Shows
Brain ShamanAl Wadleigh: Neuroplasticity through Feldenkrais — Unlock Your Learning, Habit Change, and Potential | Episode 78In this episode, our guest is Al Wadleigh, a Feldenkrais practitioner and the co-host of the Feldenkrais for Life podcast. We talk about how to rewire our nervous system through Feldenkrais, increasing our learning, memory, health, and potential. Returning us to that childlike state of exploration, curiosity, aliveness, and possibility, Feldenkrais is like a playful portal into adult neuroplasticity and change. Waking us up from our habits and removing our rigid societal masks and algorithms, it can likewise unlock self-awareness, self-image, spontaneity, lightness, ease, authenticity, freedom, and growth.We delve into this via various interconnected angles, including...2024-05-291h 32
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS5 E6 - Exploring Your Body BudgetWhat can interoception, body scanning, and proprioception reveal about your overall "body budget"? We try a left eye awareness lesson as an example. Visit https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings. Visit the show website: https://FeldenkraisforLife.com.2024-05-1725 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS5 E5 - The Use of Will PowerWhen should we use willpower versus effortless flow in practicing movement? We explore how willpower decreases as ability increases and how too much willful effort gets in our way. Visit https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings. Visit the show website: https://FeldenkraisforLife.com.2024-05-0326 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS5 E4 - Finding Harmony in MovementMindful movement can create greater harmony between the voluntary and autonomic nervous systems. We discuss this important brain-body connection for wellbeing. Visit https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings. Visit the show website: https://FeldenkraisforLife.com.2024-04-1928 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS5 E3 - Q&A: Yoga, Emotions, StretchingAnswering listener questions on topics like yoga, emotional release in practice, and why we don't stretch in the Feldenkrais Method®. Visit https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings. Visit the show website: https://FeldenkraisforLife.com. 2024-04-0530 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS5 E2 - Creative Thinking: Convergent vs DivergentHow do convergent and divergent styles of thinking relate to creativity? We explore how Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons can stimulate flexible, creative problem-solving. Visit https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings. Visit the show website: https://FeldenkraisforLife.com.2024-03-2234 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS5 E1 - Building Confidence and ResilienceAs our physical abilities improve through practice, so does our confidence to meet life's challenges. We discuss how the Feldenkrais Method can cultivate resilience for aging well. Visit https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings. Visit the show website: https://FeldenkraisforLife.com.2024-03-0819 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E8 The Sacred Sacrum and the PelvisAncient civilizations often referred to the sacrum as the “holy bone.” We discuss the “holy bone,” the social impact of our self-image and the pelvis, and the birthing process. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-08-1122 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E7 Four Criteria for Coordinated Well-Learned ActionIn his book, The Potent Self, Dr. Feldenkrais puts forward four criteria for coordinated, well-learned action: the absence of effort, the absence of resistance, the presence of reversibility, and breathing and posture. We discuss each of these with examples. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-07-2835 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E6 Cross-MotivationCross-motivation is when we enact more than one motivation at the same time. By becoming aware of our cross-motivations and sorting out our intentions so we are acting in a mono-motivated way, we use less energy, feel better, and get more done in our lives. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-07-1422 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E5 TraumaWe discuss trauma resolution from the perspective of psychotherapy and the Feldenkrais Method. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-06-3032 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E4 Errors Mistakes and CorrectnessWe discuss how mistakes are essential to learning. Hear a story about how a music teacher encouraged a little girl to make mistakes to help her learn; and how trying to do something correctly limits our success. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-06-1621 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E3 Going SlowlyWe discuss why we move slowly when doing Feldenkrais lessons. And how essential that is for learning. Experience the difference between going quickly and going slow. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-06-0221 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E2 Going to the BorderWorking within your range of comfort, Exploring variations at the border of ability, discovering a greater capacity, Doing too much, Involving more of yourself Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-05-1927 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS4 E1 Reframing Illness and Building ResilienceWe discuss how reframing an illness can improve the healing process. How your brain is predictive, and how to build resilience through intentionally engaging in challenging situations. Visit: https://AchievingExcellence.com and https://DonnaRay.com to learn more about Donna and Al and to explore our class and product offerings.2023-05-0522 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E8 Understanding DifferentiationDifferentiation is a crucial concept in the Feldenkrais Method®. We discuss and define differentiation and give lots of examples and a guided movement experience so you can sense the differences. We discuss differentiation in emotions, movement, thinking, and sensing. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2022-10-2220 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E7 Your Brain Cannot Think Without Motor FunctionA fundamental concept of the Feldenkrais Method® is the brain cannot think without motor movement. We get into this concept through some movement explorations and discussions. We talk about thinking, feeling, sensing, and acting and how we move our attention to these different domains of experience as needed in our daily experience. Shifting our attention like this is primarily outside our conscious awareness. However, we can bring this process to consciousness. Donna guides us through a series of imagined movements that make this phenomenon more explicit. Norman Doidge, The Brain's Way of Healing Visit Donna’s sit...2022-10-0826 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E6 Mind Sets and Priming Mental StatesWe talk about the work of Alia Crum and the studies she has done on mindsets and their influence on our health and biology. We get into the effects of social suggestions on aging. We discuss auto-suggestion and how health care providers could improve their communication skills. We return to Dr. Feldenkrais and his interest in auto-suggestion and hypnosis and how these concepts became influential in developing his method. Thinking and Doing: https://achievingexcellence.com/thinking-and-doing/ Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your f...2022-09-2430 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E5 The Mind and the BrainHow does the mind influence the brain? It was a widely held belief that the mind was a result of the brain, and the mind could not reflect and affect the functioning of the brain. It was just around 2000 that this belief started to change. Dr. Feldenkrais understood this decades ago and applied the idea of using the mind to change the brain in his Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration® work. Dr. Feldenkrais is considered one of the first neuro-plasticians. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com ...2022-09-1023 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E4 What is Reversibility?What is reversibility? Dr. Feldenkrais considered this an essential concept of the Feldenkrais Method®. We give examples and do some explorations with reversibility. We also discuss good posture, cultivating quality movement, and choice. We end with how the method is generalized to daily life and how the benefits show up spontaneously without practice. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2022-08-2723 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E3 Your JawWe discuss the functioning of the mouth and jaw. What is the relationship between the jaw, neck, and eyes? How does the pelvis influence the functioning of the jaw? What part does the tongue play in a well-organized jaw? We discuss and explore these ideas in this podcast, which introduces our audio program, "Release Jaw Tension Now." https://achievingexcellence.com/release-jaw-tension-now/ Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2022-08-1318 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E2 Making Finer Distinctions for ImprovementWe discuss a concept Dr. Feldenkrais presents in his book Body and Mature Behavior. Which is that there are two paths of development. One is the pathway of improvement in which a person continues to make finer and finer distinctions. The other is the pathway of decline in which a person lumps their experience into larger and larger categories. We discuss this in reference to movement, the Feldenkrais Method®, and hobbies such as painting, gardening, and building. Body and Mature Behavior: https://achievingexcellence.com/body-and-mature-behavior/ Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s...2022-07-2921 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastS3 E1 The Importance of RestingWhy rest? When to rest? How does resting improve learning and productivity? There is resting as in naps, and there are rests that help us learn. Waking rests helps improve and integrate what you were just doing—facilitating learning. Resting can reset the brain and nervous system for improved performance. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2022-07-1522 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastFeldenkrais Aging with EaseWhat happens in the brain as we age? How can we use the Feldenkrais Method® to continue to improve ourselves and do the things that are important to us in life? We each share our insights on how the Feldenkrais Method can keep you moving and vital while aging. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-12-3021 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastHow Language Creates ExperienceWe discuss how Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett’s books “How Emotions Are Made” and “7 1/2 Lessons about the Brain” confirm what Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais taught decades ago and offers a modern way to language what we do as Feldenkrais practitioners. We go into detail about how language creates an internal response in the speaker and listener. Language matters while guiding Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® Lessons. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-12-2317 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastSpontaneity, Aging, FeldenkraisWhat is spontaneity? How do social constraints inhibit our spontaneity? Experience spontaneous changes through Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® Lessons. Discover how we develop responsiveness to our changing environment. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-12-1628 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastMemory and DevelopmentWe talk about implicit memory, explicit memory, and re-evaluating memories to create a new present-day experience. We discuss childhood development and learning and how we build new memories while experiencing Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement lessons®. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-12-0927 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastCategories of ExperienceWe discuss the Feldenkrais Method referencing: sensing, thinking, moving, and feeling. We define what a “category of experience” is and create a category to build a new referential concept. We also consider the pleasure of an un-categorized sensory experience and what is the Weber-Fechner principle. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-12-0227 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastAre You Comfortable in Your Misery?Learn to move from negative states into positive ones. Experience pleasant sensations of the present moment. Integrate feelings for more effortless flow from one state to another with the Feldenkrais Method. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-11-2519 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastPrediction Error CorrectionWe discuss the concept of Prediction Error Correction as Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett presents it in her book, “How Emotions Are Made,” from subtle adjustments in our nervous system to errors that cause accidents. This process is an essential element in developmental learning and Feldenkrais lessons. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-11-1822 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastTruth, the Heels, and Body BudgetWhat is truth? We find a unique reality in the contact of the heels on the floor. We explore the idea of a body budget. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-11-1121 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastSelf-Regulation, Dealing with Stress, and Improving PostureWe consider the impact the restrictions of the pandemic have had on our brains and nervous systems. We discuss strategies to reduce stress from Zooming and computer use. Why is it “incorrect to correct” from Dr. Feldenkrais’s point of view? How do Feldenkrais lessons provide a better way to self-improve? Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-11-0422 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastUnderstanding and Resolving PainWe discuss pain as a motivator to seek the Feldenkrais Method®; how movement affects acute pain and chronic pain. Donna shares how she managed pain and regained the use of her hand and arm using the Feldenkrais Method. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-04-2735 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastMindfulness the Feldenkrais WayThe Feldenkrais Method® can enhance and invigorate your mindful practice. Whatever your practice - yoga, meditation, Tai-Chi, Aikido, or moving boulders - Feldenkrais lessons can make what you do easier. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-04-1330 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastMoving, Sensing, Thinking and FeelingThe Feldenkrais Method® includes movement, sensing, thinking, and feeling in the development of Awareness. Movement quality, how you move, integrates these primary aspects of the experience. Recognize the pattern of anxiety as described by Dr. Feldenkrais in his book, The Elusive Obvious. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-04-0728 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastMemory and LearningWhat is the difference between implicit and explicit memories? Learn to make pleasant memories stick. Become familiar with strategies of learning within the Feldenkrais Method®. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-03-2926 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastLearning, Unlearning and the Self-ImageConforming to socially accepted learning norms may create habits of tension in the body/mind. What is the Weber-Fechner law, and how does it apply to learning the Feldenkrais Way? Play and problem solving make us smarter. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-03-2330 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastDr. Feldenkrais, Learning and HabitsLearn about Dr. Feldenkrais and the professional trainings he developed. Consider, competence, confidence, and how beliefs shape our self-image. Donna shares how she became a painter and Al discusses how he overcame his voice's significant limitations. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-03-0922 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastHabits, breathing, and self-regulationJoin us, and experience simple, easy-to-do, powerful Feldenkrais movements that demonstrate the nature of habit. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from https://AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-03-0928 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastWhat is the Feldenkrais Method?Understand the difference between Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® and exercise. Experience a short movement learning experience. Recognizing habits. What are they? And how Feldenkrais lessons impact them. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from https://AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-03-0524 min
Feldenkrais for Life podcastIntroduction to the Feldenkrais for Life PodcastWe introduce ourselves and give you a preview of what’s to come in the first season of our Feldenkrais for Life podcast. Visit Donna’s site: https://DonnaRay.com Visit Al’s Site: https://AchievingExcellence.com Get your first Feldenkrais lesson from https://AchievingExcellence.com. Use coupon awesome-podcast to save 20%.2021-03-0204 min