Expand Your Ability

On today's episode, we are examining the big picture, specifically focusing on awareness and choice, and how both are crucial for leadership.  We inherit our physical bodies and patterns from our families and culture at large, as well as from our direct experiences. Until we become aware of our patterns, they simply appear familiar and normal to us. It is only when we develop awareness and begin t...

Today's episode is for you if you think you can do it alone, if you think you don't support, or you think being supported is a weakness. As my mentor Jesse Koren says, big work requires big support.  By big work, we're talking starting a business, fixing your relationship, and healing from old wounds just to name a few examples. We can't do it alone. This is one of those universal truths but our h...

On today's episode, we're exploring why movement is such a big deal according to Moshe Feldenkrais. We dive into his book, "Awareness Through Movement," and explore the ninth and final reason why movement is at the core of personal growth and self-awareness. (You can find the previous 8 reasons in previous episodes.) The Feldenkrais Method is about becoming aware of your habitual patterns in order...

"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 moveme...

Feldenkrais Practitioner, musician and storyteller David Kaetz says that many of us get disembodied from our voice from a young age. It's common and normal for kids to make sounds as they explore and play, until they get the message that they should be quiet. Is this a message you've internalized? How playful with your voice are you One of my main motivators in exploring Feldenkrais and the bodymi...

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 t...

When do you rest? Do you save rest for the end of the day? What does quality rest look like? Many of us are conditioned to work for hours on end with little rest. Rests are often seen as unproductive or a waste of time. Time is money as the adage goes. We're on the clock. Even if we don't believe these statements to be true ourselves, it's certainly easy to feel where our culture pressures us to d...

We are deeply formed by our experiences and those experiences create the lens in which we view the world. How well do we really know ourselves?  My guest Caroline Ritter talks with me today about how can gather useful and practical knowledge about ourselves. How we can be like scientists studying ourselves.  She emphasizes that we need to be curious and to cultivate a relationship with our selves...

We breathe every every minute. Breath is essential to life. ​ How you breathe, whether through your nose or through your mouth, the volume of air that you take in, the shape of your breath in your body, where you breathe in your body the air goes, the temp and rhythm, reflects you . ​ Your breath reflects how you think, how you feel, what's going on beneath the hood. And how you choose to breathe...

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...

Welcome to the Expand Your Ability podcast! This show is about how we can empower ourselves through movement, curiosity, play and awareness. I've done a lot of continued study in the past year and so I thought I would (re)introduce myself.  If you're new here, welcome! We will get you caught up to speed on what this show is about.  If you've been a long time listener, this episode will tie some th...

Welcome to 2024! 🎉 On this episode, we will be looking at what value you want to cultivate and embody this year through a somatic movement proces. By value, what do I mean? Could be courage, humility, honesty, whatever you choose.  By doing this through a somatic movement process, we access the rich world on sensation and non-verbal thinking with in us. From there we can find new creativity. It i...

This is the last episode of 2023 so let's reflect!   We will look back on the events of this past year, including our relationships, our challenges and what we've learned. We will do this in embodied way, with movement to help us ease into the process and open the doors to insight. That means this episode includes audience participation! Thats right, you!  So please take a listen to this episode w...

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. T...

We go back to the book, Awareness Through Movement, to continue this series on Why Movement? Why did Feldenkrais choose movement to focus his method around? Awareness Through Movement was written in 1972 by Moshe Feldenkrais. The first half of the book is a great introduction his thinking on society, the human being, the nature of habits and compulsion and what we can do about it.   We first explo...

If you have lived with insecurity, it can be challenge to imagine what a good relationship could be like. A good relationship can be so foreign, you might even reject it. It's so important to understand what secure bonds look and feel because that can give us the perspective to turn around what's not working and to strengthen what is working. That's the topic of my conversation with relationship e...

Do you use read blogs, stay up with the news , youtube podcasts ? (I know you listen to at least one podcast and thank you for being here 😄)  I know you're learning something valuable, right? Yes, you're 'learning' and is there a little compulsion in there too? I In the previous episode,  I discussed the importance of sharing what you learn with others. Doing so is a creative act and helps deepen...

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 focu...

You can hear the gym teacher yelling: Feel the stretch! Feel the burn! Work it! work it! Strain, working hard, efforting, stretching... that's all necessary to make gains, right? Right? Ok, really, how much strain is necessary for improvement? Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to tell you to not use your muscles and your power and develop strength (you're free to do as you choose, of course!)  Wha...

Your Insecurity is predictable. Insecure thinking isn't unique to you and so I think you should question it. On this episode, we explore how insecurity plays out in our thinking. Have you had these thoughts? They are so amazing. Why would they want to be with me anyway? I'll be better off on my own. Ugh, they are so needy! It's pathetic. I've ruined everything. If you said yes to any of the above,...

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 intere...

In the previous episode I talked about how our time in school has a lasting impact on our experience. For many It shapes us to do well, that we must get good grades and to avoid punishment due to mistakes and errors. Many learn that they must put in excess effort and to make it perfect, and to focus what we make on other people's standards, On this episode I'll share some advice I received about r...

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 avoi...

In this episode we discuss  a topic I love: how the Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons can influence your dream life. It's one of my favorite aspects of the Feldenkrais Method but barely anyone talks about it. It's really cool.  I don't remember my dreams often but some nights they come through more vividly and I can recall them when I wake up. I can tell that what I am learning and ex...

In this episode I answer your questions.  The three questions are: Are there Feldenkrais lessons that isolate the mind and body from each other? After cowering as a child, how can I stand up straight and be a warrior? During Feldenkrais lessons, I feel like I could cry. Why does this happen? There is something useful for everyone in this Q+A.  Get Your Questions Answered! Submit your questions ! I...