A creamy, full of depth, pumpkin soup simmers on my stove. A homemade gift from one of my long-time students. I love M.G.'s soups! She arrives at my door with soup on the days I need it most! I have been studying for my Comprehensive Pilates test -- a significant milestone. Balancing family life, work, and studying has taken its toll on my ability to care for me.
M.G.'s soup is a reminder to me that the people who I support on their wellness path, support me as well. I have always recognized that my students are my foremost teachers. Everything I learn in my trainings or discover in my personal practice, I explore with them. I'm honored to witness their bodies & lives unfold as we work together.
And as I observe their bodies move through space, I often wonder, "Who is really teaching who?"
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Bending & Getting Up with Ease
I have to admit, that at age 45, I've noticed some habits that I have when I get up from seated position. One big one is I lean to the left. Uuuuugh! With everything that I know, you think it would be easy to break this habit. I realize I need a really good teacher! I am grateful that in a few weeks, Ned Dwelle, a lead Feldenkrais Trainer from Europe will be here in Jacksonville! I look forward to an introduction to this method. Sunday, November 28, 2010 from 3 - 4:30 p.m. at Body Balance Institute (Hodges & JTB). More details & registration information is on my website. www.longlisa.com And be sure to watch the Feldenkrais video posted on this blog!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Changes
Just last week, I updated my look. My haircut is reminiscent of a male teen idol's style. A face framing short-do that's a bit shaggy & jagged. I felt pretty current and younger walking out of the salon.
For 7 days, I struggled with re-creating "the look" Megan the stylist achieved. No luck. As I applied more goop, I grew frustrated. After a week, I pretty much looked like I had the same hair style of a month ago - only shorter - greasier and frumpier.
Yesterday, I went in for my color & highlights to cover the gray. This time, I watched Megan more closely. "Aaaah, I see," I thought, "she's moving my hair forward towards my face when she dries & styles."
Now back at home, what an effort it is to change my habit of drying & styling my hair! It's awkward for me to change after 40 plus years of styling my hair "back."
I had to keep saying to myself, "bring it to your front body." My arms did not want to rotate. My hand could not properly hold the brush. With attention, I found a way!
This reminds me of what we ask our students to do in therapeutic work. We ask them to find a new way. The shift requires total focus, and they often return to the next session with questions and a bit of frustration.
I am also musing - perhaps this is one of the reasons for a military buzz or a monk's shaved head. External change happened quickly for both recruits on the day of the big hair removal. The larger process of change is a shift deep inside - that requires a breaking down first. The military and religious orders know this fact.
In therapeutic work, the break down is really a break through. From what I've experienced and witnessed, it's about creating more space inside the body. For me, it's been about busting through the concrete until the hard dense masses have been pulverized and excreted. While that sounds harsh, I do not use a jack hammer. I have been trained to clearly see the path, use the softest touch, and be patient.
As teachers, we can keep trying to externally re-arrange our students body parts. This is only superficial - like me blow drying my hair forward.
Finding the space and then the action from deep within the body is powerful teaching that changes lives.
For 7 days, I struggled with re-creating "the look" Megan the stylist achieved. No luck. As I applied more goop, I grew frustrated. After a week, I pretty much looked like I had the same hair style of a month ago - only shorter - greasier and frumpier.
Yesterday, I went in for my color & highlights to cover the gray. This time, I watched Megan more closely. "Aaaah, I see," I thought, "she's moving my hair forward towards my face when she dries & styles."
Now back at home, what an effort it is to change my habit of drying & styling my hair! It's awkward for me to change after 40 plus years of styling my hair "back."
I had to keep saying to myself, "bring it to your front body." My arms did not want to rotate. My hand could not properly hold the brush. With attention, I found a way!
This reminds me of what we ask our students to do in therapeutic work. We ask them to find a new way. The shift requires total focus, and they often return to the next session with questions and a bit of frustration.
I am also musing - perhaps this is one of the reasons for a military buzz or a monk's shaved head. External change happened quickly for both recruits on the day of the big hair removal. The larger process of change is a shift deep inside - that requires a breaking down first. The military and religious orders know this fact.
In therapeutic work, the break down is really a break through. From what I've experienced and witnessed, it's about creating more space inside the body. For me, it's been about busting through the concrete until the hard dense masses have been pulverized and excreted. While that sounds harsh, I do not use a jack hammer. I have been trained to clearly see the path, use the softest touch, and be patient.
As teachers, we can keep trying to externally re-arrange our students body parts. This is only superficial - like me blow drying my hair forward.
Finding the space and then the action from deep within the body is powerful teaching that changes lives.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Transitions
My local grocery store moved this weekend. Not far. Just across the street into an updated shopping center. Out of milk and fruit, I happened into the old store the day before the big move. It was amazing to see the store just before "Opening Day" at the new location. The old store was still stocked, yet carefully pared down.
The next morning, I drove past both stores on the way to teach. I passed the old store first. At least 8 tractor trailers were lined up to haul the remaining items to the warehouse. I am sure folks were working since the store closed the night before pulling items from shelves.
And, just across the street, I saw over 100 people gathered at the entrance to the new store. It was 5 minutes before opening - and people were excited!
Later that same day, I attended a Bar Mitzvah. The mother of this wonderful boy, my dear friend, is living with liver cancer. Nearly a year ago, her doctors told her she had 6 months. Since then, she's been on a radical path of alternative treatment. She wanted to make it to this day and see her son read from the Torah. She also plans to be present at her sons' high school graduations. Her oldest boy calls her "a wizard."
One of the things I love most about my teaching is being able to watch people transition. In Yoga, Sun Salutations are all about transitions - moving freely from one pose to the next as well as stabilizing during a pose. In Pilates, our sessions have a logical order and the transitions are important, too.
Often as we move through the decades of our lives, our pelvis stops moving. It gets stuck in particular positions. These pelvic locks or hang ups - can literally bring us down creating pain and dysfunction. When working privately with students, I often see that the pelvis has stopped moving in response to the breath. We are designed to rock and sway when we breathe. Yet somewhere over the years, something has blocked this natural flow. We hold. We grip. We don't want to let go.
We can see and feel this in our bodies during Sun Salutes. During this sequence, the pelvis needs to have the freedom to move and also be dynamically stable. For most of us, our bodies have to be reminded of this natural rhythm that creates a ripple effect throughout our entire organism. And that's what a majority of my teaching is about. A reminder.
In class, you will often hear me say that it's not about the pose - it's about the transitions to the poses. Or the poses between the pose. The big poses - the ones you see in the magazines, to me, are the big moments in our lives. The wedding. The birth. The Bar Mitzvah. The graduation. The death. The break up. The new store opening. These are the poses. Yet, there's so much that happens in between these big events. And that's the majority of our lives. The transitions between the big things. The big stuff punctuates the routine of our lives. We can put all our attention there on the big moments - but those are all destinations. Certainly not the journey.
My dear friend, who has chosen a longer transition with her life with cancer, is a formidable mother everyday. Despite the heavy toxins in her body, her focus is on transitioning her boys to manhood. It's the steps she takes each day to ensure their well being that define her living in the here and now.
May we all bring more attention to the daily moments of our lives. May we re-shape patterns that no longer serve us. May we know the way to the new store and not find ourselves in an empty parking lot. May we breathe. May we rock and sway. May we see that the space and time between the poses is our purpose for being here.
The next morning, I drove past both stores on the way to teach. I passed the old store first. At least 8 tractor trailers were lined up to haul the remaining items to the warehouse. I am sure folks were working since the store closed the night before pulling items from shelves.
And, just across the street, I saw over 100 people gathered at the entrance to the new store. It was 5 minutes before opening - and people were excited!
Later that same day, I attended a Bar Mitzvah. The mother of this wonderful boy, my dear friend, is living with liver cancer. Nearly a year ago, her doctors told her she had 6 months. Since then, she's been on a radical path of alternative treatment. She wanted to make it to this day and see her son read from the Torah. She also plans to be present at her sons' high school graduations. Her oldest boy calls her "a wizard."
One of the things I love most about my teaching is being able to watch people transition. In Yoga, Sun Salutations are all about transitions - moving freely from one pose to the next as well as stabilizing during a pose. In Pilates, our sessions have a logical order and the transitions are important, too.
Often as we move through the decades of our lives, our pelvis stops moving. It gets stuck in particular positions. These pelvic locks or hang ups - can literally bring us down creating pain and dysfunction. When working privately with students, I often see that the pelvis has stopped moving in response to the breath. We are designed to rock and sway when we breathe. Yet somewhere over the years, something has blocked this natural flow. We hold. We grip. We don't want to let go.
We can see and feel this in our bodies during Sun Salutes. During this sequence, the pelvis needs to have the freedom to move and also be dynamically stable. For most of us, our bodies have to be reminded of this natural rhythm that creates a ripple effect throughout our entire organism. And that's what a majority of my teaching is about. A reminder.
In class, you will often hear me say that it's not about the pose - it's about the transitions to the poses. Or the poses between the pose. The big poses - the ones you see in the magazines, to me, are the big moments in our lives. The wedding. The birth. The Bar Mitzvah. The graduation. The death. The break up. The new store opening. These are the poses. Yet, there's so much that happens in between these big events. And that's the majority of our lives. The transitions between the big things. The big stuff punctuates the routine of our lives. We can put all our attention there on the big moments - but those are all destinations. Certainly not the journey.
My dear friend, who has chosen a longer transition with her life with cancer, is a formidable mother everyday. Despite the heavy toxins in her body, her focus is on transitioning her boys to manhood. It's the steps she takes each day to ensure their well being that define her living in the here and now.
May we all bring more attention to the daily moments of our lives. May we re-shape patterns that no longer serve us. May we know the way to the new store and not find ourselves in an empty parking lot. May we breathe. May we rock and sway. May we see that the space and time between the poses is our purpose for being here.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Refinishing
The truck arrived yesterday with furniture from my childhood. The pieces are being handed down to my daughter who turns 14 next week. One simple piece holds special memories - a vanity that was my great grandmother's, Marina Benzoni.
I spent many afternoons in front of the vanity staring in the mirror wondering what I would look like at age 21, 30, and 40. Each of those birthdays have long passed. I look in the mirror now and see the woman I am today.
Before the vanity moves into my daughter's room, it must be refinished. As was the trend in the early 1970's, my mother painted it antique white and gold. Growing up, I always wondered what the wood looked like beneath the layers of paint. I have been stunned in amazement by the process these past 2 days.
As I apply the stripper, I marvel how quickly the paint lifts. I have refinished furniture before and this is the fastest reaction I have ever seen. The paint literally lifts up as a sheet as soon as I apply the chemical.
I've seen this reaction in myself and my students, too. When there's a catalyst for change we will quickly shed off the adorned layers revealing a rough, dried and stained surface underneath. The next step is to neutralize the situation then sand smooth the remaining rough spots with a very delicate hand & super fine grit. This refinishing process is much like our therapeutic movement work. The natural beauty shines out at this stage - and is accentuated with stain and a clear coat.
Underneath all those layers of 40-year old paint, the vanity revealed a spectacular zebra wood.
What's been hiding beneath the surface is quite special.
We are too.
My each of us continue to re-finish.
I spent many afternoons in front of the vanity staring in the mirror wondering what I would look like at age 21, 30, and 40. Each of those birthdays have long passed. I look in the mirror now and see the woman I am today.
Before the vanity moves into my daughter's room, it must be refinished. As was the trend in the early 1970's, my mother painted it antique white and gold. Growing up, I always wondered what the wood looked like beneath the layers of paint. I have been stunned in amazement by the process these past 2 days.
As I apply the stripper, I marvel how quickly the paint lifts. I have refinished furniture before and this is the fastest reaction I have ever seen. The paint literally lifts up as a sheet as soon as I apply the chemical.
I've seen this reaction in myself and my students, too. When there's a catalyst for change we will quickly shed off the adorned layers revealing a rough, dried and stained surface underneath. The next step is to neutralize the situation then sand smooth the remaining rough spots with a very delicate hand & super fine grit. This refinishing process is much like our therapeutic movement work. The natural beauty shines out at this stage - and is accentuated with stain and a clear coat.
Underneath all those layers of 40-year old paint, the vanity revealed a spectacular zebra wood.
What's been hiding beneath the surface is quite special.
We are too.
My each of us continue to re-finish.
Friday, June 11, 2010
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