July 22, 2020
The Magazine By, For, and About Feldenkrais® Practitioners and Trainees
The Feldenkrais Method®: Moving Beyond Ourselves
Welcome
In Touch 
is a monthly e-newsletter about developing one's competence as a Feldenkrais® 
teacher. Issues will contain articles about teaching the Feld enkrais Method® of somatic education, 
running your own business, and more.
In This Issue
From the Editors  

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash
It has been a season about breath. Starting with Covid-19 and its attack on the lungs, to the battlecry "I can't breathe!" to our dear MaryBeth's passing due to pulmonary complications, we have been rudely reminded of our fragility and our relationship to the function of breathing. 

This issue is an opportunity to look at how we work with breathing in different ways: Robert Sussuma writes about breathing and the voice, Ellen Soloway offers a video (complete with an FI
® demo on a very well behaved "client") on breath, pecking and more.

Both our contributors and myself wish to dedicate this issue to MaryBeth Smith, who worked tirelessly to make these publications useful and entertaining. We will do our best to try to wear these big shoes. 

--Lavinia Plonka
Robert Sussuma
BETWEEN ME AND YOU: Understanding Breath, Voice and Transformation Martha


As Feldenkrais ® Practitioners, we often describe our work in FI as a conversation between two nervous systems in which we use touch as our mode of communication. Like speech, our movements carry messages and intentions, our touch indicates tone and inflection. Somehow, these are perceived and understood by the person with whom we are working. And, we too are listening. We are receiving sensory information from their system as much as they are from ours. In this living, learning loop, we refine our movements based on what we "hear" in their system and, in turn, they have an opportunity to respond in novel ways to us responding to them in novel ways. It is a wondrous dance, an exchange of intelligences and, in short, a thrilling and transformative dialogue. 

But, a literal conversation, a good old "you say something then I say something" gab session is also an exchange between two nervous systems - one that we humans have been practicing and optimizing for many thousands of years, one that is so commonplace it is practically invisible to us. 

It goes something like this...
Ellen Soloway
Working with the Breath - an Interview with Ellen Soloway Elisabeth

Ellen brings her vast experience to the function of breathing, with some fascinating insights into "pecking" and breathing in this video and their applications in FI. In addition, Ellen has generously provided a list (in resources below) of AY lessons connected to the breath. To contact Ellen: soloway-feldenkrais.com
Mark your calendars

Zoom Cafes - 
August 5th - Black Lives Matter: Continuing the Conversation

FGNA 2020 Conference ONLINE! September 11-13, details coming soon!
Promote Your Practice Candy
Dive into the breath -  AY List of Breathing Lessons

This comprehensive list by Ellen Soloway reminds us that EVERYTHING affects the breath.

If you are feeling anatomically challenged, this delightful TED ED video can give you a wonderful tour of your lungs.

Oxygen's surprisingly complex journey through your body - Enda Butler
Oxygen's surprisingly complex journey through your body - Enda Butler


Breathing WIth Ease During Covid

It's not just about staying healthy, it's about staying sane and comfortable and wearing a mask can compromise both. If you haven't had a chance to listen to Fariya Doctor's class on Breathing WIth Ease During Covid, take a listen both for yourself and your students!
What's the right way to breathe? A different take on breathing exercises
 
Here is an informative article by Josh Schreiber Shalem that you can share with your students: https://feldenkrais.com/whats-the-right-way-to-breathe-a-different-take-on-breathing-exercises/

Header image by Bára Buri on Unsplash.