During ballet class a few days ago, my ballet mistress was giving us a complicated and challenging combination. I followed along closely, marking the movements in my imagination. I have learned that using my imagination is a powerful tool in helping me move through complex movement patterns. One of my barre buddies sidled up to me, and began telling me the reasons why she couldn’t do the combination. My attention was divided. I didn’t want to be rude to my friend, but I certainly didn’t want to be disrespectful to my teacher. Most of all, I didn’t want to lose my concentration. I smiled at my friend and said, “The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak.” I moved to another spot. I found myself surrounded by another group of dancers who were commenting...

    I was driving home from work on Friday and just turned into my neighborhood when I saw a little white dog run across the street a few blocks ahead of me. As a devout dogaholic and previous owner of a doggie rescue, I immediately went on high alert. The dog looked lost as he randomly ran in the street.     When I got closer, I saw an SUV along the side of the road looking toward the dog. I pulled up in front of the vehicle, hoping that the precious little dog was their pet. The SUV pulled up beside me. There was a young couple inside (about my age), and they asked me if that was my dog.     “No,” I answered, “Isn’t it yours?” It wasn’t. We all looked in the direction the dog had run and wistfully in the direction of our homes. I sighed and unbuckled...

    The past few days people have asked me how I plan to celebrate Independence Day. I said I was going to ballet class in the morning, and I was going to clean my house in the afternoon. I was asked, “No picnics, cookouts, going to the mountains, or fireworks?”     No. I didn’t want to celebrate in the traditional way. I prefer to have some quiet time for myself, which happens to include taking a ballet class on the 4th of July when I have a ballet mistress who is willing to teach. I also like to have time to reflect on this date and what it means to me.     The past few years I developed a fascination for the American Revolution and read many books on the subject. I love history, but not the kind where you memorize names, dates, places, etc. That’s just boring....

    Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a rut? Perhaps you have a certain habit or pattern that you’ve tried to change, but you keep repeating it, even when you don’t want to. The old pattern comes creeping back, like an unwelcome guest in spite of your efforts.     You try harder to change, put in more effort. and you fail again. So, you try even harder. That doesn’t work, either. Tired and defeated, you may just give up. Maybe you even think that the problem is all in your head. In a way, it is.     Neural connections that cause a specific response to a stimulus grow stronger with use. The response becomes faster and stronger through repetition. This explains why even complex tasks become easier through practice, which is a good thing. However, this same strong...

    It’s Feldenkrais Awareness Week, and a special time to celebrate this remarkable man and the Method that he created.     Moshe Feldenkrais never intentionally set out to develop this unique method of learning through self education. Instead, it slowly and gradually developed from his own personal experience and frustration from trying to heal from a recurrent knee injury. Every time he thought his knee was healed, he would inadvertently re-injure it, often just by stepping off of a curb and landing wrong.     After consulting with several physicians, he was advised to have his knee surgically repaired, with about a 50% chance of full recovery. He decided the odds were not good enough for him to go under the surgeon’s knife, and he chose a different path. That path was the...