I wıll wrıte wıth mıstakes sınce the keyboard here ıs so dıfferent

ı ve been here about 5 days wıth an incredible local guıde named Lutfi Atay who has a PhD ın Tourısm and knows hıs country very well.  Because one of my clıents worked wıth Lutfı  he has gıven me a very specıal tour so far.

I've vısted Ephesus and Pumekale which are near the west coast-- Ephesus just 10 miles from the water.  Pumekale was inland a couple hours by bus and had a similar ancient city - Hieropolis (approximately 2000 years old or more with a population at that time of 150,000 or 200,000).  Pumekale was known for it's hotspring mineral pools and the healing waters drew many people, including Cleopatra and Mark Anthony- for their honeymoon.  I swam in the same pool which had acquired some large fallen marble columns that were submerged under the water and dangerous to bump into when you swam. 

(these pools are too fragile for swimming, but there were adjacent pools people could soak in as well as the ancient Cleopatra pool that had been built with marble nearby)

Pergomom was also an old city on the west coast near Ismir and like Pumekale's Hieropolis, built high on a mountain.  Really stunning view.  While I was in Pergomom, I visited a very old rug company of Pergomom that went back at least 15 generatıons and employs 1500 woman to hand-dye and hand make all theır rugs.  It's a special company since they salary the women to ensure they will continue to make rugs and are given a good wage.  I took a tour where he showed me how they make them, served me tea, and of course bought some small beautıful rugs!

So much to wrıte but have to go!  The eggplant dıshes here are beyond words.

Ciao!

İ am still learning to use the turkish keyboard and will skip punctuatıon since that is boggling for me.

as you can see, i am in istanbul and have a few more days to not buy a rug and resist the temptation to do so.  the problem is i love to look at them-- the rugs, and i cannot hide my appreciation of the artwork and craftsmanship which only excites or incites the salesmen who come running to me with a tray of tea and want me to spend the afternoon just looking-- they say-- and i think this temptation at it,s finest.  ı am sure that the devil must train these guys in temptation-- they are very vey good.  And i seem to be their perfect viıtım!  Blond, blue-eyed and American. 

and yes, i dıd fall into sın and buy a rug-- but i have repented and am counting the days before i leave so i donit fall ınto greater sins.  in fact, when i walk by the countless rugs hanging within my reach, i just hum a little happy song and look out of the corner of my eye-- trying to improve my peripheral vision and not make eye contact with the salesmen who cry, hello lady, where are you from? -- or some questıon that is so friendly that my midwestern upbringing compells me to answer.  Anyway, I survived today in Istanbuhl without buying a rug.  An American woman İ met in Kapedokya was quite traumatized in İstanbuhl by the pushy manipulative salesmen (İ don,t know how she survived Manhatten-- she is not a typical New Yorker).  Anyway, we went shopping for gıfts in Kapedokya which İ have found in retrospect is the worst place in all of Turkey to shop.  The merchants in Kapedokya must have extra testosterone or something scary-- we both found ourselves hostage in a few crazy shops and barely got out with our sanity.  I suppose İndıa ıs worse, and don,t think i would do well there eıther. 

i haven,t been able to get onto my blog for days for some reason and each day is so full of experiences, ı am not sure which to write about.

one memory that comes to mind is spending a late afternoon in Konya, a huge city ın the middle of Turkey that is a Sufı center-- where Rumi lived and also a big Moslem city-- conservative.  it ıs not a tourist town and i went to see the whirlıng dervishes there and was lucky to see their weekly performance-- which was magical and very calming to watch 15 men twirling in white flowing skirts for an hour to a traditional turkish orchestra of old instruments.  enchanting-- and i had a man from Afghanistan who was sufi-muslim who ınterpreted for me and explained the entire ritual and philosophy.  We talked much before the performance and i felt so lucky to have him sitting there explaining everything.  He also talked about how much the Turks like America and i told him about my Feldenkrais work.  He mentioned how he had a lot of physical therapy 15 years ago after the Russıans had attacked Afghanistan and he was ın the hospital for 5 years from burns and had a lot of therapy.  Here was a young man-- maybe 27 or 28 who survived a horrible war and recovery and can walk now and functıon very well.  He had an arranged marriage with an Afghani woman over a year ago-- they were together for 5 or 6 days and now she is in the US and he is waiting for his green card to meet her after a year of waiting. 

,Isn,t that a long time?-- İ asked him.  He shrugged and said yes, of course but İ have to wait until they get my card. 

How is ıt to have an arranged marrıage?  I asked and wondered-- he was a very modern looking man.  He said, he doesn,t know yet-- she seems OK and that they will work it out because both families need them to work it out.  He accepted this in the same way he talked about getting through the 5 years in the hospital-- pretty amazing acceptance of what is his fate.  I marveled at his patience in his presence and hospitality with me.

I really enjoyed Konya.  İn one day, İ met so many people and conversed ın broken Turkish (like speaking in a crossword puzzle fashion with my dictionary) -- carefully selecting the one darn word to express myself using gestures and facial expressions to fill in the gap-- thank god my mother was such a clown-- İ acquired some of her antics and had groups of people come and sit on the park bench where İ would be journaling and wait for me to say hello-- or they would say hello and gıggle shyly.  İn 2 hours İ had a group of 8 young boys talk wıth me, a group of teenage girls with one that was getting married the next day, a group of women and their chıldren grilling me on why i wasn,t married, more women who were sisters asking me why i was alone, and another group of women with children asking all kinds of questıonsç 

Very curious people.  İ felt lıke a tropical bird passing through their territory. 

Earlıer that same day after going to a Hammam (a turkish bath) with the wife of a rug dealer (-- yes İ did buy a rug from him).  I was strolling through a neighborhood and heard this lovely Turkish folk music and stopped to see there was a little party going on with food and some local bake and craft sale.  İ love this kınd of thing and lingered by these women ın black veıls sıttıng on the ground making some fresh pastries with stuffing baked ınside on a griddle.  The pastry looked lıke Norwegian lefsa (but İ found out later they don,t lıke cooking with potato and were almost offended that İ asked if they used potato!).  One of the women smiled and waved for me to come to her. 

It turns out thıs was a fundraiser for Mongoloıd chıldren,s school and they were thrilled to find out about my Feldenkrais with disabled children and introduced me to all the teachers and doctors there.  Wıth my dictionary, i had a wonderful time with these people. 

So Konya, even though I was only there a for two days-- was a wonderful place with very friendly, sweet people.  Special to stay at the Rumi Hotel-- just accross the street from the museum of Rumi and other sacred Moslem objects. 

Well, so much more to write but have more experiencing to do!

Cıao!

Annıe

Well, it's been six weeks since I've written and I returned to work today after a three month retreat to Greece, Turkey, Oregon, Seattle and the wild places of Eastern Washington.

I am still feeling my time in Turkey and this photo reminds me of the mysteries that are unseen around us.  The flash of my camera (which is something like 30 times brighter than the sun) picked up these "energy orbs" - little and sometimes big balls of light that hover around in various, often sacred places like this cave monastery I visited that was from 300 AD (or even earlier) in Kapadokya, Turkey.  I've had so many truly amazing experiences this summer of people connecting with me in such loving ways that these orbs seem to confirm that there must be more than random coincidences and occurrences to life.  I felt a presence in this church and was relieved to find the camera picked up something as well.  There were many places like this in Turkey, especially in these sacred caves.  I have pictures in these caves with so many orbs in them that it's hard to see the people!

To add more to the mystery of my summer experiences, I had sent of a cheek scraping sample for my DNA to be tested by the National Geographic Genome Project that can identify your earliest ancestors through DNA testing and look at the migration pattern of your ancestors from our human roots in Africa.  I didn't get my test results back until after I had returned home to Seattle. 

I had picked Greece and Turkey to visit because I wanted to explore the roots of civilization and connect to the old and sacred places that I felt would speak the most to my background.  When I got home and checked my test results of my DNA sample, my genetic ancestors were of the first migration to leave Africa, go through the Mid-East and into Turkey by a town 20 miles or so from the city of Konya (which was one of my favorite places of the trip) and then head north, eventually landing in Northern Norway (where one of my family members lives).  How incredibleand wonderful that I intuitively followed this migration path in my journey this summer!  And how funny I felt in Konya, the people treated me like a long-lost relative who was coming home for a visit.

I think often of the people I met in Konya--  their warmth and attention.  They were very curious and kind to me, wanting to talk and have me stay longer.

These adorable boys talked to me for a long time and then posed together.

And this family of women also talked and joked with me.  One of the women asked me,  "Who is more fat, me or my sister?" 

I laughed and said, "No way am I going to answer that!"  

The women giggled and nodded and then the whole group posed for a photo for me to take home.  (These long rain-coats are the style there-- even in 80 degree weather.)

And then there are the sufi Whirling Dervishes, whose music often sounds Native American-- apparently the shamanic tradition of the Native Americans comes from Turkey, including the music.  I loved the symbolic dance with one hand toward heaven and the other toward earth with the human body making the bridge between the two.  This is very similar to the movements in Chinese Qigong as well and was beautiful to watch.  Below are dancers in Konya.

I set out and walked along the flurry of fish, meat and vegetable markets on my way to the Acropolis.  Greek people selling fish  is something different than Seattle's Pike Place Market.  The fish merchants are much louder, much more passionate, competitive and a litte testy.  I didn't dare linger too long in this warehouse, people were serious about their purchases and I didn't want to end up smelling like fish for the rest of the day. 

The Acropolis so far has been the highlight of my trip-- It's set so high up above the city and the tall, beveled pillars seem to reach to the heavens and proclaim strength and dominance.  I'm sure the goddess Athena was pleased with this structure.  The Parthenon, was majestic and trully amazing to have survived 2500 years with wars and earthquakes. 

(the Parthenon and it's amazing marble columns)

(The arch by the Olympic Park with the Acropolis in the background)

I walked all around to various monuments around the Acropolis and visited Socrates cave (where he died).  There were two other men who were philosophers like me, and we commented how we always had wanted to visit Socrates cave and here we were!  We took pictures to commemorate our dream coming true. 

I relished every archeological site I saw-- the Odeum (300 b.c.), this large theatre where Renee Fleming is performing in July!  I'm tempted to come back for that, believe me-- but I think I'll just have to imagine it.  It's the most amazing venue for Opera you could imagine-- I think 3500 -5000 people can sit and it's outdoors (it used to a roof originally-- imagine that.)

The other highlight of my day at the Acropolis was running into a woman on my way home to my hotel who was an archeologist. 

Sorry for the blip here--- i figured how to recover a little of the text I lost... yippee.

Anyway, I've got to close here and get to the hotsprings before too late.

Love to you all-- especially J.F.  -- did you find yourself in this?  I hope you write me, my friend-- you are my muse for writing in this trip as well as a whole bunch of you who I will mention from time to time...  A.W.- thanks for the healing remedies, they are wonderful.  And much love to J.T. and N.D. for everything, give Miss P a squeeze from me. 

Adio!

I just wrote for almost an hour and the internet cafe cut me off and I lost everything I wrote to you!  Such is life, like a sand castle gone with one big wave before the photo could save it. 

As I am learning with these travels, don't get too attached to plans.

I had a fabulous time in Athens.  A lovely hotel at 50 Euros which is about as cheap as a nice hotel can be in the heart of the city (15 minutes to the big archeological Museum and 15 minutes to the Acropolis and Plaka).  A hostel is about 15, but is a sleepless night and I'm glad to have had the modest hotel with big breakfast and rich, dark Greek coffee.

(Annie at the Parthenon)

The first day I arrived in Athens, I went to the museum which was much larger than I expected and thought 3 hours would be enough but there were 3 floors and many, many rooms.  Not as daunting as the Louvre, but I walked around in astonishment at the level of quality of artistry the sculptures and painted pots had.  Red pots that were 9 feet tall and painted with all kinds of spectacular scenes of gods and goddesses on them. 

The sculptures were much more refined than the Roman sculptures I've seen before.  300 to 500 BC, pretty amazing tools they used, coins, weights, horse bridles and armour, not to mention extensive written language.  I had no idea how incredibly rich the culture and civilization had been and seeing the artifacts made me wonder why we don't have this level of artistry today in our culture-- sculpture and architecture doesn't compare to what they had 2500 years ago. 

Then, there are all the sculptures honoring the athletes.  Gorgeous, gorgeous athletes.  What happened to this athletic culture?  Sure, we still have the Olympics, but these gods and goddesses were really in great shape and somehow inspired everyone to rise to their highest potential.  I felt very inspired and awed after leaving this museum.  

I hurried to get to the Acropolis before they closed and in the process got quite lost, which was interesting in itself.  Neighborhoods that seldom see blond tourists like me.  Before long, I asked a nice man where I was (other than Athens!) and he guided me in the direction of the Acropolis.  Kind of embarrassing really, since the Acropolis is placed high up and a hill and most of the time if you look up, you can find it!  But the good thing about this man was I asked him for a recommendation to a really good but affordable place to eat. He told me of a place in the Plaka near the Acropolis and after walking to the Acropolis and arriving 1 minute too late with very sore feet, I thought, "OH well, maybe I'll see the Acropolis tomorrow then and explore this Plaka."

Which is what I did, waiting to eat dinner until 8:30 or 9 when everyone else eats here.  I found the restaurant (taverna), sat outside near some lovely Italian men,  and had the most exquisite lamb with melted feta and potatoes and mystery sauce that made me chew slowly to savour each moment. 

I'll post this now just in case the system shuts down again....

I took a second full day of touring the city with another diverse group of people-- only one other American and the rest from many countries like Taiwan, Dubaı, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland, England, Iran, Syria and many other countries I can't even remember--  Yesterday, I was the only American.

At the end of a very long day includıng a boat ride along the water that separates the european and asian part of istanbul, we were taken 'hostage' to a leather company for a runway model show and tour of their store-- some poor souls bought some leather jackets which will encourage them to keep doing this show to exhausted tourists. 

It was the end of a long day of historical facts and gestation of gıant palaces and glittery furniture of sultans from the Otoman empire.  Turkey gives the french and Versailles a run for their money.  Yesterday saw another Sultan palace-- the Topakı Palace where they had so many gems- emeralds the sıze of my fist and dıamonds and rubies coverıng an entıre baby,s crib.  Opulence to a tee.  86 carat dıamond.   Of course Attaturk ended this empıre in 1923-- pretty amazing end of a 800 years of very rich lifestyle for sultans.

I could recite to you all kinds of trivia now about Turkey but will restrain myself.

The spice market, the amazing blue tiled mosques, the workmanship of the Otoman palaces are swirling in my head as well as the smell and feel of the sleek leather jacket the salesman insisted i try on.  ıt dıd look great on me-- but i once again resisted temptation.  this is a town to either strengthen or weaken willpower. 

İ am learning how to smile and say no with a strong and gentle firmness.  Perhaps this is a lesson the Turks wıll teach me well.

Well, off to rest--   oh, one more detail...

Last night as I was walking back to my hotel after listening to music and watching a whirling dervish, the chanting for the Muslim call to prayer began from the tall spires by the mosques on each corner around me-- I happened to be standing between the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia and another famous Mosque-- all within a block of each other.  The three gıant mosques began the to call to prayer at the same time-- each with different chants and resonating with echos that bounced all around the square.  İ was surrounded by this chanting and call to prayer and the sound made me stop.  Just the vibration of being surrounded by chanting in all directions was like walking into the wind.  i stopped and noticed my skin was prickled with goosebumps and the top of my head buzzing from the sound.  Even though İ am not Muslim, I felt the reverence of the music and an awe of the effect the sound created. 

It's a strange experience to walk through chanting lıke that-- it's like walking through a wave or through a color.  The residue remained with me until İ went to sleep and i can see how this call to prayer permeates the consciousness of the culture like salt in the water.  Very interesting-- all the other visitors from other cultures İ,ve talked to agree with my observation and share about this experience.

Well, off to rest for another adventure. 

Cıao!

When I think of functioning fully, I think: “How can this person experience becoming more alive?”

I find this question leads me and my clients into uncharted territory and great creativity.  Somewhere from their talking and gesturing, I must find a way to identify their desire to be more alive and functioning at a higher level. I look at the space they occupy and wonder where they are comfortable living and what directions to explore to deepen their vitality.

This is the beginning of the lesson and yet, I find this is the middle and the end as well. It is my belief that this Method is about becoming more alive every moment.

One of my clients, Ellen, who’s had chronic back and neck pain for many years, recently broke through a barrier in her awareness and in her abilities. I’ve worked with Ellen for four years every other week, but this week was different. Ellen came in with a contented smile. This is the first time she ever smiled when giving me a report about her life, saying, “I should be in pain after the stressful two weeks I’ve been through, but thanks to you and my therapist, I feel fine. I sat for12 hours at the computer almost every day working on a stressful case and my back doesn’t hurt.” I asked her what made the difference.

She said, “I could never have done this before. First of all, I was committed to doing my work for my own satisfaction. This commitment felt new and different. I worked the entire weekend! For the first time I can remember, I was not worrying about doing anything else or wanting to be anywhere else. I could just be where I was.”

“Secondly, I was able to sit using my bones for support. But more importantly, there was an awareness in the background. I didn’t abandon myself.”

This last sentence summed up one of her life lessons and her greatest achievement. She didn’t need me to tell her how great she was for learning this or to pat her on the back for being a good student. She knew how to take care of herself even in a very stressful situation and had gained confidence. She knew how to be present with herself in a mature and caring way and to not neglect her comfort and support.

We both looked at each other eye to eye. Awareness to awareness. Ellen was alive and living her life with a conscious vitality. She was choosing where and how she used her attention, how she supports herself physically and emotionally. At that moment, I marveled at this amazing potential we all have to be awake, aware and creative.

Ellen’s story welcomes us to the world of conscious living.

_______________________________________              

from SENSEAbility- FGNA Newsletter,  Issue # 23, 2^nd Quarter,  2002 “Functioning Fully” , Page 2

How does the Feldenkrais Method® work?  The human body, like other animals, has a nervous system with a central processing area with two dynamic parts much like yin and yang.  This interactive system receives information, processes the input and then carries out an action.   

The first  part , our sensory nervous system, has sensory nerves and sensory organs that receive stimulus and information which is felt by our bodies.  This information  includes smells, tastes, sounds, sights, touch, pressure, heat, cold, gravity and velocity.  The sensory nervous system reports stimuli to the spinal cord and brain. 

 In response to the sensory system’s  input  to the brain or spinal cord, the second part, our motor nervous system sends out commands via motor nerves  from the brain or spinal cord to the body, specifically to muscles, organs, glands, circulation, etc. , to keep our bodies in an optimal state.

The central nervous system, our brain and spinal cord, organizes and maintains our bodies for survival and optimal pleasure.  Some functions of survival don’t need to be processed all the way to the brain and can be regulated at our spinal cord, while other functions require analysis, decision-making and problem-solving abilities that our intricate cerebral cortex can provide.  As human’s we have an enormous potential in connecting more of our brain to our sensory system.  The creative potential we humans have with our brains and nervous systems cannot begin to be compared to even the most advanced computers we could create!  Our nervous systems are like computers that are highly underused and capably of much higher upgrades to our software.

If our sensory system reports a change from our normal resting stimulus (“baseline”), that information  needs to be processed and responded to by the brain or spinal cord to command the motor system’s response.  How our brains organize the sensory information is unique to each person, as much as tree roots grow finer roots into the ground to seek out the best water and nutrients for its survival.  When our brains and spinal cords receive stimuli from our senses, we consciously-- as well as unconsciously, compare this stimulus to our “baseline” or normal resting operations. 

Once we make this sensory comparison to baseline, we send a command message via  the motor nervous system to our heart, glands, organs  and muscles for best survival.   

For example, there is a certain point where a person notices they feel cold (sensory system) and need (central system command) to put on a sweater (motor system).  Sometimes, adapting to a change in our “baseline” operations is unconscious , i.e.,  when we have been sitting too long in one position and naturally shift our weight. 

This is a simplistic account of our nervous system.  The depth of our ability to sense has only begun to be recognized by neuroscience.  Recent neuroscience studies show that our hearts and abdominal area s have very refined sensory systems that often respond and relay to our brain and entire body to changes to our baseline operations.   Hence the old adages, “Gut feelings”  or “heartfelt,” have a renewed value  by modern science.  “Extra-sensory” abilities demonstrated by some people  are still being studied by science to learn more about our nervous systems potential.  Research of Chinese medicine practices such as Qigong show  that there is a capacity for the human body to heal itself internally, influence healing in others, and interact with our environment in a much more sensitive, harmonious way.   There is much we are discovering about the capacity of our nervous systems. 

Brain studies consistently show after thirty years of neuroscience research that most adults still use approximately ten percent of their brains.  Studies of Native peoples, like Australian aborigines, have been shown to use up to fifty percent of their brains.  The difference between native peoples and industrialized peoples may be  that native aborigines have to rely constantly on their sensory nervous systems to survive in the world.  Industrialized people tend to only engage a small portion of their brain in order to survive in society.  Studies have found that certain professions that engage more sensory parts of our nervous systems use a larger percentage of the brain.

Think of the difference in entertainment in the two cultures of aboriginal versus industrial.  Imagine how much more of your brain you use if you were telling and acting out a story in front of a fire in the woods with an awareness of potential predators lurking in the dark a few paces away.  Compare that experience with lying on your couch in a supine position with a glass of beer or soda and staring at a relative small box  several feet wide for many hours in the dark.  Which experience stimulates and engages your brain and body more?  Which situation increases circulation of your blood and spinal fluid more?  Which situation would you feel more alive?  Which situation requires more of your full participation? 

Brain studies conclude that watching television reduces our brain activity  to less than when we sleep and reduces our ability to learn and pay attention. 

The Feldenkrais Method® engages our sensory nervous systems to experience new sensations and movements that are outside our habitual “baseline” resting positions.

What makes Feldenkrais work interesting is that we use both the conscious and unconscious parts of our brain to interact with organizing sensory information to improve our comfort and performance.  People who experience these changes in comfort and performance can feel the difference  in their bodies and retain the skill level because they feel pleasure and increased sense of security and confidence in themselves.  While the expression, “Seeing is believing” is common, I have found that “feeling is knowing” stays with us much longer because of feelings are necessary for survival whereas sight is secondary in comparison to feeling.  Sensory experiences and feelings are the closest experience we have to “reality.”   What we see is often given interpretation and meaning and needs to be felt to give it the “weight” and “position” in our memories.  What we feel is a direct, imprinted experience that later is processed and used.

(More to come… include back up references for the neuroscience information)

How does the Feldenkrais Method® work?  The human body, like other animals, has a nervous system with a central processing area with two dynamic parts much like yin and yang.  This interactive system receives information, processes the input and then carries out an action.   

The first  part , our sensory nervous system, has sensory nerves and sensory organs that receive stimulus and information which is felt by our bodies.  This information  includes smells, tastes, sounds, sights, touch, pressure, heat, cold, gravity and velocity.  The sensory nervous system reports stimuli to the spinal cord and brain. 

 In response to the sensory system’s  input  to the brain or spinal cord, the second part, our motor nervous system sends out commands via motor nerves  from the brain or spinal cord to the body, specifically to muscles, organs, glands, circulation, etc. , to keep our bodies in an optimal state.

The central nervous system, our brain and spinal cord, organizes and maintains our bodies for survival and optimal pleasure.  Some functions of survival don’t need to be processed all the way to the brain and can be regulated at our spinal cord, while other functions require analysis, decision-making and problem-solving abilities that our intricate cerebral cortex can provide.  As human’s we have an enormous potential in connecting more of our brain to our sensory system.  The creative potential we humans have with our brains and nervous systems cannot begin to be compared to even the most advanced computers we could create!  Our nervous systems are like computers that are highly underused and capably of much higher upgrades to our software.

If our sensory system reports a change from our normal resting stimulus (“baseline”), that information  needs to be processed and responded to by the brain or spinal cord to command the motor system’s response.  How our brains organize the sensory information is unique to each person, as much as tree roots grow finer roots into the ground to seek out the best water and nutrients for its survival.  When our brains and spinal cords receive stimuli from our senses, we consciously-- as well as unconsciously, compare this stimulus to our “baseline” or normal resting operations. 

Once we make this sensory comparison to baseline, we send a command message via  the motor nervous system to our heart, glands, organs  and muscles for best survival.   

For example, there is a certain point where a person notices they feel cold (sensory system) and need (central system command) to put on a sweater (motor system).  Sometimes, adapting to a change in our “baseline” operations is unconscious , i.e.,  when we have been sitting too long in one position and naturally shift our weight. 

This is a simplistic account of our nervous system.  The depth of our ability to sense has only begun to be recognized by neuroscience.  Recent neuroscience studies show that our hearts and abdominal area s have very refined sensory systems that often respond and relay to our brain and entire body to changes to our baseline operations.   Hence the old adages, “Gut feelings”  or “heartfelt,” have a renewed value  by modern science.  “Extra-sensory” abilities demonstrated by some people  are still being studied by science to learn more about our nervous systems potential.  Research of Chinese medicine practices such as Qigong show  that there is a capacity for the human body to heal itself internally, influence healing in others, and interact with our environment in a much more sensitive, harmonious way.   There is much we are discovering about the capacity of our nervous systems. 

Brain studies consistently show after thirty years of neuroscience research that most adults still use approximately ten percent of their brains.  Studies of Native peoples, like Australian aborigines, have been shown to use up to fifty percent of their brains.  The difference between native peoples and industrialized peoples may be  that native aborigines have to rely constantly on their sensory nervous systems to survive in the world.  Industrialized people tend to only engage a small portion of their brain in order to survive in society.  Studies have found that certain professions that engage more sensory parts of our nervous systems use a larger percentage of the brain.

Think of the difference in entertainment in the two cultures of aboriginal versus industrial.  Imagine how much more of your brain you use if you were telling and acting out a story in front of a fire in the woods with an awareness of potential predators lurking in the dark a few paces away.  Compare that experience with lying on your couch in a supine position with a glass of beer or soda and staring at a relative small box  several feet wide for many hours in the dark.  Which experience stimulates and engages your brain and body more?  Which situation increases circulation of your blood and spinal fluid more?  Which situation would you feel more alive?  Which situation requires more of your full participation? 

Brain studies conclude that watching television reduces our brain activity  to less than when we sleep and reduces our ability to learn and pay attention. 

The Feldenkrais Method® engages our sensory nervous systems to experience new sensations and movements that are outside our habitual “baseline” resting positions.

What makes Feldenkrais work interesting is that we use both the conscious and unconscious parts of our brain to interact with organizing sensory information to improve our comfort and performance.  People who experience these changes in comfort and performance can feel the difference  in their bodies and retain the skill level because they feel pleasure and increased sense of security and confidence in themselves.  While the expression, “Seeing is believing” is common, I have found that “feeling is knowing” stays with us much longer because of feelings are necessary for survival whereas sight is secondary in comparison to feeling.  Sensory experiences and feelings are the closest experience we have to “reality.”   What we see is often given interpretation and meaning and needs to be felt to give it the “weight” and “position” in our memories.  What we feel is a direct, imprinted experience that later is processed and used.

(More to come… include back up references for the neuroscience information)

Finding My Body with the Feldenkrais Method®

by Drew Biel, Author and LMP 

In June of 1997, while driving down Interstate 5 in Seattle, I was rear-ended by another driver. Like quick-acting glue, I could feel my neck and shoulders begin to stiffen. Within twenty minutes, I had a throbbing headache between my eyes. Six hours later my symptoms had worsened and a friend suggested I call Annie Thoe.

Annie was a Feldenkrais® practitioner who I knew from a class called Awareness Through Movement®. The other students and I would lie on the floor while Annie instructed us to do slow, gentle movements. It was all very relaxing, but at the end of class I noticed something else had occurred. I could literally sense how the sleeping parts of my body had awaken and become responsive. It sounds silly, but I could feel my body and, in turn, realize how often I didn't feel my body.

As I got off the phone with Annie, I couldn't help but voice my doubts, "Those classes were fun and wonderful for my awareness, but this is an injury. I'm in a lot of pain." My friend assured me of my decision and the next day I went to my appointment.

After interviewing me about the accident and my symptoms (by now my neck and shoulders were in almost constant pain and I was having difficulty seeing straight), Annie asked me to lay down on a padded table. As I lay on my back, she began moving my feet and toes. After five minutes of this, I said, "Annie, um . . . it's my neck. My neck is what hurts."

"Yes, your neck does hurt," she responded. "That's why I'm working with your feet." 

Though this made no sense to me, I was surprised to find my headache beginning to subside. She continued to work on my feet, toes and pelvis for the next thirty minutes, and my neck and shoulders began to soften. They seemed to be receiving encouraging messages from the rest of my body saying, "It's OK . . . you can let go a little bit." At the end of the first session, my headache was virtually gone and my body felt more unified.

"There's only one thing that concerns me," I told her. "I'm moving to Colorado in two weeks. What can we do in that time?" She suggested we meet every other day before I left.

For the next several sessions, I would begin by sitting in a folding chair.  Annie placed a large, foam roller under my feet and asked me to rhythmically roll the pad from my heel to my toes. While I attempted this deceptively difficult maneuver, she observed my knee and hip movements. Then she took both of my hands and gently moved my arms in various directions. And just when I was getting good at a particular movement, she would challenge me to "breathe easier into your belly" or be sure to "keep your hips level."

Later in our sessions, while on the table, Annie would take my head in her hands and gently move it from side to side. While doing this, she asked me to perform simple actions such as raising my arm slightly or to flex and extend my spine. At other times she instructed me to roll my eyes in a particular direction. According to Annie, these odd movement combinations were designed to activate and challenge my nervous system. And, in turn, they would help my entire skeleton to create easier movements in my neck, head and shoulders.

Annie was not solely interested in my areas of pain. She wanted to talk to my whole body - especially my bones and joints. Always listening and watching, she would quietly tap into the deeper, more visceral aspect of my persona. She seemed to be simply asking, "How can I help you to move more effortlessly?"

After two weeks and only seven sessions, my headaches were gone, my neck pain was minimal and I could move my head and neck without any pain.  No, I don't exactly understand what we did in those sessions. But one thing is for sure: When I arrived in Colorado I realized that my whole body felt better than I did before the accident.

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Andrew Biel, LMP is the author of Trail Guide to the Body: How to locate muscles,bones and more and an instructor at the Boulder College of Massage Therapy in Boulder, Colorado.

Annie Thoe, GCFP, LMP is a Feldenkrais® Practitioner in Seattle, Washington.

The Feldenkrais Method® is an educational method, founded by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984), using movement and self-awareness to improve the quality of a person's life.  Through guided physical movements, a person explores new choices of using his/her body and using less effort and more skeletal support. For more information, contact the Feldenkrais® Guild or Ms. Thoe at (206) 271-4270, anniethoe@higheraction.com

When I think of functioning fully, I think: “How can this person experience becoming more alive?”

I find this question leads me and my clients into uncharted territory and great creativity.

Somewhere from their talking and gesturing, I must find a way to identify their desire to be more alive and functioning at a higher level. I look at the space they occupy and wonder where they are comfortable living and what directions to explore to deepen their vitality.

This is the beginning of the lesson and yet, I find this is the middle and the end as well. It is my belief that this Method is about becoming more alive every moment.

One of my clients, Ellen, who’s had chronic back and neck pain for many years, recently broke through a barrier in her awareness and in her abilities. I’ve worked with Ellen for four years every other week, but this week was different. Ellen came in with a contented smile. This is the first time she ever smiled when giving me a report about her life, saying, “I should be in pain after the stressful two weeks I’ve been through, but thanks to you and my therapist, I feel fine. I sat for12 hours at the computer almost every day working on a stressful case and my back doesn’t hurt.” I asked her what made the difference.

She said, “I could never have done this before. First of all, I was committed to doing my work for my own satisfaction. This commitment felt new and different. I worked the entire weekend! For the first time I can remember, I was not worrying about doing anything else or wanting to be anywhere else. I could just be where I was.”

“Secondly, I was able to sit using my bones for support. But more importantly, there was an awareness in the background. I didn’t abandon myself.”

This last sentence summed up one of her life lessons and her greatest achievement. She didn’t need me to tell her how great she was for learning this or to pat her on the back for being a good student. She knew how to take care of herself even in a very stressful situation and had gained confidence. She knew how to be present with herself in a mature and caring way and to not neglect her comfort and support.

We both looked at each other eye to eye. Awareness to awareness. Ellen was alive and living her life with a conscious vitality. She was choosing where and how she used her attention, how she supports herself physically and emotionally. At that moment, I marveled at this amazing potential we all have to be awake, aware and creative.

Ellen’s story welcomes us to the world of conscious living.

_______________________________________              

from SENSEAbility- FGNA Newsletter,  Issue # 23, 2^nd Quarter,  2002 “Functioning Fully” , Page 2

From Annie Thoe, Feldenkrais® Practitioner and Assistant Trainer

Since it’s difficult to assess exactly what was damaged in a stroke and how the damaged area of the brain interrelates with functions in the body, this will be a general guide to working with people with a stroke.

The activities below are designed to stimulate the Sensory Nervous System which will in turn stimulate the Motor Nervous System.  The Sensory Nervous System is what registers pressure, movement, direction, weight, space/time, hot/cold, smell, taste, and sounds.  Using sensory stimulation is a wonderful way to work with reconnecting and helping better organize someone’s brain.  I have developed the activities below and have found them extremely effective.

In general, work with what the person already does well.  If her right side is paralyzed, work with the left side first to improve her coordination and sensitivity and gradually introduce the less sensitive or responsive areas into the activity.  For the activities below, start with the functional side and spend a shorter time on the less functional side (so you don’t irritate them or frustrate them.)  Always try to choose activities they can easily succeed with before introducing something difficult and if they fail, go back to what they know and can succeed with.

A precaution about touch:

Because they are more vulnerable in being unable to move or speak, be careful with your touch to avoid overstimulation.   Slow yourself down with some nice full breaths before you enter the room to sense their state of mind and what kind of attention they have in that moment.  Are they tired?  Sleepy?  In Pain?  Content?  Bored?  Lonely? Happy to see you?  Assess what you can about their energy level.

●Move slowly and clearly so they can follow your movement the way you would follow a fly walking up a wall.  

●Speak slowly and allow pauses for them to contemplate what you are saying. 

●Repeating yourself is helpful and helps to reinforce their understanding.  It’s good to explain that you are trying to just be clear and aren’t sure how hard it is to understand you so that is why you are repeating things to them.  This repetition may not be necessary as they progress, but I believe is very helpful to them as they learn to organize language and cognition again. 

Activities to help stimulate the connections of movement with the brain:

Working with a ball:

Slowly roll a small ball from each finger up the arm to connect the hand to the collarbone, and also to connect the hand to the chin (for hand coordination of feeding and grooming later on…). 

Slowly roll a ball from each toe up the leg to the hip and even all the way up to the chin.  Again with the goal of creating neurological connections for movement of the feet and legs.

If they can hold the ball, assist them in rolling the ball on themselves, eventually to their paralyzed side (connecting the two sides in the brain).

Interlacing Fingers:

After working a bit with the paralyzed side so they are accustomed to being touched, you can begin to have the functional hand interlace fingers with the non-functional.  Don’t force this.  Begin slowly and watch for irritation and agitation.  (If they get too irritated, they won’t learn as well and it can interrupt progress if not even be slightly traumatizing.)  Stop, take a break and distract them with something pleasant. Remember to breath if you feel them tense up.  If they calm down quickly, you can return to exploring the interlacing of the two hands. 

Working with a clipboard:

Put their hand on the clipboard and gently, slowly move the clipboard to engage the full hand, encouraging more and more contact of the entire surface of the hand (increasing the sensory area of stimulation).  As you tilt the hand using the support of the clipboard, feel how the weight of the hand connects through their skeleton—up the arm and perhaps all the way into the shoulder girdle.  It’s an amazing process to feel the skeletal support in the movement and very pleasurable for the person receiving.

Very gently, bring the clipboard to touch the bottom of the foot.  Sometimes, with bedridden clients this can elicit a lot of pain so you may need to do this introduction in stages.  A little bit of contact at a time, but be careful it isn’t too light that they may feel ticklish.  Exhaling (for yourself) as you touch will help them relax.  

Music and Rhythm:

Music is one of the oldest and broadest links within the brain.  Find out what their favorite music is and play it or sing it.  Use the beat of the songs to stimulate movement:  clapping or tapping fingers or toes.  If they can’t tap, you can gently tap with your hands on their palms (imitating clapping) or on their thigh (simulating patting their own leg).  Sometimes, these experiences trigger links in the brain that tie into old movement patterns.  I’ve seen leaps of recovery using music.  Even if you don’t have the best singing voice, it can be lovely to have someone sing to you in loving manner.

Rhythmical Poetry:

Especially if they like poetry, this can be a nice tool to combine with touch or movement.  Be sure to repeat lines often.  It actually is a wonderful way to stimulate short term memory, especially if it’s a good poem!  The Poet David Whyte often repeats lines over and over when he reads poetry and it’s a wonderful effect and really helps the words stay in your memory.

Games:

Games are fun because they are social and appear like it is play versus work or therapy.  Make sure it stays fun, explorative.  Stop if they get frustrated and come back when it’s fun.  Have other activities to do if one doesn’t work.  

Cards:  Solitaire is excellent for working with numbers, sequential number recall, hand-eye coordination.  Just putting the cards in order or by suit can be satisfying.

Board Games:  there are plenty of kids games that are colorful that can be used to point to colors, move the pieces on various colored squares and help with language and special connections.

Catching and Throwing things:  Use nerf like balls or light small beachballs or balloons, small basketball nets for targets or cans, any kind of simple easy games of catch or target practice is very fun.  It’s satisfying to bat things around and helps relieve some pent up frustration or aggression from being immobile.

Engaging the Mouth:  Use a straw and practice blowing the wrapper off, or blowing paper wads.  Use a lollipop for sucking and have her move her lips and tongue in various ways to develop control.  Practice smacking lips, licking lips in all different directions.  Making vowel sounds.  Making one consonent sound over and over while singing… “Ba,  Ba,  Ba…….La, La, La.”.  It’s endless the list of things we can do to refine the movement of the lips, tongue and mouth. 

There are more activities, but these are great foundation activities to address movement, language, and cognition.

Assistant Trainer in the Feldenkrais Method

anniethoe@higheraction.com

(206) 271-4270

Suite B-300

17311  135th Ave. NE

Woodinville, WA  98072

located near Woodinville City Hall in Building B (tan building with dark green trim)

Take 175th Ave NE through downtown Woodinville, turn at 135th Ave. NE at the Wells Fargo Bank and go 2 blocks and turn right at 173rd Street and go to the second driveway and turn right and park in front of Building B - Suite B-300.  Wait in the lobby, Annie's office is in the back on the south-east side of the Suite near the kitchen.

Suite B-300

17311  135th Ave. NE

Woodinville, WA  98072

Annie Thoe's Seattle Office at M'Illumino:

(just two blocks off of I-5 on 70th NE -- on the east side of I-5 and Green Lake). 

Parking available on 70th, Roosevelt and neighborhood streets.

Enter on 70th through the bamboo gates and cross the large courtyard to the Private Offices where you see Annie's name posted outside the door.  Enter and wait in the lobby.

M'Illumino

on the corner of NE 70th and Roosevelt Way

Seattle, WA  98115

anniethoe@higheraction.com

(206) 271-4270

FELDENKRAIS METHOD:  Functional Activities for Children with Cerebral Palsy and Neurological Challenges

From Annie Thoe, Feldenkrais Practitioner and Assistant Trainer

While it is difficult to assess within the brain exactly what specifically was damaged from cerebral palsy and how the damaged area of the brain interrelates with functions in the body, this will be a general guide to working with children with cerebral palsy or similar conditions.