THE HIDDEN YOU

Let’s take a look and start here~

This week I spoke about developing a movement practice that sticks.to be informed with Your whole self, will be a journey not a destination. Here are some resources that May guide you through a more inclusive practice to move more optimally.

Remember books?

How about a course?

Self exploration~ Somanaut fun

Please share your new insights and reach out with any questions.

Calm your nervous system

As physical therapists, we are always looking for innovative non-pharmacological approaches to pain management. We actively seek out therapeutic tools that offer our clients effective self-care solutions. Among these are foam rollers.

I sculpted the Smartroller® with human anatomy in mind to create greater comfort for my clients. This allows them to rest on it longer, breathe with freedom and engage more deeply (and without incurring more pain). The increased comfort of lying on the Smartroller encourages users to tune into subtle interoceptive cues and find alternatives to painful, habitual movement patterns. Diminished signals from over-active pain responses can then clear the way for more efficient movement possibilities.[1]

The unique configuration also increases affordances for rocking movements. Patients can explore self-soothing by gently rocking back and forth, much like rocking a baby in a cradle. They typically find that slow, rhythmical rocking softens bound up tension, increases their range of comfortable motion, and decreases hyper-reactive responses to sensory input. [2] Once these responses are down regulated, there is an improved body awareness to tune into subtle interoceptive cues that offer alternatives to painful actions.

“The Smartroller challenges the whole nervous system in a safer way than foam rollers.”
— Dr. Carol M. Davis, PT, DPT, MS, FAPTA

Less Pain

More Gain

By learning through a Less pain, More gain approach, patients and clients can then:

•     Move with less restrictions by increasing skill, not will

•     Find new ways to access a wider range of comfortable rest positions for imagery-based learning

•     Discover how to refine easier breathing possibilities

•    Learn ways to return to activities that bring enjoyment back into their lives

 

The Smartroller® can empower our clients by gently supporting embodied self-education and safer, open movement exploration, which is the gateway to acquiring higher functional skills—every therapist’s ideal outcome.

 


[1] Paolucci, T., Zangrando, F., Iosa, M., De Angelis, S., Marzoli, C., Piccinini, G., & Saraceni, V. M. (2016). Improved interoceptive awareness in chronic low back pain: a comparison of Back school versus Feldenkrais method. Disability and Rehabilitation, 39(10), 994–1001. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2016.1175035

[2] Sawant, V. (2022) Effect of facilitated movement in reducing vaccination-induced pain in young infants: a randomized control trial Yadav et al.
Bulletin of the National Research Centre (2022) 46:117 https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-022-00807-y

 

REIMAGINING SELF-CARE: MOVING BEYOND HABITS

FOAM ROLLER FOR WHEREVER YOU GO!

Biotensegrity in Biology: http://www.tensegrityinbiology.co.uk

Free Feldenkrais lessons: https://feldenkraisproject.com/collections/

To order Smartroller tools and to hear Stacy’s talk: https://www.optp.com/SMARTROLLER

Using the principles of the Feldenkrais Method® and the concept of biotensegrity, you can explore for your clients, or yourself to create new learning pathways. These tools will refine body awareness to help self-organize and move better.

As with any movement practice, make sure you seek health advice if you suffer from any condition that movement may be contraindicated. These are movement explorations for experimentation to help discover better ways to move with ease. For the best results, avoid moving into discomfort, move more slowly, and use smaller movements to assist learning something new. Imagining movement is always a wonderful option.

The rolled blanket was introduced to me by the late master Feldenkrais teacher, Dr. Ruthy Alon. This inspired me to create a foam roller to access these benefits. With the right conditions, the Smartroller® can help you self-organize movement for the better.

Figure eight~ Standing can be a difficult long term position for many people and once you can sense open space in the body, you can access more ease in standing. I learned this from a Feldenkrais colleague when we taught a high heeled workshop and I have used it ever since.

Walking scan: By scanning upright posture while walking, many of our kinks melt off without specific direction. That is the beauty of our self organization.

Shoulder opener: How many times have you noticed your shoulders tighten involuntarily without your conscious consent? This movement exploration/idea offers you a way to feel more ease in your shoulders and makes it easier to carry over in your daily postures.

Floss your nervous system: Jiggle like you did as a kid, here is an idea! Also, tickle your nervous system with a head massager~ They make great patient gifts 😊

And of course the Feldenkrais Method: for researching, Neuroplasticity, or bio-plasticity and applications.

For more self care resources, here are a few on hydration, biotensegrity, restorative soup, and more~

Strengthen Your Mind, Educate Your Body Using the Smartroller®

For more information, read on:

We start out playing with toys to explore ourselves and our environment, and this process never stops. The evolution of the Smartroller® was designed from Dr Stacy Barrows background as a PT and her Feldenkrais® training of somatic education. Dr. Feldenkrais, a physicist and martial artist, originally introduced the foam roller to assist sensory motor learning and to promote higher states of body awareness. Building upon his ideas, the Smartroller delivers an improved integrated experience to deepen motor learning. Stacy wanted to help her students return to this movement intelligence to find optimal self-improvement.

In this five-class series, we will use the Smartroller to explore guided movement puzzles that are designed to engage in organic learning to discover novel solutions for everyday needs .Stacy is excited to follow the Smartroller Guide to Optimal Health to support her plan to help all her students move well and find their true strength.

A peek at what you will be learning~

ROCK TO ROLL: Self-care for finding easy ways to undo body tension to prepare for action

WIDEN YOUR WINGSPAN: Learn how to open your chest and organize shoulder mechanics that follow tensegrity principles

BALANCE FROM WITHIN: Do ‘this before you do that’; build internal orientation through better sensory awareness

PERCH YOUR POSTURE: Discover through mining multiple positions, how to organize an improved functional posture

LOAD UP WITH FELDENKRAIS: ‘Align then load’, to reduce strain and coordinate efficient body mechanics

Join Stacy and all somanauts, to discover the awe of moving well.

Click here for more details.

Posture or Posturing

ART BY SINESTRA F. BARROWS

ART BY SINESTRA F. BARROWS

Awhile back, I was able to contribute to the Huffington Post blog. It was at the time they reached out to people in their fields of expertise.  What a wonderful opportunity to create a conversation about posture and somatic education to set the record straight. 

 

Since then, the research has continued to support my understanding by working away from shaming people about their posture (a large problem we see as physical therapists and sometimes from the PT’s themselves). We are now recognizing how important an inner sense of our bodies is, to access a posture of easy alignment.

 

This week I’ll be teaching for the LGBQT+ Feldenkrais Festival.  This subject seemed like a great way to promote feeling good in our bodies, while finding support with grace and comfort.    

  

Here are some resources from this talk. Please feel free to share with others:

TOOLS FOR FITNESS~KNOWLEDGE FOR HEALTH

© International Feldenkrais® Federation Archive, Robert Golden

Smart Somatic Solutions

Over the years, and following my Somanaut curiosity, I have built Smart Somatic Solutions to bridge gaps and support learning. If you joined me for our Pro Talk through OPTP, here are some of the references that I discussed. In addition there are offers that support knowledge for optimal wellness. You can still register HERE and get access to all the Pro Talks.

 

#SmartSomaticSolutions don’t forget to share!!! Click here to watch




Is available to webinar registrants at 10% discount (List price: $45.00 / £33.00). Use code optp10 to claim this discount. Click here

make sure to find it…

#SmartSomaticSolutions

Rocking ON!

I had a wonderful time amongst many colleagues to share ideas with regard to rocking movements, simulation that included props with imagery, and the Feldenkrais Method.

Here are some resources from the WORKSHOP.

I WILL BE ADDING MORE…

Please STAY TUNED and let me know your thoughts :-)

“Sensations that make a child happy tend to be integrating”
— Dr. Jean Ayres

IMAGERY: 

1.     Looking beyond the binary: an extended paradigm for focus of attention in human motor performance; Gose&Abraham 2021~ https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06126-4 

 

2.     Functional Properties of Brain Areas Associated With Motor Execution and Imagery; HANAKAWA et.al. J Neurophysiol 89: 989–1002, 2003; 10.1152/jn.00132.2002. 

 

BIOLOGIC SYSTEMS: 

1.     Is Lymph on Your Radar?  Motivational Interviewing Trainer, Dietician, Susan Dopart MS, RD; SusanDopart.com

 

2.     4th Phase of Water: https://www.stopchasingpain.com/scp-podcast-193-dr-gerald-pollack-4th-phase-of-water/

 

ROCKING MOTION:

1.     Using a Rocking Chair in the Care of People with Dimentia; Gusdal,A. Gustafsson, C. DOI: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.2002114 

 

2.     The Effect of a Slowly Rocking Bed on Sleep; Omlint et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19880-3

 

MISCELLANEOUS 

 

1.     Active Motor Babbling for Sensory-Motor Learning; Saegusa, R. et al. 

 

BOOKS: 

1.   SENSORY INTEGRATION AND THE CHILD, Jean Ayres https://ebay.to/3zaNgLu

2.  SMARTROLLER GUIDE TO OPTIMAL MOVEMENT 2nd ed., Stacy Barrows https://bit.ly/3lrY8Qa

3. MINDFUL SPONTANEITY, Ruthy Alon https://amzn.to/39bzFJa

4. THE EXTENDED MIND, Annie Murphy Paul https://amzn.to/39k2Eup

FGNA 2021 Conference

FGNA 2021 Conference

“Mothers have always used rocking to calm down a distressed baby. The cradle is our symbol for the peace and serenity of infancy. Both young and old find that rocking chairs and swings reduce anxiety and emotional upset”
— Dr. Jean Ayres
Manhattan Beach 2021

Manhattan Beach 2021

“Paying attention is the alchemy that improves the quality of action...Movement that takes place without ‘listening’ to the way it is being carried out is mechanical movement...To be aware is to have the patience to interweave listening phases throughout the fabric of your activity and to collect a lot of information about little details of doing. ”
— Dr. Ruthy Alon
mom dad.png

Thinking outside

the brain

“The notion that interacting with material objects enhances students’ learning is supported by a wide range of evidence showing that such encounters heighten attention, deepen understanding, and strengthen memory.”

-Annie Murphy Paul

 

Short lesson with the Rolled Blanket~ https://soundcloud.com/user-81859050/rolled-blanket

Here are some chair ideas: (full disclosure, I have only researched these and have not tried them personally). The best choice is to sit in one to find the best one for you. 

Varier chair: https://varierchairs.com/product/actulum/

Indy Rocker: https://bit.ly/3EtlnT0

My parents chair (one pictured) : https://amzn.to/3nGi3xO

 

ENJOY.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR

ROCKING EXPERIENCES

AND SUGGESTIONS!

“We act in accordance to our self image. ”
— Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

ROCK TO UNLOCK your body’s wisdom

Rocking has been known to calm a fussy baby, soothe low back pain, and recently found to lull us into a deeper sleep with greater benefits. Other findings have shown the rocking chair motion has had positive affects with people in nursing homes and postoperative care for early hospital discharge. It is believed that the rocking motion may adjust our nervous system, in particular our parasympathetic, or rest and digest state which helps reduce pain. And the rhythmical motion is easily accessible to move our lymph, assist hydration and digestion. What is interesting is this motion seems to be innate. No wonder we seek this out in childhood and into late adulthood. 

rockin girl.png


Look at the joy this young girl expresses as she explores rocking motion on her own. While she balances herself, she shifts right into perpetual motion without guidance to explore her world. What is it about rocking? Rocking gives us a sense of perpetual motion, which may be the source of letting go of unwanted tension to find states of calm and ease. What’s happening biologically when we rock? There’s speculation that it stimulates the receptor systems in our joints, and we know that it effects the balance system in our brain called the vestibular labyrinth located in the inner ear.


Another way to rediscover our innate nature to rock, is to lie and rock on a Smartroller. The design of the Smartroller was to create a tool that supported safety and foster learning as we did when we were babies. Why is safety so important? It’s not just to avoid injury, but kinesthetic learning is easier without the sense of threat.  This enables us to explore alternatives to certain movements and discover what’s best for us. What a great way to rock your spine and organs. By using these applications with a finely tuned focus of attention (motor imagery), we can enhance results even more.  

So grab a nap on your hammock, find a rocking chair to unwind body tension, or better yet, rock your hips in a regular chair to make micromovements. According to Dr. Dana Cohen, one of the authors of QUENCH, these frequent micromovements assist our fascial system to stay hydrated during long sedentary work days. And if you want to explore more, rock on your Smartroller to unlock your body’s wisdom.


Join me at the 2021 National Feldenkrais Conference! to learn even more about ways to rock to unlock your body’s wisdom. OPTP is offering a discount on Smartrollers for those registered. Handspring Publishing is also offering a discount on the recent book~ THE FELDENKRAIS METHOD. 

Resources:

Rock to sleep

Rocking chair therapy for dementia patients: Its effect on psychosocial well-being and balance

Forgotten method can help others relax

Fascial system: defined as body-wide connecting tissues under our skin, or wrapped around organs and cells, that functions as part of our body’s force transmission, sensory and fluid system and more.

ROCK ON!