become more taxing and less efficient as a result. 

These emotional ties run deep and fear avoidance can easily begin to interrupt our social lives. In other words, our nervous system is working in overdrive, constantly on edge to help prevent future perceived painful experiences.  Our nervous system is what controls our hormones – and our hormones are responsible for regulating just about everything such as our mood, sleep patterns, digestion and our ability to deal with stress.

So what do we do if we find that we are in this chronic pain cycle? One common response is to take pain medications.  As you might guess, this is not going to make any lasting changes, only mask the pain temporarily, further hyping up the nervous system.

Another tactic is to find a way to down-regulate the nervous system – once you do this, you will now have the ability to investigate the root cause of the pain and begin to address that. 

How do I down-regulate my nervous system?  Any mindfulness-based therapy is great for calming things down and getting more in tune with our bodies. This could be meditation or a gentle yoga practice, but what I have found to be most beneficial is the world of somatic education – specifically the Feldenkrais Method.

This method of therapy is designed to first calm the nervous system and then by way of gentle facilitated movements, it allows the client to increase the awareness of their bodies and improve their mobility without their ingrained fear avoidance habits.

The Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education has helped me to overcome years of persistent and at times debilitating low back pain in a matter of weeks. I gained an awareness of my body and its habits – this was so much more valuable to me than being prescribed a rote exercise program, such as is the traditional approach. Once I was aware of my habits, I was able to make lasting changes in how I moved and found ease in my body once again.  This spilled over into other aspects of my life as well, my mood improved purely by way of allowing my nervous system to hit the reset button.

I am now a practitioner of this work because I believe in it whole-heartedly. If you are dealing with persistent pain, are tired of living in accordance with your pain cycle and are ready to make a change, I would love to help. Please email me to schedule a complementary phone/video consultation to help determine if Feldenkrais would be a good fit for you.

What is “good” posture?

“Posture relates to the action and not to the maintenance of any given position.  Acture would perhaps be a better word for it.” – Moshe Feldenkrais

In other words, posture is fluid, there is not one “ideal or perfect” posture in life.  Acture refers to the idea of being ready to move as needed to complete a task – even if that task is sitting on your couch watching TV or working remotely on your laptop.

This is maybe more easily imagined in a standing position.  Even in standing we need to be ready to move – waiting in line at the store or cooking in your kitchen.  If we were to adopt an “ideal” posture (pelvis tucked, abdominal muscles engaged, shoulders back, chin down) 100% of the time, how can we be expected to be ready to react to our environment in an efficient and safe way? Could you maintain that erect posture while cooking your family’s dinner? It’s not practical.  But by thinking of posture as dynamic – being able to accommodate to your environment – this opens up so many possibilities.

How does this relate to seated posture? Most of us who work a desk job are provided with an ergonomic chair at the office which is designed to fix your body in a series of 90* angles (ankles, knees, hips, elbows). This takes us back to the idea that posture is static.  If you were to maintain a “perfect” seated posture for an 8 hour work day, your abs and back muscles would be exhausted – it’s just not practical or healthy. Our bodies are meant to move, ideally every 30-60 minutes (more on this below).

Now that many of us have been asked to work remotely, let’s use this opportunity to shake it up a bit! While some of you may have an office chair and desk at home, many of us are struggling to find comfort on the couch, a barstool, a dining chair… This is the perfect time to experiment with finding new and more functional ways to work from home.

How should I set up my workspace?

• Whatever position you place yourself in, be sure you aren’t fixed and are able to move your pelvis/spine/shoulder complex. This is important to decrease the stressors of gravity on the spine and promote acture.
• You should change positions (even minutely) every 30-60 minutes.  This can be as simple as gently tucking your pelvis under, rounding your spine, then reversing that movement, rocking your pelvis forward and arching your spine.  Kind of like a seated cat/cow yoga posture (also a variation of the movement lessons mentioned below)
• Get creative! 
  • You can use pillows to prop up you or your laptop while sitting on the couch.
  • Place a box under your feet on the barstool.
  • Sit on the box and use a coffee table for a desk.
  • Sit on the floor and use the box as a desk.
• The idea is to not stay in one place for too long.  Your body will thank you for this!

How do I fit in movement every hour??

I have compiled a few of my favorite Feldenkrais movement lessons all done in seated!  These lessons are designed to help decrease postural muscle strain and improve seated posture.  They can be done any time throughout the day in seated (as a part of your hour movement break! – especially if you don’t have time to stand up and walk around). 

They are simple, intuitive, relaxing and require no extra equipment.  If you are interested, please email me and I can send you the transcripts.

If you are interested in delving deeper into your home office set-up and want to learn more about how to maintain a healthy body in the process, I am offering Virtual Ergonomic Consultations! Email me for details.

Virtual Ergonomic Consultation (via Zoom)

• Personalized recommendations of remote workspace options in your home.
• One-on-one instruction in seated Feldenkrais postural movement lessons.
• Transcripts of all three Feldenkrais movement lessons.
• A follow up Zoom or phone call as needed.
• COST – $50 or pay when you can.

These past few weeks have been a time of anxiety, confusion and frustration for many here in Seattle. We are at the U.S. epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s hitting all of us hard. We are asked to socially isolate and work from home for an indefinite amount of time. I know that many are navigating how to work remotely without the comfort of an ergonomic office chair and desk.

After spending 20 minutes with a patient in clinic discussing her concerns for how to properly set up her laptop so that she doesn’t aggravate her neck, it became clear that I needed to see her space to better assist her.

In the spirit of working remotely and helping those dealing with these home ergonomic challenges, I am now offering Virtual Ergonomic Consultations. This will be done on the video platform Zoom, so that I can better appreciate your home space and provide you with the tools and tips to modify your environment. This will decrease your likelihood of future postural pains/strains and stave off overuse injuries. Included in this session will be instruction in personalized Feldenkrais movement lessons that you can do from your “desk”. These movement lessons are simple and enjoyable and will help to reduce muscular strain, increase body awareness and improve your posture – and a great short break from your work day!

1-hour Virtual Consultation and Feldenkrais lesson: $50 or pay when you can

Email or call to schedule.

COVID-19 Letter

UPDATE: CMB Movement Therapy is closed until further notice.

In light of the recent state-wide bans and instructions on social distancing, we will be closing our doors until further notice. Stay posted, and stay safe!

It’s that dreaded moment:  I am at a dinner party and someone innocently asks “What do you do?”.  I usually take the easy way out and just tell them that I am a Physical Therapist.  This satisfies the party guest, as they have a mental framework in which to place “PT”.  I will rarely share with them that I specialize in a method of movement therapy called Feldenkrais – because trying to describe exactly what Feldenkrais is has always been a challenge for me.  This is probably because the method is inherently experiential and putting it into words doesn’t really do it justice.  What I will attempt to do here is give you a framework in which Feldenkrais can be personalized to you.

Do you resonate with any of these comments?  

• I am looking for ease and comfort but struggling with pain.
• I feel pain in some part of my body (shoulders, hips, neck, low back, knees, feet).
• I am unable to do a favorite activity because of pain or dysfunction.
• I feel my mind and body are disconnected when I do things.
• I feel mentally or physically drained after work or daily activities.

*If so, what do you normally do to address these issues?
*Are these methods efficient or effective enough?
*Are you interested or curious to try something new?

Feldenkrais works as a way to rewire the brain (otherwise known as neuromuscular reeducation). It helps people improve their way of moving and their way of being.

• Decrease pain – Feldenkrais encourages you to become aware of your habitual movement patterns, then provides you with the tools to relearn more efficient ways to move – getting you out of the pain cycle.
• Improve coordination – By improving your body awareness and internal image of yourself, you will discover an increased connection of your mind-body.
• Decrease fatigue – Feldenkrais helps you to explore how to use your body with greater efficiency, decreasing the effort with all mobility tasks – whether that is performance in a sport or just your daily activities.

If you are curious to learn more, call me for a free 30 minute phone consultation to determine if this method would be helpful for you.