Moving to See: Exploring the Relationship Between the Eyes and Movement
Instructors: Fritha Pengelly and Sarah Young
February 8, 2020, 11:30am-2pm
Studio Helix, 3rd Floor Thornes Market, Northampton
Do your eyes feel tired and strained?
Are you experiencing headaches or tension in your head and neck?
Join Fritha and Sarah for a Feldenkrais® workshop exploring the relationship of the eyes to the movement of the whole self, and the importance of relaxing the eyes to improve function.
Workshop will include exploration of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® lessons and will include time for discussion and questions. No experience necessary – all are welcome!
Sarah Young is a Feldenkrais Practitioner. Her ongoing curiosity of movement and an old dance injury led her to study the Feldenkrais Method® under the direction of David Zemach-Bersin, New York City, 2011-15. As a movement artist, Sarah has collaborated with and performed works by dance makers Nancy Stark Smith, David Dorfman, Jill Sigman, Hilary Easton, Stephan Koplowitz, and the Treehouse Shakers. She served as the Executive Director of Earthdance Creative Living Project, Plainfield, Massachusetts from 2013-18. She is an Alum of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, BFA 2003, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Morocco 2008-10, and newly the mother of Calder Lee Savage, born June 2018. She currently divides her time between Northampton, Massachusetts, and Stolzenhagen, Germany.
$65, ($50 early-bird by 2/1)
An Empowered Approach to Pelvic Health
Instructors: Ruth Ever and Fritha Pengelly
March 1, 1pm – 4:15pm
Studio Helix, 3rd Floor Thornes Market, Northampton
Have you experienced…
Bladder leaks when you sneeze, laugh, etc.
Constant urges to pee
Heaviness or bulging around your vagina
Vaginal birth
Being told you have pelvic organ prolapse
Discouragement, fear or confusion about any of these…
Or would like to learn about prevention of pelvic organ prolapse
…Then this workshop could be for you!
Join Ruth and Fritha for an introductory workshop combining the Whole Woman® Practice with the Feldenkrais Method® to learn about your pelvic structures and how to better support your pelvic organs. Posture is key in supporting pelvic organ health and comfort, and there can be many things that influence how we sit, stand, and walk. This workshop will offer participants basic information and guidance on finding a natural and supportive posture through education and discussion, and provide opportunities to clarify and integrate this learning through Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® lessons.
For participants we each offer a discount for a series of 3 private lessons. We highly encourage participants to pursue individual work (with either of both of us) for the best results if you want support in making changes and understanding how to utilize this work on a daily basis. Our patterns and ways of moving do not change overnight. We require a dedicated practice in order to effect change.
Feel free to reach out with any questions! We look forward to working with you.
“The idea of joining Feldenkrais and Whole Woman is fantastic and will be so complimentary and supportive for management or prevention of pelvic dysfunction.”
Shannon Wade, PTA, LMT, W. Hatfield
*Includes discount for Fritha’s Spring Feldenkrais Class Series*
Ruth Ever is a public health practitioner with over 30 years of experience as an educator and prevention specialist. As a certified Whole Woman® practitioner, Ruth uses natural, research-based, non-invasive and fully-clothed techniques to address pelvic discomfort and bladder issues. She is committed to helping women better understand and then shift how their pelvic organs work through solid explanations, posture and breathing.
$50 (early-bird), $65 after February 23
Relieving Back Pain
Instructor: Fritha Pengelly
March 29, 1-3pm
Serenity Yoga Studio, South Hadley
“This feeling of the spine lengthening accompanies most actions of the body when they are properly carried out.” – Moshé Feldenkrais from ‘Awareness Through Movement’
Do you have chronic low back pain? Does your spine feel twisted and compressed and generally uncomfortable? What do you do when you are in pain and are afraid to move?
Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes offer a slow and gentle approach to changing old habits and encouraging new possibilities. Students are encouraged to move gently and only within a range that feels comfortable and easy. This allows the nervous system to sense what is safe, and one can begin to improve overall functioning in order to relieve the stress and strain of inefficient patterns.
Workshop will include exploration of two Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons with a specific focus on improving the functioning of the spine, and will include time for discussion and questions.
No experience necessary – all are welcome!
Trying the Feldenkrais Method for Chronic Pain by Jane Brody, The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/well/trying-the-feldenkrais-method-for-chronic-pain.html?_r=0
Low Back Pain – It isn’t about Core Strength by Ira Feinstein https://feldenkrais.com/low-back-pain-isnt-core-strength-2/
A Different Way to Relieve Years of Back Pain by Lisa Rein https://www.feldenkraisandmovementarts.com/blog/
Anti-Fragile Walking: Your Head Held High
Instructor: Andrew Gibbons
April 2020 dates TBA
Studio Helix, 3rd Floor Thornes Market, Northampton
Most of us walk with deeply grooved habits, repeating the moments that lead to pain and stiffness. If we study these moments, we can create a new integrity in our walk. With practice, we clarify and ennoble an action we’ve done unconsciously our entire lives. Our walking can become a path to health: our zen, our gym, and our joy. In this workshop you will refine your walking by understanding of the carriage of the head. People who want to pursue and enjoy walking, hiking, cycling, climbing stairs, and standing without pain will especially benefit from this workshop.
As a participant you will:
Use the carriage of the head to measure the quality of your walking.
Integrate your eyes for ease, perception and safety in walking.
Sense how to organize your spine in the direction of stability, not across it.
Distinguish between “keeping” your balance and restoring it.
Improve the arrival of your head over each leg, so that it is more smoothly timed, stable, and weightless.
Learn to walk, and walk to learn.
Andrew Gibbons is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher® in New York City who has spent many years uncovering the moments in walking that tell us the most about our posture and self-organization. In his private practice, he helps the humans of New York learn to organize themselves better for the second half of their life than they did for the first.
“Thanks to Andrew I have enjoyed five international bike vacations and a trek in Bhutan. Andrew’s work stands out because he has taught me to move differently in a way that addresses the root problems. Not only has Andrew helped me enjoy a much more active life, he’s restored my optimism.” — SUSAN HIBBERD, BANKING CONSULTANT
Grounding and Balance Workshop
Instructor: Fritha Pengelly
TBA
Serenity Yoga Studio, South Hadley
“A Martian visitor would not hesitate to conclude that the human body is the closest to an ideal frame designed for movement and the least suited for standing motionless.” – Moshe Feldenkrais, from ‘Body and Mature Behavior’
What does it mean to be ‘grounded?’ How can we improve our balance? As humans we stand on a relatively small base of support, and our center of gravity is high – making us a fairly unstable species. Moshe Feldenkrais understood this relationship and actually described ‘good posture’ as the ability to move in any direction without hesitation. In other words, our balance is dependent upon a dynamic stability, not a static one.
In this workshop we will explore how to find clear support through the skeleton in relationship to the ground for ease of movement and a sense of stability. When we find this support we lessen the pressures on our soft tissues and reduce general wear and tear and overall muscular tension.
Workshop will include exploration of two Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® lessons and will include time for discussion and questions. No experience necessary – all are welcome!
$35
Registration: https://www.serenityyogastudio.net/workshops/grounding-and-balance-a-feldenkrais-workshop-november
Releasing the Old, Inviting the New: Exploring EFT and Feldenkrais
Instructors:
TBA
Studio Helix, 3rd Floor Thornes Market, Northampton
You are a good fit for this workshop if…
Your physical pain gets worse when you are stressed or anxious.
You find yourself repeating the same patterns over and over again.
You recognize the relationship between your emotions and your difficulties with posture.
You’re not sure how to release long held beliefs that are holding you back.
You are curious to explore the relationship between movement patterns and emotional patterns.
You want to learn to trust your body’s intuition and intelligence.
You’ve tried other methods and haven’t yet found a way to create permanent change and ease in your life.
Join Fritha and Sarah for a workshop that combines the cutting-edge technique of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) with learning through movement with The Feldenkrais Method® for a profoundly transformative experience! EFT is a tapping therapy that gently and permanently releases painful emotions and self-limiting beliefs so that you can feel more wise, more powerful and more effective in your relationships, work and life. The Feldenkrais Method® provides opportunities to learn through movement about one’s habits and patterns of movement and how they relate to our sense of ourselves in the world. Combining EFT tapping with the Feldenkrais Method® will offer participants the opportunity to explore their experience of posture, emotions, personal beliefs, self-image and how behavior and habits are reflected in body and mind.
$150, $125 early-bird
Pay with credit, debit, or PayPal below. To register and pay cash or check contact Fritha:
fritha@feldenkraisandmovementarts.com
Feldenkrais Workshop for the Shoulders
Instructor: Fritha Pengelly
TBA
Serenity Yoga Studio in South Hadley
Are you experiencing limited range of motion or pain with particular movements? Would you like to learn to move your arms and shoulders with more ease and efficiency?
Join Fritha for this 6-week series in which we will explore how to improve function of the shoulder joint through differentiation of the parts, and integration of the whole self. We cannot move our shoulders well without clarifying how to find support and power from the legs, spine, and ribs. Each class will include one Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons with time for discussion of anatomy and function.
Come engage in the practice of learning how to find new patterns of action through using awareness to sense what these well-worn pathways are, and discover new options for moving.
No experience necessary!
$120 for the 6-week series
Register here: https://www.serenityyogastudio.net/feldenkrais-shoulder
