A Biological Basis of Living in the Unknown… (TONIGHT)

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This blog post went out a little late and many of you missed the free webinar. I am really sorry about that. The fault was mine. Next time, I will do a better job. And by the way – do not forget that there is still great new content on RyanNagy.com. Forgive me for doing so, but I have started a new series called, “Things Feldenkrais was Wrong About. I started rather tamely with something that matters to me as a student of Milton Erickson’s work: http://www.ryannagy.com/2014/things-feldenkrais-was-wrong-about-part-1/

As a Feldenkrais practitioner, student or fan you have heard – I hope – about Moshe’s desire to have his students learn to live in the unknown. As he wrote quite simply in The Elusive Obvious,

“…learning to us is learning to grasp the unknown”

Living in the unknown is very often about learning to take intelligent risks on our own behalf, and managing the anxiety of risk taking and it’s consequences. As those of you with children already know, their is a group of people KNOWN for their risk taking: Teenagers. Tonight, one of my friends and colleagues, Dr. Ruth Buczynski will be interviewing Dan Siegel, MD about risk-taking in general and teenagers in specific. I think you will find this to be quite an illuminating discussion for your life and practice.

The webinar is free if you enroll now. Or if you would like to have a 6-webinars from this series on “Brain Science” you can get all of the webinars in the series, including video downloads, audio downloads, and transcripts by signing up for a Gold Membership.

cheers!

Ryan Nagy
writing from The Italian Coffee Company
Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico.

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Feldenkrias Died Without Knowing….

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I have been in the process of reviewing some of the written transcripts from Dr. Feldenkrais’s various trainings and articles for a new project that I am pulling together. I have to admit, there are so many gems in Feldenkrais’ talks that it gets a little overwhelming at times.

One idea that he tries to convey in so many ways is the importance of variability of experience in learning new responses. For example,

“..another important feature of the group work is the continued novelty of situation that is maintained throughout the course. Once the novelty wears off, awareness is dulled and no learning takes place.” Mind and Body (1964) Moshe Feldenkrais.

As I wrote over on RyanNagy.com what Feldenkrais wrote is “obvious” to us now. But when he wrote it in 1964, is sure as hell was not.

“…when Moshe died in 1984, there was little, perhaps no, published research that showed that the brain of an adult could change. In fact, when I first returned to college in the mid 1990′s most scientists STILL believed the mature brain could not grow new brain cells nor regenerate connections and damaged functions. Incredible, isn’t it? They believed that the brain had to remain relatively fixed or stable in order to maintain long-term memories and skills. It is an vastly different world that we live in today. We can now have conversations about neurogenesis and brain change without seeming like lunatics.”

We, as practitioners already knew that the brain and nervous system can and do change through specific novel experiences. We knew as Feldenkrais practitioners and as people and now society and the scientific community is learning.

The larger question for me is how to keep up on what is known and has been published and how to use it to promote Feldenkrais for the betterment of society and ourselves. Tonight and perhaps tommorrow morning as well, I will be watching a free 60-minute webinar by Dr. Rick Hanson. Two parts of his talk have caught my eye:

The Importance of Novelty for Neuroplasticity: Why New Experiences Have Such a Transformative Effect on the Brain

The 5 Factors that Help Learning Take Hold and How They Promote Neuroplasticity

I think there will be some nuggets in this talk that will make me a better person and practitioner. If you are interested you can sign-up to get the webinar for free or pay to get downloadable copies as video, audio and written transcripts. Find and click the grey box that reads “Free Of Charge.” :D r. Steve Hanson with NICABM.

cheers!

Ryan

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Feldenkrais Amherst Training: The Original Flyer

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Click to Download or View Larger Size

Click to Download or View Larger Size

I thought this was kind of cool. A scan of one of the original flyers from the Feldenkrais training at Amherst. Originally posted by Elinor Silverstein on Facebook. You can click the image above to open in another window and then download. Full text of the flyer and a little commentary is available on my main website: The Amherst Training Flyer.

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Hey, are you still there?

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Hi! Still reading this blog from time to time? I am not updating here very often, but I am blogging about the Feldenkrais Method and other topics over at http://www.ryannagy.com/feldenkrais/ Feel free to come check it out if you want to be entertained, offended and perhaps read some breaking news about the Feldenkrais Method, some online conferences and new products. The world of internet and search marketing is continualy changing and I will also be doing occaisional updates on it from time-to-time: Click to get email updates from RyanNagy.com.

P.S. If you came to this post via an email that I sent you, you can unsubscribe from the current blog by click on the email that I sent you to get here. (I hope that made sense!).

What did you miss?

Feldenkrais Trainers Pick A New Guild Director. Recently updated.

Getting The Method (Your Method) Into The World. Some free and paid training for helping you to write a book about the Feldenkrais Method and related topics.

Constructivism and The Certainty of Uncertainty. Much as one must be aware of one’s unique movement habits to be an effective Feldenkrais practitioner, one must be aware of own’s idiosyncratic beliefs and values to be an effective agent of change.

Feldenkrais and The Female Brain. I was thinking about some of the amazing women pioneers we have in the Feldenkrais community.

Feldenkrais and Somatic Psychologies: Answer A Quick Question? I do not think this project will get off the ground, though it is, I believe, an important topic. The Feldenkrais community is so small, that doing a “sub topic” of something only interested in by a few can make it financially unviable.

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Feldenkrais and Somatic “Psychologies” (Quick Question!)

As you may already know, I am doing most of my Feldenkrais blogging on RyanNagy.com. The main reason is that I have been living in Mexico for three years and “Utah Feldenkrais” is no longer a label that fits me.

I though you might like to know that I may have a webinar series coming up regarding integrating the various “Body Psychotherapies” into a Feldenkrais practice. Many practitioners are already doing so and many are training with Peter Levine of “Somatic Experiencing” fame. For more information, see the blog post: Feldenkrais And Somatic Psychologies, or simply watch the YouTube video. Would like to have your questions on the topic.

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Getting Beyond the Typical Feldenkrais “Excuses”

You may have noticed that I do not write much on this blog anymore. You may even be relieved! Or as one anonymous Feldenkrais practitioner succinctly put it, “Hey asshole, did you finally get a life of your own?” The answer is of course, “Yes.” Though I do hope at some point David Bersin and Paul Rubin will consider writing me without the benefit of anonymity. Even my mother has stopped resorting to those tactics!

I am writing you today because my friend Amanda sent me an email asking me if I would help her promote something that is related to the Feldenkrais Method: mindfulness. In particular what to do when people say that a particular mindfulness strategy causes them anxiety or they simply refuse to engage in a particular meditation. Perhaps as a Feldenkrais practitioner or fan, you may have had a similar issue? That is, how do you get yourself “on the floor” to do Feldenkrais when you do not want to? Or how do you continue to do Feldenkrais if it brings you into areas of life that frighten you or that bring anxiety. And what about your clients? Put another way, when are the “signals” that scare us actually a starting point for deeper self-exploration, embodiedment and growth? I am wondering if the free video might spark a conversation on the topic. Would love the read any comments that you care to leave below after you have watched the video.

To get the link to video, you will have to enter your email. And later there will be a paid program of some sort. Though that is optional. Click to get the video.

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Last Call: Peter Levine, Pat Ogden and Stephen Porges

Hi all – I am the process of reading the transcripts and listening to the audio versions from NICABM’s Trauma and Body series. I am also responding to comments from Feldenkrais practitioners who attended and sent me emails and responses on Facebook and such. I really appreciate it when people do that. If you attended any sessions from this particular event and have anything to add, please put a comment below? I am also curious about your experiences with Somatic Experiencing and Body Based Therapy in general.

I did my best to annoy the hell out of you with blog posts, emails and Facebook spam so that you could attend the events for free. But if you missed any of them, or want the downloads there is still time to buy. The cost of the paid version is set to rise dramatically on Monday, May 13 so if you want to get all the videos, audio, transcripts and bonuses, enroll now.

Rob Cohen, a student from the Amherst training who also did a training with Anat Baniel wrote:

“Ryan, I enjoyed Pat Ogden’s talk and am sorry that I missed van der Kolk and Porges. Last weekend I went to an introduction to Peter Levine’s work and found it very interesting. I discovered long ago that touching, no matter how masterful, was not enough to relieve many people’s difficulties because the emotionality and physiology of the problem would come back after the lesson if they were not addressed directly. I’m now getting both confirmation of what I had realized and ways of going past that which I had created on my own in working with students. Thanks for the link!”

The list of Feldenkrais practitioners who use and are interested in these various trauma treatments is growing and includes, Irene Lyon (formerly Irene Gutteridge), Brad Beldner and many others. Here is the link to purchase the series before the price increase: http://www.nicabm.com/php/redirects/?id=322

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Body Sensation and Movement “Primary” In Trauma Recovery? (Free Webinar)

Dr. Pat Ogden. "Trauma and The Body"

Dr. Pat Ogden. “Trauma and The Body”

Update, Thursday, May 9th: The free series is done. However all the sessions are available as video and audio with transcripts for a small price. But the price is going up on May 13th, so enroll now if you want the content. These webinars helped me understand why some people get more benefit from Feldenkrais sessions and some people (such as myself) get LESS benefit. Many of us have trauma symptoms, dissociation and neurological “blocks” that limit what we can gain from the Feldenkrais Method. These webinars with Peter Levine, Pat Ogden and Stephen Porges have given me tools for dealing with these traumatic after effects, “healing” them and helping a person stay in the present moment and in the lesson.

If you are interested you can purchase all the downloads and transcripts for one price: http://www.nicabm.com/php/redirects/?id=322

Leave a comment if you have questions. Cheers! – Ryan

Update: The webinar is starting in just a few hours, today, Weds, March 8. It will be broadcast at two times: 5pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) and 6:30pm EDT. But you must register to attend free: Register for Pat Ogden Webinar on Trauma.

***If you missed the webinar or would like to download it or have trancscripts, there is also a paid option on the same page. cheers! Ryan

….I am in the midst of preparing myself for an online webinar that is coming up very soon on Trauma and The Body. The next speaker is Pat Ogden, PhD who is not only a psychologist but has also studied Hakomi and the Alexander Technique. She also makes a point to mention Feldenkrais in her various books and papers. I do not always share the details of these webinars. I only share the ones that I have a deep interest in or that I think other Feldenkrais practitioners will enjoy. This one looks to be great for Feldenkrais people.

The Ogden webinar, part of a larger series on trauma, is interesting as her language and strategies, to me, are very “Feldenkrais friendly” and often mirror the experiential, process-based, and action-based means of the work of Moshe Feldenkrais. For example, this quotation that I took from one of her research papers:

“The role of the therapist is to facilitate self-awareness and self-regulation, rather than to witness and interpret the trauma. [It] involves working with sensations and action tendencies in order to discover new ways of orienting and moving through the world.”

Does that evoke familiar ideas for you? She focuses not on judgement and “insight” but getting people to take action in the world. And later in the same article:

“In the act of noticing their bodily experience, innate somatic regulatory capacities, or “resources,” become spontaneously available or can be evoked by the therapist: resources such as taking a breath, adjusting the spine, making a movement, orienting, perceptually and physically to the environment.”

Pretty cool! There is much more that I could say about this webinar, but I am relatively new to Dr. Ogden’s work and should perhaps leave it to her to describe what she does. The webinar is free if you register ahead of time and attend “live.” You can also pay if you would rather download the video (and audio version) and get transcripts and such. I wonder a great deal how many people come to the Feldenkrais Method (consciously or otherwise) because they are dealing with unresolved trauma. And I wonder yet again, if the Method can give them relief. I think the answer for many is “no.” There are some specific strategies and ideas missing in the Method. Strategies and ideas which, though similar, are different in their implementation and use. This is a topic I will return to in a later blog post on RyanNagy.com. In the meantime, to hear Dr. Ogden’s talk please click the link below and find the line and grey box on the page that reads: Register here for the Wednesday broadcasts only. Free of Charge. Feel free to forward this blog post or post on social media if you know of others who will benefit. I do get an affiliate fee for each paid registration.

cheers!

Ryan

I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar errors. I did this quickly Sunday morning, before taking the rest of the day off.

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Feldenkrais in Nicaragua, Feldenkrais for the Eyes and a MOVE….


I am nearly done blogging here on UtahFeldenkrais.org. I am slowly but surely moving my writing to the blog on RyanNagy.com. I have to say that it is a rather embodying experience to bring all my various interests under “one roof.” For years, RyanNagy.com was primarily a blog about search engine optimization and search marketing. The website was a tool that I used successfully to build a practice in that field. I had several clients who were start-ups and also several who were larger, multi-million dollar businesses. Fun stuff for a while. But I got bored. I now only work on my own projects and of those with whom I collaborate. And I no longer live in Utah! So, time to leave “utah feldenkrais” and bring it all home to Ryan Nagy.

I still have a few more posts here on UtahFeldenkrais.org and I have much work to do on the other site before it is completely ready.

But, if you are interested, there are several blog post regarding a Feldenkrais Volunteer Opportunity in Nicaragua, a new Feldenkrais mp3 series for the eyes that I am working on. And more.

Join me over there if you choose. When I finally stop blogging here, I will send you a notification. And for those of you who only want to read about certain topics (such as Feldenkrais) and not others (Marketing, Technoology, Hypnosis etc), I will have the option of deciding which types of notifications you receive.

cheers! – Ryan

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