In his autobiography, Casanova said, “My currency was an unbridled self-esteem…” What is the difference between self-esteem and arrogance?  Is there a physical formula to sex appeal? And is sex appeal just about sex? What is it about Adele that is so irresistible? It’s not just her voice, yet….

Our posture communicates our tensions, fears and anxieties as clearly as a written book.  Even though most people can’t precisely decode our holding patterns when they talk to us, they can sense when we are relaxed and “embodied” and when there is a “lack of self-esteem.” 

Feldenkrais didn’t use the word posture.  Instead, he coined a new word: acture. Good acture is the ability to move in any direction at will.  This ability means one has to have a clarity of intention, a sense of equipoise, and the ability to choose the most effective action in the moment.   Now that would give anyone a “unbridled self-esteem.”

Casanova was vilified by many, as was Elvis. But what if it wasn’t their look,  their posture, or even their smile?  Each of the people above was a risk taker.  Each one was willing to step up to the plate and be utterly unique.  That can be very threatening to those who don’t dare to make mistakes.  But for most of us, it’s pretty darn sexy. 

What I’ve discovered through Feldenkrais lessons is that there is an elegant way to be authentic, without all the compulsions that come from tension and insecurity.  What if real self-esteem is the ability to do what you want?  By observing our habits, and seeing those self-limiting beliefs that govern our movements and posture, we can develop our own version of sex appeal without stress. 

My students are probably sick of this quote, but I can’t resist ending with Moshe Feldenkrais’ famous quote, “If you know what you’re doing, you can do what you want.” Now to me, that’s sexy!

Here’s a recent Sterling Spin Radio interview I did about Feldenkrais, awareness, recovery, my personal journey, inspiration and more. Enjoy!

See you on the floor,
Lavinia

            I’m guessing Mr. Wray never read any of Moshe Feldenkrais’ writing, or he would have known that movement and creativity have been linked for over 50 years.  In developing Awareness Through Movement® lessons, Feldenkrais often said, “It’s not flexible bodies, it’s flexible minds I’m after.”  He understood the link between movement and thinking in ways that modern science is only now beginning to verify. 

            When people regularly attend Feldenkrais classes, perceived limitations and obstacles become opportunities for seeing in a completely new way.  In Wray’s article, he speaks about people literally thinking “outside the box” by walking around the outside of a box.  In Feldenkrais classes, we can go beyond that and realize that even the box is a perception. We can think through and around the box.  In the movie The Matrix, the hero encounters a child bending a spoon with her mind.  The child says, “The secret is, there is no spoon.”  Instead of struggling with challenges in a habitual way, the challenges transform and disappear, like the spoon.  Feldenkrais students don’t just think outside the box; they learn that indeed, there is no box.

photo: Ron Morecraft

How many doors will you pass through this holiday season? Relatives’ homes, airport terminals, department stores: all offer thresholds. Will you remember or will you forget what’s really important?

 This season, I’m going to use the doorway as an invitation to remember…me. As an experiment, I will try to remember to pause and take a breath, sense my feet on the floor and maybe even relax my shoulders. Then it should be a breeze to step into the present, the most precious gift of all.

“Less pain, more gain,” is the Feldenkrais motto.  Gentle, easy movement sequences developed over forty years of research change the way you move and in the process change the way you feel, think and act in all aspects of your life.  In both group classes, called Awareness Through Movement® and private lessons (Functional Integration®),  the emphasis is on inquiry, not striving.  The movements, done lying down, sitting and standing, improve posture, breathing, range of motion and quality of life.  There is nothing to memorize and anyone can participate. From Olympic athletes and baby boomers to musicians and people with neurological challenges, the Feldenkrais Method offers a non-invasive way to live life the way you want it.

The Feldenkrais Method is an exquisite movement technology that retrains the nervous system.  Pain from old injuries, past traumas, and inefficient habits is often the result of how the nervous system processes information.  Feldenkrais’ gentle, pleasant movement sequences are done slowly while lying, sitting or sometimes standing in a non-competitive learning environment where awareness is stressed over performance.  The slow, repetitive movements help students recognize and eliminate limiting habits and tensions, improving both  quality of movement and of life.

The motto of the Feldenkrais Method is, “Less pain, more gain.”  By accessing the kinesthetic intelligence that is everyone’s birthright, students improve without painful stretching or stressful exercises.  The carefully designed movements, developed over forty years of research, are part of many university curricula and arts programs as well as being included in rehabilitation programs throughout the world

.   Certified teachers guide the students’ awareness, allowing a relaxing learning experience that often goes beyond motor learning. Group classes, called Awareness Through Movement® lessons, are an affordable, safe way to have a regular movement practice.  Functional Integration®, (one on one lessons) offer custom programs that target an individual’s needs.  For a detailed description of both types of learning, visit: http://laviniaplonka.com/feldenkrais.html.

In Budapest, we went in search of the Gellert Baths.  The guidebook said it was only 2.5 km from our hotel, a 2 mile stroll.  After what seemed like an eternity, we found a sign that said Gellert something or other and a staircase.  Three hundred stairs later, someone informed us that this was Gellert MOUNTAIN, not the baths.  A sign is just a sign if you can’t understand it.

I can read all the anatomy books in the world and still not understand how best to walk, reach, jump, turn.  Scientists are constantly announcing new maps of the brain in order to explain our experience.  But the map, as they say, is not the territory.  We learn not by just by looking at self -help books and educational videos, but through experience.  It does help to have a guidebook to prepare you for a strange city or a new business venture, but in the end, you have to walk the streets yourself in order to truly know the way.

One of the most fascinating “undiscovered countries” is the landscape of myself.  The Feldenkrais Method allows me to travel from the known to the unknown to what I thought I knew but am now seeing from a completely different angle, like rounding an new corner and finding yourself on a familiar street.  And maybe, instead of just making a new map of my brain, I’m actually improving the territory of the city called Lavinia.

People often feel frustrated and disempowered by the problems they see in the world. “What can I, one puny person, do to make the world a better place?” Is it possible that by changing the way I see myself, I can change the world?  Recently a French graffiti artist named “JR” received the TED Prize for a wish for the world.  His wonderful, impossible wish is to use art “to turn the world inside out.”  In his refreshing TED talk, he invited the world to participate in a global art project that would change the way we see the world. “To change the way you see things is already to change things themselves,” he said.

Whether a self-image is the result of outer circumstances, personal choices or a combination, one way to begin to change the world is to change how you see yourself.  So if things look bleak, take a moment to notice: are you breathing?  Are you tired?  Are you in pain?  Feldenkrais lessons have changed thousands of people’s lives –from children with brain damage to Olympic athletes.  These people go on to change our world.  One Feldenkrais lesson at a time.