Emma Alter Feldenkrais

How balanced are you? | Blog

One of my one-to-one clients, a musician and martial artist, told me recently he thought Feldenkrais was the “key” to many different activities and that its real benefit was in teaching you adaptability.

Feldenkrais himself said that health was the ability to move in any direction without preparation or hesitation. He meant this both physically and mentally. The Method is itself highly adaptable. It can mould itself around many different goals because it uses the basic building blocks of organic learning: moving, sensing and adjusting in response to new information.

Learning means sensing differences
How much sophistication this requires depends on what you’re doing. In a highly refined activity such as playing the violin, the differences between one way of doing something and another may be very subtle. Feeling, seeing, hearing or knowing those differences is how we learn anything, whether it’s a new language, an instrument or another pursuit.

Stand for a moment. Feel the weight on your feet.

Now step quickly to the left. Can you? Or do you need to shift your weight first? What about stepping backwards, or in another direction?

It seems very basic, but many of us need to prepare before we can move. We have to shift our weight or make some other adjustment first. When we’re better balanced, more directions are immediately available to us.

Balance is the ability to adjust, recover and reorganise.
It isn’t only the ability to remain upright, but to find the sweet spot between mobility and stability. Too much of either makes it harder to respond easily.

We can all learn to move with greater adaptability. And, as with any skill, that takes time and regular practice. A Feldenkrais practice, whether an hour-long class each week or shorter lessons more often, gradually gives us more opportunities to notice, adjust and find other possibilities.

If you would like to explore what Feldenkrais can bring to your experience, visit me at www.themovingbrain.com to learn about the lessons, classes and courses that I offer.

Do you leave part of yourself backstage? | Musicians' Blog

I recently taught a workshop for young musicians and saw something fascinating.

At the end of the session I asked them to walk onto the stage again. It was amazing, just after teaching them a few choice short lessons, they told me they felt more confident. And I could see a big change in their stature. I could suddenly see each musician’s personality. They weren’t hiding what they thought we shouldn’t see anymore, and so we could see them. In all their individual glory.

How many of you leave part of yourselves backstage in every performance?

Stage Presence starts with your self image

There’s a beautiful Jewish proverb that when you marry someone, you accept the 70 Faces of your Beloved. Not all of them are beautiful, or kind. Some are the faces we don’t want to show anyone, but hide away. But when we love someone else we accept as many of those faces as we can. Most of us are not so good at doing that for ourselves.

I’ve often heard that stage presence is something we add, an act, an aggrandisement of ourselves. But more and more, I think great stage presence is what happens when we stop hiding parts of ourselves, accept ourselves in our imperfection and take our whole self onstage.

Anxiety, or fear of judgement makes us smaller, more timid. We become self limiting, over careful or self conscious. So it’s fascinating to me that a few short Feldenkrais lessons can shift this. We don’t need to be perfect, but take our whole selves with us on or off stage.

That’s real presence.

If you'd like to explore this together, I'm running a course starting in the Autumn, or simply get in touch.

What's bothering you this week? | Blog

This week I've heard several people say the same thing: "I just woke up feeling stiff."

Maybe that's true for you. Perhaps you've got a painful back. Maybe you're feeling anxious about something? For the musicians amongst you, perhaps an upcoming performance. Maybe you've just got too many decisions to make.

Whatever it is, our instinct is usually the same. We try to change the thing that's bothering us.

But what if that's not the best place to start?

We often treat these as separate problems—a stiff back, anxious thoughts, difficult breathing, feeling overwhelmed. But they're rarely isolated. They're usually part of a larger pattern in how we're organising ourselves.

Sometimes the neck becomes easier when the ribs move differently. Breathing changes when the pelvis and pelvic floor becomes more responsive. We've been exploring that in the last few weeks. Sometimes anxiety softens when you stop trying to get rid of it and instead become curious about how you're creating it. Decisions often become easier when we feel calmer.

So what if instead of rushing to fix it, we get curious about the bigger pattern?

They're not separate after all. Whenever we're anxious, excited or frustrated, we don't just think differently. We breathe differently, organise ourselves differently and move differently too. Every experience involves the same ingredients: our thoughts, emotions, sensations and movements.

We also amplify emotions through our physical expression without realising it. The way we breathe, hold ourselves and move can quietly turn the volume up. The good news is that those same connections can help settle our nervous system down. The first step is learning to recognise the patterns.

Today, when something feels difficult, pause for a moment before trying to change it. Ask yourself: What else is happening at the same time? Has your breathing changed? Your jaw? Your shoulders? Your thoughts? Don't start by trying to fix any of it. Start by noticing, and wondering if it belongs to a bigger pattern. Then if it's possible, see what you can let go of, simply with this change in your awareness. Once we know what we're doing, it's often easier to stop doing quite so much of it.

If you'd like to explore this together, you're very welcome to join one of this week's classes, or simply get in touch. Read more from my blog at https://themovingbrain.com/blog/

The secret life of the pelvis | Musicians' Blog

When musicians think about improving their playing, the pelvis isn't usually the first place they look. We tend to focus on more direct connections to either instrument or voice.

For many of us, the pelvis is simply somewhere to sit, or a place we only notice if it becomes uncomfortable. Yet it's quietly involved in almost every movement we make. Walking, turning, reaching, breathing and playing all depend on it constantly adapting rather than staying fixed. It's part of your brain's conversation about balance and support.

When we think of support, we often imagine holding ourselves up or engaging particular muscles. But support isn't something created by one area working harder than the rest. Good support emerges through clear relationships between different parts of ourselves.

Take a moment to stand up and gently transfer your weight from one foot to the other. Notice what happens through your pelvis. Does it move easily to allow a pouring of weight to the other side, like sand, or does it feel jerkier as if you're moving a brick? Take the opportunity to observe and find out, without correcting. This is your baseline of information. From there you'll notice if we change anything in a longer movement exploration.

Sometimes the smallest changes happen not because we try harder, but because we begin to notice something that has been quietly there all along.

We need to be able to sense and feel differences to learn. And that’s exactly what we do in each Feldenkrais lesson. It’s a laboratory of learning about yourself. Each new chunk of self-discovery giving you more agency, more options, along with more effective ways of moving and being. If you’re curious, join a class, or book a short, free introductory online one-to-one session where we can discuss your needs and see if Feldenkrais is right for you. Send me a message, or visit my website to learn more (link in my bio).

The secret life of the pelvic floor | Blog

When you're looking to improve your movement, it's really important not to miss out the Pelvis. It's such an important part of us - attached to all the biggest muscles, and at the bottom of the spine. It's really your motor centre. In many of the lessons I teach, I talk a lot about the skeleton, and finding skeletal connections in order to move more freely and efficiently.

I'm teaching lessons on the fascial connections of the pelvis, starting with the pelvic floor. I was teaching one to my Musicians groups on Friday. Their comments post-session were so demonstrative of how the pelvic floor connects to so many areas of yourself, I wanted to share some with you:

Connections between the pelvic floor and the jaw

Lois: "That was just wonderful. I can't thank you enough for that lesson. I found I became aware of the amount of effort in the right side of my jaw that I was using when engaging various parts of the pelvic floor muscles.

I'm a singer and singing teacher, so I work with these areas consciously. In sensing a gentle engagement of the pelvic floor it was wonderful to be able to connect all the way up to the mouth. To feel that it's not separate parts but one whole system. I love the idea of the fascia connecting as well. I wanted to put into words what you said:

"If we're tightening the pelvic floor, we are tightening the diaphragm. It won't work well to breathe". It seems obvious, but it's not really. Because a lot of people are tightening too much, myself included, unless I become aware of it!" After your sessions, I've changed to releasing the muscles first, breathing in, and then gently engaging the pelvic floor.

Susan: "The stuff about the fascia was really useful. When you're teaching young people, it's very difficult to talk about pelvic floors. But if you're talking about curling your toes and they can get the feeling of that instead...I just found that it was a bit like a bolt of lightning. I wish I'd thought of that, 20 years ago."

Everything really is inter-connected throughout your body.

The pelvic floor is an important part of a long fascial chain that starts in your mouth and ends in your feet. So everything really is connected throughout your body.

This was so great to hear as it really resonated with the work I do with in my course for musicians reducing stage nerves. It's exactly these kinds of physical differences that it's important to learn about so we can change how we perform under pressure. And with that, enjoy the experience more.

Find your own experience by working with me - send me a message to book a short, free introductory session where we can work together to talk more about your goals.

A chance to choose | Blog

This week, someone said something in a lesson that stayed with me.

"I felt movement where I've never felt it before... and it felt exciting."

I realised afterwards that this sentence could have come from almost any lesson I taught this weekend. The details were different, but the experience was remarkably similar: people discovering possibilities they didn't know they had.

Without alternatives, there's no real choice, only habit.
One of the things I've learnt through teaching Feldenkrais is that this moment of discovery is often where real change begins. Not because someone has been shown the "right" way to move, but because they've experienced another possibility for themselves. Once your nervous system knows there is another option, you have a choice. Without alternatives, there's no real choice, only habit.

One client came because walking wasn't as comfortable as she would like. We ended up recalibrating how much of her skeleton was involved in the movement. It wasn't a once-and-done lesson, rather the beginning of a new conversation for her nervous system. She left delighted, not because everything had changed in one lesson, but because she'd experienced a different way of organising herself. She now knew something else was a possibility.

We all have blind spots
Later that day I worked with a dancer. One might think that a dancer knows their whole body, so why would they come to Feldenkrais? Dancers have excellent body awareness after all. No-one can sense everything about themselves; we all have blind spots, areas outside of our conscious awareness. For many of us they're in places we can't easily sense, or places where our thinking has become very habitual.

Over the years I've worked with musicians, dancers, athletes and people who've not thought much about movement at all. But awareness isn’t about ability. It’s about noticing what has become so familiar you no longer pay attention to it.

I offer a fresh perspective

That's why another point of view can be so valuable. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I still love this work after all these years. It isn't about fixing people, but helping them discover possibilities they couldn't discover on their own.

- Sometimes it's a rib that begins to move.
- Sometimes it's a pelvis moving differently so the person can shift weight in walking more easily.
- Sometimes it's simply the excitement of feeling movement where you've never felt it before.

And very often, with that shift into something new, that's where the learning begins.

To book a short, free one-to-one session that will allow you to see if Feldenkrais is right for you, send me a message. This session will be a chance for us to talk about your situation and decide the next step together.

What happens when we start the day by arriving in ourselves?

Participants in my new course, Morning Feldenkrais Practice, are discovering for themselves the difference it can make to start the day with intention.

This course has only just begun, and it’s not too late to join us. Register today for 15 live sessions over 5 week, taking place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8am–8.15am UK time. Sessions are live on Zoom, and recordings are included to revisit, or if you can't attend live.

Helen, a current course participant, writes: “Thank you so much for the first class which was fantastic - I love how much you achieve in such a short space of time.”

The course is included for current Altermoves members, and the fee is £54 for non members.

To register, please go to https://buy.stripe.com/aFa14mesu5PR7od2xt1wY01 or message me with any questions.

Starting tomorrow - Morning Feldenkrais Practice.

Join me alongside for this online group class, designed to help you start your day with peace and spaciousness. With this series, you can start your day with 15 minutes of Feldenkrais practice. I will welcome participants live online as we explore together what happens when we bring brief, consistent Feldenkrais practice into the rhythm of everyday life.

Sarah, a recent course participant writes "your style and delivery is perfect for this time in the morning! I really appreciate your thorough explanations and desire to make everything really clear to us."

Join me for 15 live sessions over 5 week, taking place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8am–8.15am UK time. Sessions are live on Zoom, and recordings are included to revisit, or if you can't attend live. The course is included for current Altermoves members, and the fee is £54 for non members.

To register, please go to https://buy.stripe.com/aFa14mesu5PR7od2xt1wY01 or message me with any questions.

Introducing Morning Feldenkrais Practice - a new course beginning on 1st July.

"I found the short, daily lessons incredibly beneficial and perhaps more profoundly impactful than the weekly lessons (which I also love) because of the ritual nature of doing it daily and the feeling that it could integrate into my life more easily by virtue of being a shorter timeframe."

Helen, a recent course participant, reflects on her experience with short daily Feldenkrais practice. On 1st July, I will be welcoming a small group for my new series of Morning Practice classes.

With my new series, you can start your day with 15 minutes of Feldenkrais practice. I will welcome participants live online as we explore together what happens when we bring brief, consistent Feldenkrais practice into the rhythm of everyday life.

Join me for 15 live sessions over 5 week, taking place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8am–8.15am UK time. Sessions are live on Zoom, and recordings are included to revisit, or if you can't attend live. The course is included for current Altermoves members, and the fee is £54 for non members.

To register, please go to https://buy.stripe.com/aFa14mesu5PR7od2xt1wY01 or message me with any questions.