#24 THE POWER OF PAUSE

A set of instruction as to how we should hold ourselves upright has become a cultural imperative. And it’s not doing us much good. In this episode we’re taking a critical look at what a “good posture” means, what it doesn’t mean, and what we can do to get closer to it.Michael’s YouTube channel has quite a few videos with an alternative approach to improve our posture, and more importantly, the way we use our bodies to move around and get things done. Go to Michael’s YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/@persistent-growth

Science is catching up with what Moshe Feldenkrais claimed 75 years ago. Neuroplasticity has become an established fact: Our brain can change and grow at any age. What changes it can be summed up with one word: Learning.In this episode Christine and I discuss different ways in which we can make this happen: How we can keep our brain young and active by turning on the learning mode.These are the books we mention in the episode (the links go to Amazon.com, but you can easily find them elsewhere if you prefer):- Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards - The Brain that Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge- The Brain’s Way of Healing, by Norman Doidge (this book has two chapters on Moshe Feldenkrais and the Feldenkrais Method®)- Atomic Habits, by James ClearCheck out Michael’s daily three-minute Mindful Movement practice: https://www.persistent-growth.com/Follow Christine: https://motionexploration.com/

Today’s guest, Candia Raquel, is a Mexican sensualist, scientist, artist and woman. She is the host of The Sensual Sessions Podcast; she enjoys contemplating trees and drinking tea. Candia is dedicated to helping workaholics overcome inhibition and embody sensuality through somatic movement. Candia invites us to reconnect with the sensual experience of pleasure through the three P’s: Posture, Presence and Pleasure. We could all use this reminder to rediscover the joy in everyday experience. Candia Raquel’s web page: https://www.candiaraquel.com/ Candia Raquel’s Instagram: @candiaraquel These days the doors are open to her wonderful course, Pelvic Floor Awakening. To learn more and sign up, click https://www.candiaraquel.com/a/2148017211/dpXKXdE6

Pain is a message. It signals that we must change something. Our work with mindful movement and the Feldenkrais Method ® offers us some unique and effective ways to respond to this message. My conversation with my co-host, Christine Germain (who had more than her fair share of pain) sheds some light on the ways we can move out of pain by creating a learning space, changing habitual patterns and finding more efficient and potent ways to be in the world. Check out Michael’s daily three-minute Mindful Movement practice: https://www.persistent-growth.com/ Follow Christine:  https://motionexploration.com/

In this episode we talk about Feldenkrais®, and especially how the method helps to create an inclusive environment in Frederick’s upcoming grand event: The Feldenkrais® Festival. The festival is the epitome of Frederick’s broader social and cultural world view. It makes a point of including and welcoming all sexual preferences, genders, races and other distinctions that too often create separation and distance. A native of Harlem with roots in the Caribbean, Frederick Schjang is a nationally recognized fitness educator and innovator who specializes in the Feldenkrais® Method, Pilates, and Flexibility Training. His semi-annual LGBTQA Feldenkrais Festival has become a must-attend event for fitness and wellness enthusiasts and, since moving to Zoom in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, attracts thousands globally.   His current projects include his own online Feldenkrais Method membership program that features classes and workshops taught by top Feldenkrais Method® teachers around the world. The next Feldenkrais® Festival is around the corner (November 11-17, 2024). You’re just in time to sign in and join us: https://www.feldenkraisfestivals.com/ And you can follow Frederick’s activities on his home page: http://www.frederickschjang.com/

Today’s episode is the first long-form conversation in this podcast. I’m welcoming a very special guest, my dear friend and colleague Christine Germain. She shares with us her own journey of healing with the Feldenkrais method, her trials and tribulations as a dancer and choreographer, overcoming pain and injury, and how all this shaped her thinking and her ways of working with her clients and students today. Christine is a movement explorer, choreographer, Pilates instructor and Feldenkrais practitioner. Follow Christine: Instagram: @motionexploration Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MotionExploration Home Page: https://www.facebook.com/MotionExploration

You deserve a pause. It’s not just that you can take a rest after working hard. You don’t just pause to rest. You pause to learn. Taking frequent pauses enhances learning. The pauses are where you integrate what you’ve been learning. Your brain doesn’t pause. We have been trained to push through, make more effort and never stop. On top of being very unkind to ourselves, it is not an efficient way to move forward. Treat yourself kindly. Take a pause. 

Why is it so hard to stick with a habit even when we really want it in our lives? Why is it so hard to get rid of a habit even if we know it’s bad for us? Our habits are grooved into our brain. It takes time to create one, and once it’s created, it is quite resistant to change. It helps to know what makes a habit tick, how it works and what it is made of.  This episode goes into the 3 main components of every habit and how you can tweak them to become the master of your habits. Liked this episode? Please comment, evaluate and follow on your favorite podcast platform. Help us spread the word!

“Flow is technically defined as an optimal state of consciousness where we perform our best and feel our best” Steven Kotler The Flow state has been researched quite a bit in the last few decades. You can actually see it in a brain scan. How does this relate to the exploration of movement?  Sometimes, when engaging in Mindful Movement, we can find ourselves in a state of Flow. We are completely absorbed by the present moment, we are focused and calm. The mental noise disappears. We are one with the movement and the sensations it evokes. 

How do we learn? We’ve been tamed into a certain way of learning: There’s an authority that knows the right answers and knows what we should be learning at any moment. We follow and obey. This is not how we learned as babies, when we went through the hugest learning process we’ll ever experience. It was a completely different learning process. In this episode we’re looking into that forgotten way of learning through exploration.