Bones for Life® ‘Basic Principles’

An intriguing composite image by Elizabeth Keith
‘What Texting does to your spine’ from Elizabeth Keith

Ten Bones for Life® Basic Principles
~ Welcoming you to ponder, practice, and post your notes!

BFL Principle #1: Explorations of options: The system chooses what is right for the situation present (Organic Kinaesthetic Learning)

BFL Principle #2: Multi-Angle Pressure

BFL Principle #3: Learning through Passivity

BFL Principle #4: Use of Polarized Movement

BFL Principle #5: Awareness of the Posterior

BFL Principle #6: Proportional Flexibility
~ Sense when you move with a flexibility that is proportional throughout your whole body and being … perhaps it brings you a feeling of being sturdy, delicately gentle while being strong … turning a little this way and that way from your very center.

BFL Principle #7: Use of surface contact

BFL Principle #8: Cultivating the memory of the pathway of pressure

BFL Principle #8: Accumulating consensus

BFL Principle #10: Deprogramming the compulsive addiction through selective inhibition

The list of BFL Principles, immediately useful and inspiring, is now ordered numerically to enhance the flow of reflections and teaching strategies which we will explore during the coming weeks and months.

*CREDIT:  The original list of principles was provided by Carol Montgomery during the Bones for Life® 3 training she taught in Phoenix AZ 2011 as a part of the Integrated Learning Center of Mid America’s (ILCMA )BFL training program.

Adaptive responses

Adaptive responses can become gateways to learning. Sometimes these responses appear extreme and the key may be to simply listen. 
The medical community may become more and more aware of new ways to view ‘Obsessive Compulsive Disorder’ (OCD) in light of the work of Stephen Porges. Jan Winhall, following Porges’s work, developed “A Felt Sense Polyvagal Model of Addiction”.  An excellent article is at https://somaticpsychotherapytoday.com/addiction-from-the-bottom-up-a-felt-sense-polyvagal-model-of-addiction/. Winhall will be joining Porges in a teaching a programme. 
OCD may sometimes be an ADAPTIVE response: a tendency to ‘fight/flight’ or ‘freeze’ in the face of a challenge perceived or real, followed by haphazard and repetitive action in efforts to resolve the challenge. The challenge may be perceived as threatening, even life-threatening.  Therefore the SURVIVAL aspect calls for a special understanding of the collaborative student/teacher situation. 
The habitual nature of the ‘OCD’ pattern lends itself to compassionate listening during a Feldenkrais lesson or a Sounder Sleep System® class.  A historical source for healing the ‘OCD’ pattern could be seen as “the fittest may also be the gentlest because survival often requires mutual help and cooperation’ (Dobzhansky, 1962).  (notes/quotes at https://thinkinginmovement.ca/porges-dobzhansky/)
During my Feldenkrais® lessons and Sounder Sleep System® classes I often refer to Jan Winhall’s charts Felt Sense Polyvagal Model of Emotional Regulation: FSPM_Clinician-Model-ER Jan Winhall ©2019 PDF  / FSPM_Client Model ER Jan Winhall ©2019 PDF
Paris Kern has been teaching the Sounder Sleep System® for a worldwide teacher training this week.  She continues to create skilled variations beautifully modulating, slowing, and softening those hyperactive responses while appropriately engaging the creative spark of sympathetic liveliness.  Sounder Sleep System cultivates hypo-metabolic states to foster ease and rest at appropriate intervals – a juxtaposition of ‘fine motor movements’ with ‘gross motor movements’  can restore a balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic states of the nervous system. 
Also noting an excellent “Webinar for Feldenkrais Practitioners The Biology of Fight/Flight and Freeze and how we as Feldenkrais® Practitioners can work with that” Prepared by Violet van Hees, Feldenkrais ® Practitioner; TTouch® Equine Practitioner 1; Somatic Practice (Kathy Kain’s program)  (www.violetvanhees.com)
Additional resources for Poly Vagal perspectives:  https://thinkinginmovement.ca/polyvagal/.

Soul Force : Awakening the Spirit ~ Feb 27, 2021 at CoronaPlaza.Life (4th Saturdays Feb-May)

Dear Friends,
 
Melinda Darer spoke today about a series on the 4th Saturdays of each month Feb-May at CoronaPlaza.Life: 
 
Soul Force: Awakening the Spirit INTRODUCTION:
first of four sessions exploring Public Health, the Environment, and Education from a lens of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion February 27, 2021, @ Noon EST
Here is the link to register, and here is an informal link to show the time in your timezone.

Notes from CoronaPlaza.Life:

“Soul Force Education, an initiative of Focusing Initiatives International, is excited to offer a four-session series, on the last Saturday of every month, exploring Public Health, the Environment, and Education from a lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This first session will serve as an introduction.

Rev. Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr., adopting Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha (“force for truth”), wrote ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force.”  Soul Force is a term rooted in civil non-violence, and active resistance against oppression and suffering; it is the internal strength within us and the courageous practice of resiliency and love which emanates from the center of our spirit.

Each session will be moderated by Jonathan Stoll, Soul Force Education co-founder, and will feature two panelists bringing a social justice lens to their work in Education, Public Health and the Environment, along with Jason Dorsette, Soul Force Education co-founder.

The other three sessions will be on March 27th, April 24th, and May 29th.  Details will be posted as they are available; please check back at CoronaPlaza.LIFE.”

“Jason is a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Education Language, Educational Policy, and Equity program at Oregon State University. His research interest includes issues of access and equity in the context of higher education informed by race, gender, and the interconnectedness of other social identities. Jason serves as director of advancing academic equity initiatives, within the Educational Opportunities Program at Oregon State University. For over a decade, Jason has facilitated training and professional development opportunities aimed at increasing individual and collective knowledge and understanding around topics of diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender identity with a specific focus on masculinity. Jason has served in leadership capacities regionally, nationally, and internationally in a number of higher education professional associations, and has contributed to book chapters and articles related to diversity education. Civically, Jason serves as the Vice President of the NAACP Corvallis-Albany branch, Board member for the City of Corvallis Imagine Corvallis Action Network (ICAN), Advisory Board member of the African American Youth Leadership Conference, and is on the executive leadership team of the Western Region of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.”
 
 
Gentle sturdy steps,
Katarina  
 
Katarina Halm, M.A.
Thinking in Movement 
Focusing CFT * Feldenkrais®  GCFP
A Sounder World with Sounder Sleep System®
Movement Intelligence Trainer
https://thinkinginmovement.ca/moments/
1-604-263-9123 
Vancouver BC, Canada & Online

Honouring Christel and Siegfried Kraft ~ Corona Plaza Life ~ Thurs Feb 4 & Fri Feb 5, 2021

Honouring Christel and Siegfried Kraft
~ Corona Plaza Life ~
Thurs Feb 4 & Fri Feb 5, 2021
Notes with love and appreciation from Katarina Halm
Christel and Siegfried Kraft passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 21, 2021, at their home in Manitoba Canada.
With deep sadness and gratitude. Please email if you have pictures of Christel to contribute to our Memorial.

Christel and Siegfried will be central to my offering:
Corona Plaza Life: Focusing ~ Feldenkrais® ~ Dancing Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 

Then the next day Bruce Nayowith will host a formal gathering to honour Christel:
Corona Plaza Life: Memorial for Christel Kraft Friday, Feb 5, 2021

A fifteen-year Focusing friendship and collaboration
Christel and  I shared dancing and Focusing ever since Christel invited Ann Weiser Cornell to teach Treasure Maps to the Soul Retreat * in the Prarie town of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in October 2007.  We danced for Ann’s birthday and went on to create projects for those who were training with us to become Focusing teachers.

 

Conversations with Christel
In 2015 Christel Kraft discussed a connection between the current day Psychical exploration and Focusing.  Christel: “a deeper exploration of Focusing and Meditation brings much beauty that I experience in my own life.  Previously Focusing was a beginning of some inner resonating, and that is in the process of expanding now. It is a kind of ongoingness of something already familiar from years ago.  Now this is expressively opening in an expansive way towards a development of our human being-ness.”
Psychical research is concerned with a capacity that some human beings have developed and that all humans are capable of. Focusing, likewise, holds an implying of next steps. Christel Kraft notes :“Focusing is an organic kind of opening, exploring, expanding. As we are saying the words they are already expanding into something new. It is constant movement, a mulit-dimensional field of movement.“

REFERENCE 
* Treasure Maps to the Soul
https://focusingresources.com/treasure-maps-to-the-soul/

“It is easier to tell differences when the effort is light” ~ Nov & Dec 2020 Feldenkrais® at  Corona Plaza Life

We develop Feldenkrais® lessons for each person who arrives in our class. We practice just a little, then give time for resting with the changes to absorb and integrate the learning.

Our theme for the months of November and December 2020 :
“It is easier to tell differences when the effort is light”

Quoting Moshé Feldenkrais: “6. It is easier to tell differences when the effort is light All our senses are so built that we can distinguish minute differences when our senses are only slightly stimulated. If I were to carry a heavy load (say a refrigerator) on my back, I could not tell if a box of matches were added to the load, nor would I become aware of it being removed. What is, in fact, the weight that must be added or removed to make one aware that some change of effort has occurred? For muscular efforts or our kinaesthetic sense, that weight is about one-fortieth (1/40) of the basic effort for very good nervous systems. On carrying 400 pounds, we can tell at once when 10 pounds are added or removed from the load. On carrying 40 pounds, we can tell a change of one pound. And everybody can tell with closed eyes when a fly alights on a thin match-like piece of wood or straw, or when it takes to the air again. In short, the smaller the exertion, the finer the increment or decrement that we can distinguish and, also, the finer our differentiation (that is, the mobilization of our muscles in consequence of our sensations). The lighter the effort we make, the faster is our learning of any skill; and the level of perfection we can attain goes hand in hand with the finesse we obtain. We stop improving when we sense no difference in the effort made or in the movement.”
–– Learn to Learn by Moshe Feldenkrais (numbering by KH)

LESSONS:
We may begin the lesson with circular movements, such as heart circles, and sensing our balance.  Each person becomes aware of how she/he settles, the movement emerges for each individual and also for the group.  As the lesson continues we discover more room for comfort, find interesting variations, and sometimes a pattern develops. Sunday and Wednesday weekly the lessons are in English, Tuesdays weekly in Spanish,  First Thursdays of each month the lessons are primarily given through gesture. Everyone is welcome. A pre-requisite waiver is required (either in writing or spoken with an affirmative response in the Zoom chat when we meet). We adapt the lesson to include each participant’s level of interest and ability.

STUDENTS NOTE:

“I find the minimal movements during the lessons evoke meaningful learning. I am more aware of that moment when my system is clear and open. I experience an instantaneous felt-sense of curiosity. I can breathe more freely and see that situations are progressing, so I find a more positive view of life. I am more and more aware of my learning as I continue the lessons with Katarina and Thinking in Movement teachers at Corona Plaza Life. I am supported in translating the lessons into a rhythm for myself. Thus I find ways to be conscientious – I find the best place for my energy and endeavors to land each day, each week, and for each project.”
–– Alfo Humano, Focusing trainer, Cordoba, Argentina www.alfohumano.com.ar

“These Feldenkrais classes have really helped me get in touch with my body, learn what it needs, how to calm my nervous system, and to ignite my innate energy. Thank you so much for all the presence, attention, and teaching you have done. I really appreciate it.”
–– Laurie Brill, New Mexico

CLASS TIMES
Awareness through movement®
Sundays 7:00 am Pacific *45 min Weekly continuing into 2021.
Mondays 11:00 am Pacific *45 min Weekly continuing into 2021.
Tuesdays 7:00 am Pacific *45 min Weekly Lessons in Spanish continuing into 2021.
Wednesdays 11:00 am Pacific *45 min Weekly only through December 30 2020 ~ then we plan an earlier hour for this class …
Focusing through gestures:
1st Thursdays 7 am Pacific *45 min Monthly continuing into 2021.

 

REGISTER
https://thinkinginmovement.ca/calendar/
and
https://coronaplaza.life/webinars/  

 

CONTACT 

MORE ABOUT THE LESSONS
Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® 

 

………………………………………………………………….
Es más fácil notar las diferencias cuando el esfuerzo es ligero

~ Nov & Dec 2020 Feldenkrais® at CoronaPlaza.Life​

Desarrollamos lecciones Feldenkrais® para cada persona que llega a nuestra clase. Practicamos solo un poco, luego damos tiempo para descansar para absorber los cambios e integrar el aprendizaje.

“Es más fácil notar las diferencias cuando el esfuerzo es ligero.Todos nuestros sentidos están construidos de tal manera que podemos distinguir diferencias mínimas cuando nuestros sentidos solo se estimulan ligeramente. Si tuviera que llevar una carga pesada (digamos un refrigerador) en mi espalda, no sabría si una caja de fósforos fue agregada a la carga, ni me percataría de que la quitaron. ¿Cuál es, de hecho, el peso que se debe agregar o quitar para que uno se dé cuenta de que algún cambio de esfuerzo ha ocurrido? Para los esfuerzos musculares o nuestro sentido cinestésico, ese peso es aproximadamente una cuadragésima parte (1/40) del esfuerzo básico para un sistema nervioso muy bueno. Al transportar 400 libras, podemos saber inmediatamente cuándo se agregan o quitan 10 libras de la carga. Al cargar 40 libras, podemos notar un cambio de una libra. Y todo el mundo puede saber con los ojos cerrados cuando una mosca se posa sobre un una cerilla o pajita, o cuando vuelve a volar.En definitiva, cuanto menor es el esfuerzo, más fino es el incremento o decremento que podemos distinguir y, además, más fina nuestra diferenciación (es decir, la movilización de nuestros músculos como consecuencia de nuestras sensaciones). Cuanto menor sea el esfuerzo que hagamos, más rápido será nuestro aprendizaje de cualquier habilidad; y el nivel de perfección que podemos alcanzar va de la mano con la finura que obtenemos. Dejamos de mejorar cuando no sentimos diferencia en el esfuerzo realizado o en el movimiento.”
––  Aprende a aprender de Moshé Feldenkrais  translation by Alfo Humano, Focusing trainer, Cordoba, Argentina www.alfohumano.com.ar

LECCIONES:
Podemos comenzar la lección con movimientos circulares, círculos del corazón, sintiendo nuestro equilibrio. Cada persona toma conciencia de cómo sienta esto a su cuerpo, surge una variación del movimiento para cada individuo y para el grupo. A medida que continúa la lección, descubrimos más espacio para la comodidad, encontramos variaciones interesantes y se desarrolla un patrón.

NOTAS DE ESTUDIANTES:
“Encuentro que los movimientos mínimos durante las lecciones me provocan un aprendizaje significativo. Soy más consciente de ese momento en el que mi sistema nervioso se despeja y se abre. Experimento una sensación instantánea de curiosidad. Puedo respirar más libremente y ver cómo las situaciones progresan, por lo que encuentro una visión más positiva de la vida.” — Alfo Humano, Argentina.

“Estas clases de Feldenkrais realmente me han ayudado a ponerme en contacto con mi cuerpo, aprender lo que necesita, cómo calmar mi sistema nervioso y encender mi energía innata. Muchas gracias por toda la presencia, atención y enseñanza. Realmente lo aprecio.” — Laurie Brill, Nuevo México, EEUU.


HORARIO DE CLASES
Lunes 11:00 am Pacífico * 45 min Semanal
Martes 7 am Pacífico * Lecciones semanales de 45 min en español
Miércoles 11:00 am Pacífico * 45 min Semanal
Domingos 7 am Pacífico * 45 min Semanal


EN ESPAÑOL:
Los martes a las 12 hs Argentina/16 hs España la lección será en español. Al registrarse pueden colaborar con un aporte o simplemente participar. 

CONTACTO
https://thinkinginmovement.ca/contact/


MÁS SOBRE LAS LECCIONES
Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement®

Gracias,

Y gracias por compartir!

Thinking in Movement!