Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
Jeffrey Schwinghammer
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Top 10 Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Respect Your Body Like Your Mind
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
02/12/24 • 25 min
On today's episode, I take a question from a long time listener and student. She asks, Is it possible to have as much respect and concern for my body as I do for my mind?
This is a great question. Does it resonate with you? Are you intellectually gifted or cognitively centered? It's hard not to have an emphasis on the mind over the body in our culture. Is your body a second class citizen in your thinking? Here's the thing, your body is the basis for your mind. A truly strong and sensitive body is a strong and sensitive mind too.
In order to get more connected to our embodied experience, we need to get in touch to shift our habits and build new practices.
In this episode I offer a possible reframe for the body/mind, we talk about what it means and looks like to be more respectful of your body, and we explore a short, easy somatic exploration to embody respect for ourselves.
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.
Join the newsletterto be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.
Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.
I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer.
Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast.
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A Case of Unbridled Rage
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
06/14/23 • 21 min
When big emotions sweep through you, what do you do? How do you handle them?
Big emotions like rage can lead us to destroying the relationships that are important to us.
This episode explores the story of one of my students, Shahryar, who has a history of 'pent-up' aggression. This aggression led him to make choices he later regrets. He attempted to deal work out those feelings through forceful exercise. He 'smashed and mashed' the bad feelings out of himself. But that led to more problems. Through our Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement classes together, he has found a new resource for himself.
What you will hear in this episode:
- Shahryar's new resource for being with difficult emotions.
- Once again, how we do one thing is how do everything.
- the limitations for forcefully fixing ourselves.
- a difficult history of rage that can change.
- what's behind the rage...
- the importance of offering learning through direct experience.
- the importance of the metaphors we use in describing our emotional experience.
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Hi, I’m Jeffrey.
I am a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and Filmmaker. I am the director of the upcoming documentary on the Feldenkrais Method.
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast. If you find this show helpful, please leave a 5 star review in your podcast player.
Download my free guide and join my newsletter: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Watch the Documentary Teaser Trailer: teaser.feldenkraismovie.com
Follow Me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
Candia Raquel - Choosing Pleasure: Maturity, Boundaries, and Sensuality
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
01/15/24 • 60 min
Sensuality is our birthright, says my guest Candia Raquel. Sensuality is pleasure derived from our sensation, free from inhibition and full of self-expression.
To be with the sensuous is to be connected to the present.
Our modern culture numbs us from our bodies. Pleasure is sold as a product (go get something nice at Starbucks). We're encouraged to hustle, work hard, and sacrifice. and defer the pleasures of life till retiring on the beach.
Being numb is a big problem, because it disconnects us from what makes us really us. Instead of choosing what's good for us, we comply with society or fall back into autopilot.
If we have been numb, pursuing pleasure becomes dramatic. We need over-the-top experiences like big vacations, transformative ceremonies, or go bungee jumping to feel pleasure.
Through connecting with our felt-sense, and what's pleasurable helps us become more authentic, to mature, make better decisions and to better assert our boundaries.
Expect to hear about:
- the relationship between pain and pleasure.
- how our culture numbs us and commodifies pleasure.
- people pleasing and internal authority.
- know thyself is more than having a story about ourselves.
- how compulsion is not sexy.
- how our vital animal state is alive and ready to act while also at rest.
Candia Raquel is a Mexican sensualist, scientist, artist and woman that hosts The Sensual Sessions podcast and Founded Centro De Poder®, who enjoys contemplating trees and drinking tea. Dedicated to helping workaholics overcome numbness and embody sensuality through somatic movement.
https://www.instagram.com/candiaraquel/
https://www.centrodepoder.com/
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.
Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 20 minute consult call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.
Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.
Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.
I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer.
Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast.
Why Movement? Movement is a Window into Your Nervous System
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
10/30/23 • 14 min
We are going back to the Awareness Through Movement book for another look at Why Movement? Why movement as a way toward personal development and transformation?
Moshe Feldenkrais offers 9 reasons why movement. We explore reason number 6: Through movement, you can understand what's going on in the nervous system.
Awareness Through Movement is brain work. It's nervous system work. We're not interested in building muscles, we're interested in creating new connections in the brain that lead to better quality movement, and more choice in what we do.
Working with the brain changes the body. You could say we're working with the mind to move the body to change the brain to change the body... 🤣
Or we can drop the the distinction. We're working with ourselves in away that gets down into the deep fabric of who we are, where we can add a little bit more space and a little bit more grace.
The quote from the book:Movements Reflect the State of the Nervous System
The muscles contract as a result of an unending series of impulses from the nervous system; for this reason the muscular pattern of the upright position, facial expression, and voice reflect the condition of the nervous system.
Obviously, neither position, expression, nor voice can be changed with out a change in the nervous system that mobilizes the outward as visible changes.
Them, when we refer to muscular movement, we mean, in fact the impulses of the nervous system that activate the muscles, which cannot function without the impulses to direct them.
Thought the heart muscles of the embryo begins to contract even before the nerves that will control it have developed, it does not work in the way familiar to us until ts own nervous system can regulate its action.
From this we may derive a conclusion that seems paradoxical at first sight: improvement in action and movement will appear only after a prior change in the brain and the nervous system has occured.
That is, an improvement in body action reflects the change in the central control, which is the exclusive authority. The change in the center control is a change in the nervous system.
__________
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.
Want to get moving and put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 20 minute consult call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.
Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about new courses and opportunities.
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.
I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer.
Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast. 👋
Share Your Learning To Learn More
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
11/20/23 • 8 min
If you've been listening to this show for a while you will notice that at the end of each episode I encourage you to share the ideas you hear here with a friend. I say that doing so helps us deepen our learning. In this episode I will give more of an explanation of why.
I draw on Moshe Feldenkrais' teachings from his training program in Amherst Massachusetts. He encouraged his students to not focus on writing down movement directions about to be curious and invested in their own experience. Taking notes would distract them from the richness of their experience. Then, after class, go and share your experience with another person. Doing so helps you make new connections. Conversations are a creative act.
Don't be a passive learner. Share your learning so you can learn more.
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.
Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 30 minute consult call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching.
Learn more here.
Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.
Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.
I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer.
Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast.
Marlene Finds Her Power Again
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
12/18/23 • 28 min
Marlene came to class with a big celebration.
She reported that after our previous Feldenkrais class, she found a sense of embodied empowerment she hadn't felt since she was a vibrant cheerleader at the age of 19 - six decades ago!
She described rediscovering this power as akin to finding the life restoration of Lazerous.
At 19, she had surgery for appendicitis that wasn't incorrectly completed. The surgeon incorrectly sowed parts of her abdomen to her diaphragm. Bad news. Even after a corrective surgery in her 30's to fix the problems from the first surgery, she still felts the effects of the compensations her body had made. She finds our Feldenkrais classes help her bring her mind and body back into sync.
Marlene's story is a great example that when we have the right process that guides us with curiosity into our own experience, we can become skilled at healing our compensations. When the compensations diminish and we feel more at home in our body, the vitality and power flow back in.
____
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.
Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 20 minute consult call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.
Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.
Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.
I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer.
Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast.
Alice Boyd - Taken Apart and Put Back Together
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
05/22/23 • 33 min
Well, that was a waste of time.That was Alice's first experience of the Feldenkrais Method 25 years ago. Little did she know she would come to love it and produce a movie about the method years later.
"I felt like I was taken apart and put back together in the way I should be put back together."
That's how Alice Boyd's described her first experience in a 1:1 hands-on Feldenkrais lesson.
Alice Boyd's Bio
A Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner since 2014, Alice Boyd teaches group and individual lessons online and in-person in Portland, Oregon. She completed Russell Delman’s Embodied Life program, and with her husband, poet John Brehm, she leads transformational residential retreats incorporating Feldenkrais movement lessons, meditation, and mindful poetry discussion.
Alice is excited to be producing a feature-length documentary film about the Feldenkrais.
In this episode, you will hear...
- about Alice's lackluster first impression of Feldenkrais
- the lesson that changed the direction of her life
- her background as a yoga teacher
- her journey away from force and willpower to openness and curiosity
- the inspirations for the documentary
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Hi, I’m Jeffrey.
I am a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and Filmmaker. I am the director of the upcoming documentary on the Feldenkrais Method.
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast.
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Watch the DocumentaryTeaser Trailer: teaser.feldenkraismovie.com
Follow Me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
Laura Bond - Exploring the Emotional Body
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
02/26/24 • 52 min
"We are all emotional beings."
I'm going to be a vulnerable here...even though I am feeling better overall than I have ever felt before, I have had a difficult history with my emotions. My frame before was that emotions happen to me. They drove the bus. What I have learned since is two primary things, 1) that emotions are information (not truth) and 2) we can influence our emotions through movement. Thankfully, I have a lot more say over my emotions today thanks to working with Laura Bond and her approach.
We can choose how we feel to a greater degree than we think.
My guest today is Laura Bond, the creator of the Emotional Body Method. Her work has helped me to understand my emotions through a curious, compassionate and play approach that is a perfect complement to Feldenkrais and other embodiment work.
The Emotional Body Method aims to help people understand their emotions, be more comfortable with themselves, and improve their expression and presentation skills. Insecurities and old habits can interfere with how we express ourselves. In fact, we often operate in a mix of emotions. When we don't have clear expressions of emotions, other people don't understand us as well, they get mixed messages or confused, and we can feel powerless.
The method focuses on the 6 primary emotional patterns that we all are born with. The patterns are explored on all levels: posture, facial expression, breathing and vocalization. Through mixing within this simple palette of 6 comes the rich rainbow of all human expression.
Another thing I really like about the Emotional Body Method is that it doesn't go into difficult stories or psychological concepts. Instead it's physical explorations.
In this episode expect to hear:
- The scientific origins of the Emotional Body.
- What are the 6 emotional patterns.
- What is emotional regulation and the importance of calming the nervous system.
- On unlearning old habits through repetition and variation.
- Why is does the Emotional Body use a letter and number system? (1a,1b,2a,2b,3a,3b)
- The 7th pattern, zero, and it's use for finding emotional neutrality.
- How Feldenkrais Method inspired the Emotional Body.
- Entanglements with our emotions, where two or more emotions are unconsciously mixed.
About Laura Bond
Laura Bond is an internationally recognized master instructor and teacher trainer in the emotional effector patterns, and the Emotional Body® courses. She is a master teacher of Alba EmotingTM, having studied an intensive teacher-training path in Chile with its founder, Susana Bloch. Laura is a full professor at the University of North Carolina Asheville and a certified master teacher of the Estill VoiceTM technique. She teaches physical emotion regulation methods in university classes, private lessons, and through national and international workshops. She is the author of two books: TEAM for Actors: A Holistic Approach to Embodied Acting, and The Emotional Body: A Method for Physical Self-Regulation.
Routledge Press Book Chapter Contribution: "The Emotional Body: A Somatic and Trauma-Informed Practice for Cultivating Expressive Capabilities for the Actor and the Individual," in a new book titled, Trauma and Embodied Healing in Dramatherapy, Theatre and Performance published by Routledge Press. Available for pre-order Feb 19th and shipping by March 11th!
About the Podcast
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.
Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 30 minute call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.
Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.
Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a futu...
Lavinia Plonka - Practice makes a Master
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
09/11/23 • 49 min
Lavinia Plonka, veteran teacher of the Feldenkrais Method is my guest this week. Her background stretches from playing the according, to theatre and mime, to yoga and the martial arts. She brings her rich history of learning and exploration in so many fields to this conversation.
We talk about how she got into the Feldenkrais Method, pursuing mastery and her thoughts on daily practice.
In this episode you will hear...
- The surprising story of how Lavinia became a mime.
- Lavinia's approach to relinquishing control and being open to life. "Let the universe take care of you".
- How Lavinia first came to the Feldenkrais Method and how she ran out the door when she saw that you worked with people using touch.
- The Feldenkrais work invites us to attend the places in ourselves that physically locked or inhibited from their full possibility.
- Her father's wisdom "There is no such thing as perfection. Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes a master."
- How Lavinia practices daily and her recommendations to people just starting. "You have to make an appointment with yourself everyday."
- Feldenkrais Trainer Mark Reese's answer to Lavinia's question, "how can I pursue my dream of being a writer."
About Lavinia Plonka
Body language expert Lavinia Plonka has helped people improve their movement, behavior, relationships and careers for over 3 decades. Her unique expertise connects the dots among posture/movement, emotions and the mind.
Lavinia’s training and professional career have included theater, dance, yoga and the martial arts. She has taught The Feldenkrais Method® for 35+ years and is also an Assistant Trainer.
Lavinia is a level CL4 teacher of the Alba Method and an Emotional Body Instructor.
She was an artist in residence for the Guggenheim Museum and movement consultant for theater and television companies around the world, from the Irish National Folk Theater to Nickelodeon.
A faculty member of the Shift Network, Lavinia’s popular workshops explore the intersection between movement, emotions and the mind. She is currently the director of Asheville Movement Center in Asheville, NC. Lavinia’s writing includes several books and audio programs.
Lavinia's Website: https://laviniaplonka.com/
Lavinia's lessons and books: https://laviniaplonka.com/new-products-page/
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Hi, I’m Jeffrey.
I am a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and Filmmaker. I am the director of the upcoming documentary on the Feldenkrais Method.
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast. 👋
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions about the Feldenkrais Method! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.
I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer: teaser.feldenkraismovie.com
Follow Me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
On Getting Good Grades and Flunking
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais
10/16/23 • 15 min
A common challenge for students in Awareness Through Movement classes is that they try much harder than they need to. For a good reason too, they want to do a good job in class. They want to do it right.
I don't blame them. It's not their fault.
I think we can point to our school system for why many of us have had the habits of working hard with excess effort, the need to get good grades and avoid mistakes. Our education and our response to our educators shapes our experience.
How has education shaped you?
On this episode you will hear...
- How humans are distinct from other creatures,
- My experience in education
- How Awareness Through Movement challenges our old habits in profound ways. What works in school won't work here.
- How Feldenkrais helps you steward your own self-education.
- an encouragement to try flunking... 😁
I hope you enjoy the episode.
+++++
Hi, I’m Jeffrey.
I am a Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and Filmmaker. I am the director of the upcoming documentary on the Feldenkrais Method.
Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast. 👋
Would you do me a favor and rate the podcast? A ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review would go a long way!
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method
This will put on my mailing list so you can hear about opportunities to work with me.
Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.
I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer: teaser.feldenkraismovie.com
Follow Me on Instagram: @expandyourability
Had an Aha ? Let me know: [email protected]
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FAQ
How many episodes does Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais have?
Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais currently has 51 episodes available.
What topics does Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais cover?
The podcast is about Learning, Yoga, Health & Fitness, Filmmaking, Movement, Stress, History, Creativity, Pain, Curiosity, Mindset, Play, Wellness, Growth, Documentary, Office, Fitness, Podcasts, Self-Improvement, Technology, Education, Trauma, Health, Habits, Computer, Awareness and Interviews.
What is the most popular episode on Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais?
The episode title 'Respect Your Body Like Your Mind' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais?
The average episode length on Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais is 25 minutes.
How often are episodes of Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais released?
Episodes of Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais?
The first episode of Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais was released on Apr 5, 2023.
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