James Speer,
Injury Rehab Therapist,
Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

Thank you for coming here. This is where I continue to create articles regarding my work in Movement Re-Education Therapy, and orthopedic rehabilitation. If you experience back, neck, shoulder, or wrist pain, or have balance issues, I can help you. If you’re new here, a good place to start is to read my post below titled “What I Do as a Functional Movement Education Therapist.” The best to you in great health! James, 1003 Wilshire Blvd. Suite #208,Santa Monica, CA, tel. 310-395-1952

Sunday, December 9, 2018

80 Years Young Woman dances so beautifully!

Dear Friends,

Greetings to you all!

Check out this wonderfully vibrant 80 year old woman as she performs a marvelous dance on "Britain's got talent". With such grace, agility, and energy, I think that she dances better than a lot of people in their 20's.

80 years old Woman amazing dance in britains got talent 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjsF0Y5YMes

As an associate of mine put it so well, "Amazing. Tears in my eyes… such an inspiration."

Evidently, this shows that age is definitely just a number.

May you all have a wonderful 4th of July!

James

Guan Yin Acupuncture & Movement-Education Center
Dr. Lin Cheng Speer, LAc, OMD, PhD
James Speer, Injury Rehab Therapist
Functional Movement-Education Therapist
Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
1003 Wilshire Blvd. Suites #203, #208
Santa Monica, CA 90401
tel. 310-395-1952www.drlinspeer.com
www.feldenkraisjamesspeer.com
"Health Is All that Matters!"

"If you’re in pain, or your body aches, I give you the sensory motor experience to be able to move freely, effortlessly, pleasantly, without strain or discomfort. Say 'Hello' to relaxing, and 'Goodbye' to stiffness and pain!"
To see my popular YouTube video of me demonstrating the wonderful "'2-Minute Movement-Education Miracle' to Free Up Your Stiff Neck", Click Here

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Functional Movement-Education to improve your Standing!

Greetings health enthusiast!

With the summer season over and the sun setting earlier, if you have found yourself now working extra hours at the office, and your neck or back aches, as well as discovered other maladies that are manifesting from the accumulation of sitting at your office desk for too long, you may find the article, The Price we pay for sitting too much - New formulas for how long we should spend sitting and standing in a workday, which originally appeared this week in the September 29, 2015 issue of the Wall Street Journal, a helpful read. You can find this interesting article at the following link.:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-price-we-pay-for-sitting-too-much-1443462015

An increasing number of studies have found that regular exercise doesn’t reduce the risks that come with sedentary behavior, such as sitting.
New research is helping medical experts devise formulas for how long you, as a typical office worker, should spend sitting and standing.

The article elaborates on how studies have found that sedentary behavior, including sitting for extended periods, increases the risk for developing dozens of chronic conditions, from cancer and diabetes to cardiovascular disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. At the same time the article advises against standing in one place for too long.

Although there are no absolutes, every one of us being unique, the article states that, in general, for every half-hour working in an office, people should sit for 20 minutes, stand for eight minutes and then move around and stretch for two minutes.

The article makes the case that standing, in the appropriate amounts, is actually good for you. Even office workers, who may actually be athletes or avid exercisers, but who are relatively sedentary or who sit too much are advised to periodically stand, to take a “standing break”.

If you currently find it uncomfortable to stand, then I am the man for you!

As an Injury Rehab Therapist, I have a background as a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, enabling me to work with you who is experiencing musculoskeletal or orthopedic issues, for instance, if you are having difficulty to perform the “action” of standing, whether it be due to balance or vertigo issues, or back or other joint pain.

Please allow me to guide your body through different ways of learning how to feel comfortable while standing.

I give you the sensory motor experience to be able to stand, sit, or move freely, effortlessly, pleasantly, without strain or discomfort. Say 'Hello' to relaxing, and 'Goodbye' to stiffness and pain!"

Please call me at tel. 310-395-1952 to schedule an appointment for your first step for returning to vitality as nature intended it to be.

It’ll be one of the best and easiest decisions you can make this week!

To your wonderful health!

James

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Functional Movement Education for you to break free of stress!!

Go beyond the stress! Functional Movement Education bodywork to the rescue for you!

Do you find yourself Restless? James Speer

Lack of focus ?

Edgy ?

No interest ?

No energy ?

Can’t sleep ?

Can’t make decisions ?

Making mountains out of molehills ?

We are all reading and hearing about how our modern culture is stressful, or, “stressing us out”,

You don’t have to wait until your neck, back, shoulder, or wrist hurts to see me. As a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, my hands-on bodywork can help you greatly unwind, de-stress, relax, and rejuvenate for you, yourself. You can eliminate your body tension right now!

Go from restless to restful

Bring your day/week/life into focus

Smooth out the rough edges

Stop living on the edge

Turn your mountains into molehills in under an hour

As one of my clients likes to say, "Even a Mercedes needs a tune-up".

Call me today to schedule an appointment at tel. 310-395-1952. It’ll be one of the best and easiest decisions you can make this week.

To your wonderful health!

James

Guan Yin Acupuncture & Movement-Education Center

Dr. Lin Cheng Speer, LAc, OMD, PhD
James Speer, Injury Rehab Therapist
Functional Movement-Education Therapist
Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
1003 Wilshire Blvd. Suites #203, #208
Santa Monica, CA 90401
tel. 310-395-1952www.drlinspeer.com
"Health Is All that Matters!"

"If you’re in pain, or your body aches, I give you the sensory motor experience to be able to move freely, effortlessly, pleasantly, without strain or discomfort. Say 'Hello' to relaxing, and 'Goodbye' to stiffness and pain!"
To see my popular YouTube video of me demonstrating the wonderful "'2-Minute Movement-Education Miracle' to Free Up Your Stiff Neck", Click Here

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Health Benefits of Feldenkrais

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

New Book on Feldenkrais by New York Times Best Seller Author, Dr. Norman Doidge, MD

Dear Health Enthusiast!

Greetings to you! With our recent celebration this past week of Chinese Lunar New Year, “Year of the Ram”, I am reminded how here in beautiful, sunny Southern California (most of the time, anyway) in just a few weeks, if not already, we will be able to enjoy our wonderful Southland Springtime accolades.

It’s floating all over the Media and Internet. …

New York Times Bestseller, Dr. Norman Doidge, MD, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and poet, has just released his new book (January 2015) appropriately titled, “THE BRAIN'S WAY OF HEALING: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the frontiers of Neuroplasticity, and is available in all bookstores as well as at Dr. Norman Doidge’s website, http://www.normandoidge.com/.

Dr. Norman Doidge’s new book on brain and body neuroplasticity contains two complete chapters devoted to the merits of Movement and Neuromuscular Reeducation through Feldenkrais and features numerous case studies of patients suffering from neurological disorders and details how in each case the brain adapts to compensate for the disabilities of the individual patients, often in unusual and unexpected ways.

The Brain's Way of Healing focuses on treating brain injury and illness through neuroplastic treatments and healing, i.e. Feldenkrais Movement Re-Education. Dr. Doidge explores cases where patients alleviated years of chronic pain or recovered from debilitating strokes or accidents; children on the autistic spectrum or with learning disorders normalizing; symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, learning disorders, sensory processing disorders, attention deficit disorder, as well as balance problems radically improved, and other near-miracle recoveries.

Even the prestigious, Salon, the informative news magazine website, renown for focusing on U.S. politics and current affairs, as well as on reviews and articles about music, books and film, has already featured a wonderful excerpt from Dr. Doidge’s book titled as:

“She Will Dance at Her Wedding”: Healing the girl born without a part of her brain

The origin of Moshe Feldenkrais’ therapeutic method reads more like a spy thriller than a neuroscience textbook.

This article can be found at the following link from Salon’s website.:

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/02/she_will_dance_at_her_wedding_healing_the_girl_born_without_part_of_her_brain/

You may recall Dr. Norman Doidge’s previous bestseller back in the year 2007 as:

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Having previously sold over a million copies, The Brain that Changes Itself, was chosen by the Dana Brain Foundation’s Journal Cerebrum, from among the 30,000 books on the brain in English, as the best general book on the brain, and is also currently available in over a hundred countries and over 20 languages.

If this all sounds (wonderfully) overwhelming to you, as an Injury Rehab Therapist, with over 20 years experience as a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, I can greatly help you or a loved one with your neurological or orthopedic condition.

Wearing my hat as a Functional Movement Education Therapist, I will give to you the sensory motor experience of what it feels like to move easily, effortlessly and comfortably in all of your life’s activities and functions.

Please feel free to ask me more about how I can help you at tel. 310-395-1952.

Health is so important. After all, as my business logo since the early 1990’s declares:

“Health is All that Matters!”

All the best to you for a wonderful Chinese Lunar New Year, "Year of the Ram"!

James

Saturday, September 27, 2014

I can help your shoulder pain!

Greetings health enthusiast friend!

Good news! I am here to rescue you from your shoulder injury or pain!

Whoa! I should first politely say, ...

I hope you all had a wonderful, enjoyable and active summer. If it was "too active", or more than you could handle, please feel free to come in and see me. Whether it's because of your tennis elbow, swimmer's shoulder, "computer user" carpal tunnel wrist pain, housemaid knee, runner's knee, or for your "office chair sitting" sore neck or back, I can provide you with hands-on Functional Movement Re-Education work for your body in order to learn a new pattern for movement. Or, more simply, for body pain relief and healing.

If it's been a while since you've been in, you might be interested for coming in for your "fun maintenance session". As a long-standing client of mine likes to say, "Even a Mercedes needs a tune-up." :-)

You’ll recall that I have previously sent you information regarding Peer-Reviewed studies on how Feldenkrais is beneficial for various pains and anomalies. This month, I would like to inform you of another Peer-Reviewed Research article that destines Feldenkrais as being marvelous for curbing shoulder pain. Check out:

Lundblad I. Elert J. Gerdle B. Randomized controlled trial of physiotherapy and Feldenkrais interventions in female workers with neck-shoulder complaints. [Journal Article: Clinical Trial] Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 1999 Sep; 9(3): 179-94. (46 ref). Peer Reviewed.

The present study aimed to investigate whether Feldenkrais interventions resulted in a reduction of complaints from the neck and shoulders (prevalence, pain intensity, sick leave, and disability in leisure and work roles) in 97 female industrial workers.

The study group of individuals showed significant decreases in complaints from neck and shoulders and in disability during leisure time, as well as positive changes in complaints after the Feldenkrais intervention.

Here’s one link for this informative article.:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1021301801292

As a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais with over 20 years of clinical experience, I can give you the sensory-motor experience of being able to move easily, comfortably, and freely without feeling pain or discomfort. If you’re not sure what I mean by having the wonderful sensory motor experience of being able to move without your existing neck, back, shoulder, hip, knee, or wrist pain, after your 35 minute hands-on session with me, you’ll definitely feel what I mean.

Please give me a call at tel. 310-395-1952 to say Hello! to relaxing and Good-bye! to stiffness and pain.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

To your great health!
James

Friday, August 29, 2014

What to expect in your first visit with me

Greetings to you friend,

I applaud your wise life decision to invest in your health and well being by seeing a health practitioner. To give you a little heads up in what to expect in your first session with me, firstly, I normally ask a new client in the beginning of their first visit with me to ...

"Please tell me a little about yourself and what I can do for you. ..." Often times, people tell me that they are here in my office to see me because they have, for instance, neck pain or back pain or shoulder, knee, elbow, hip, or wrist pain.

I do not, per say, work with pain, but instead, as a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, I do Movement Education. Thus, I refocus any perceived structural or pain issues into the context of functionality or movement.

Therefore, I might follow-up by asking the client, "What is it, in your experience, that tells you that you have pain?" They might say, for instance, "Now it hurts me when I hit my tennis forehand." Or, "When I lift my child my back hurts." "My right wrist hurts me when typing at the computer." "I am uncomfortable while sitting at the computer." "My knee hurts when I run." "Now I feel this pain in my hip when I walk." "Walking seems to be hard for me now. It sometimes feels like it's a struggle. I even feel a little off balance. Walking is now just uncomfortable for me."

These are just some examples of how I then will begin to place our session together within the context or perspective of working with you, the client, in order to improve your, for instance, tennis stroke, or to be better organized to be able to lift more efficiently, or to be able to type on the keyboard without pain, or to be able to sit more comfortably ... or to be able to walk more comfortably, etc.

If you are a performer or athlete, who is not in any pain, you may wish to see me in order to refine your movement, that is, to improve the form for your sport more efficiently.

Or, you may be interested in seeing me for, not necessarily any types of pain or movement issues, but simply for a relaxing, stress-breaker, rejuvenating session.

You may find it helpful before seeing me to look at the following video to see me working with, for instance, a client with back pain.

http://feldenkraisjamesspeer.blogspot.com/2013_09_01_archive.html

I look forward to seeing you.

All the best to you. Take good care,
James

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Functional Movement Education for Dancing

Greetings Health Enthusiast ... and Dancer!!

Happy May to you! When you think of the month of May, you may think of ... sunshine ... the outdoors ... or spring time.

What else do you think of? You possibly think of ... beauty ... getting outside and having fun, doing what you like to do. You possibly associate May with the month of having the ideal temperature. That is, without actually breaking too deep of a sweat, it feels like just the right amount of warmth or heat.

After shivering and quivering during the nightly Jack Frost from winter, with the arrival of the beautiful month of May, you possibly think of moving, blooming, blossoming, coming of age, a new life, a new season, coming alive!

It stands to reason that the month of May was named for the Greek goddess, Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May.

For the partiers among us, as every bar and club owner is grateful for, we all look forward to having fun, a.k.a. "Goin' nuts!", on Cinco de Mayo.

This leads to ... when you think of May, you think of parties, coming to life ... indoors as well as outdoors ... in someone's living room, an auditorium, or on the beach, or in the woods. ... You think of dancing! ... by yourself, or in a group circle.

For all you dancers, that's everyone of us ... from the beginner ballet student ... to the night club socialite ... to the solitary, closed-bedroom-door dancer ... to the professional dancer, you are maybe aware of how Functional Movement Education can improve your dancing mobility. Its enhanced coordination development, Functional Movement Education has even helped to prolong the life of professional dancers' careers.

It's always a pleasure to see how Functional Movement Education can wonderfully, gently soften or open up a dancer's hips, as well as give them a greater sense of refined, quality movement within their dancing repertoire.

The merits of Movement Education for injury prevention are well known within the dance world. In addition to consistently being mentioned within Dance Magazine for the last 35 years, just take a look at a fraction of the total Research that has been done, below, which references the benefits of Movement Education for improving dancing, some even being Peer-Reviewed.

Batson, Glenna. Revisiting Overuse Injuries in Dance in View of Motor Learning and Somatic Models of Distributed Practice. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science 2007, Vol. 11 Issue 3, p70 6p. Peer Reviewed.
Ryding C. Rudebeck CE. Mattsson B. Body awareness in movement and language: concordance and disparity. [Journal Article: Research] Advances in Physiotherapy. 2004; 6(4): 158-65. (18 ref). Peer Reviewed

Bruce, F.M. Making sense in movement : the dynamics of self-learning and self-change. [Microform Thesis or Dissertation] Kinesiology Publications, University of Oregon Eugene, OR, 2004, 3 microfiche (234 fr.)

Nordin, Sanna M., Cumming, Jennifer. The Development of Imagery in Dance. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science 2006, Vol. 10 Issue 1/2, p21 7p. Peer Reviewed.

Phillips-Silver, Jessica. On the Meaning of Movement in Music, Development and the Brain. Contemporary Music Review, 2009, Vol. 28(3): 293-314.

If you are interested in how I, as an Injury Rehab Therapist as well as hands-on Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, can give your body the sensory-motor experience of being able to dance more gracefully and efficiently, please call me at tel. 310-395-1952.
I look forward to meeting and working with you.

"Health is all that Matters!" The best in health to you!

Happy May!

James

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The "2-Minute Functional Movement Education Miracle" to Free Up Your Stiff Neck

Dear health enthusiast friend!

Greetings to you!

I am happy to report to you that my video which I produced and uploaded onto YouTube in order to help you combat neck pain and neck stiffness, titled The "2-Minute Functional Movement Education Miracle" to Free Up Your Stiff Neck, has now passed the 10,000 mark!

Since I originally put this video up on YouTube last summer, I am honored with "10,000 hits", rather, 10,000 viewers have tuned in to it.

I am elated that 10,000 of you have allowed me to come in to your homes in order to help you take better care of your body. I thank you for your trust.

My neck video can be seen at the following URL address on YouTube.:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9p7_XPK6lM

Please feel free to continue to use my video for your great health and comfort.

After all, as my motto since the 90's pervades, "Health is all that Matters!"
For a healthy, full, 40-minute, hands-on, uplifting, Functional Movement Education treatment by me to completely address your neck or back pain, please contact me at tel. 310-395-1952.

FYI. I might add that a full 40-minute Functional Movement Education treatment has been proven to do wonders for combating your neck pain as has been scientifically validated and documented in the following, eye-opening, four Peer-Reviewed Scientific Journal Publications.:

Ruth S, Kegerreis S. Facilitating Cervical Flexion Using a Feldenkrais Method: Awareness Through Movement. Journal of Sports and Physical Therapy16(1): 25-29, 1992. Peer Reviewed.
Lundblad I. Elert J. Gerdle B. Randomized controlled trial of physiotherapy and Feldenkrais interventions in female workers with neck-shoulder complaints. [Journal Article: Clinical Trial] Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 1999 Sep; 9(3): 179-94. (46 ref). Peer Reviewed.

Emerich KA. Nontraditional tools helpful in the treatment of certain types of voice disturbances. [23 refs]. [Journal Article. Review. Review: Tutorial] Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head & Neck Surgery. 11(3):149-53, 2003 Jun. Peer Reviewed.Miller TM. Decision Making Processes of Physical Therapists and Feldenkrais Practitioners. PhD dissertation, Temple University, 2007; Advisors: Shepard KF, Stephens J, Hack L.

Please feel free to forward on this spectacular information pertaining to Peer-Reviewed Research, as well as my YouTube neck video, to any of your friends, family, or associates that are currently experiencing neck issues and you feel could greatly benefit from learning how to alleviate their neck pain and stiffness.Please remember for any activity you choose to enjoy or safely indulge in, that I am your "Safety Buffer". Subsequently, "Sometimes even a Mercedes needs a tune-up". :-)

I can give you the sensory-motor experience of being able to move easily and comfortably without pain!

Call me to enjoy your wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating Movement Education session today at tel. 310-395-1952.

Say, Hello! to Relaxing, and Goodbye! to Stiffness and Pain.

All the best to you in great health!

James

Monday, March 17, 2014

Dr. Andrew Weil, MD, on Feldenkrais

Dear health enthusiast friend!

Springtime greetings to you! The beautiful Spring has definitely arrived here into our marvelous SoCal playground! Although we are fortunate to be able to relish in relatively nice weather all year round, now, especially, you can enjoy walking, running, hiking, swimming, surfing, playing tennis, basketball, or even horse-play with your children (or grandchildren), preferably outside.

Some of you are familiar with the renown natural health advocate, Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. I am grateful how Dr. Weil has frequently espoused the virtues and health benefitis of Feldenkrais since the 1990’s in his popular newsletter, “Self Healing”, as well as within his article, "The Feldenkrais Method: Moving with Ease", which he published in 1998.Dr. Weil often recommends trying Feldenkrais for the treatment of several kinds of injuries.

I am honored to share with you one of his most recent articles, "The Feldenkrais Method", 2011. Just click on the URL link below.http://www.feldenkraiscentre.com/pdfs/Weil2011.pdf

Please remember that when resuming any new activity that you’ve been away from for a while, to always play within your fun range of comfort when you first start out again. If you find that you have otherwise "overdone it", please feel free to call upon me for a relaxing, healing Movement Education treatment.

"Sometimes even a Mercedes needs a tune-up". :-)

Happy Spring! Enjoy the awesome sunshine!

All the best to you in great health!

James

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Life can be a playground!

Greetings to you my health enthusiast friends!

Hey guys, check out this inspiring video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUf72dLf22c (7 minutes 49 seconds)

Neverleavetheplayground.com Growing Bolder Video InterviewLook how youthful and agile this attractive man in his early 70's, "Steve Jepson", looks, feels, moves, and acts.

There's obviously something to "playing", that is, to take any type of activity or action and see how you can spin a different variety to it. The bottom line is for you to have fun in what you're doing.

A great attitude on life, with the energy of a young man in his 20's, look how creative and innovative this eclectic guy, Steve Jepson, is!

He's got an interesting website at www.neverleavetheplayground.com.

If some of Steve's activities seem too intense or difficult, as an alternative, you can start out and do, as he says, just a little of it. As long as you are having fun, that in itself is good enough.

As Steve infers, you can design the course that he is seen using, or the toys that he is seen playing with, or the other objects that he is seen exploring and having fun with, to be smaller or shorter or lighter or slower, etc.

If you want to eventually do more, you can progress gradually, easily, and comfortably, little by little, at your own leisurely pace.

If you need help in learning how to re-design or revise your, rather than saying "workout routine", but instead, as I like to refer to it, your "funtime play activity groove", I can help you with this.

Please feel free to contact me at tel. 310-395-1952.

All the best to you in great health! Take good care,

James

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Functional Movement Education bodywork for the Holidays

Dear friend!

A big holiday greetings to you!

Here it is. ... Here we are! ... Our soon encroaching holiday season! This special time of year brings us all wonderful festivities, gatherings, and opportunities to reunite with our beloved families-at-large, as well as dear friends. However, with all the rustle-and-bustle of the holiday event/party season can sometimes also bring about overwhelm and stress. As a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, that’s where I come in.

As an Injury Rehab Therapist, the people that enjoy seeing me are those interested in the wonderful Neuromuscular Rehabilitation benefits of Functional Movement Education bodywork for their acute and chronic pain in the neck, back, shoulder, wrist, knee and hip.

In addition, many people also enjoy seeing me in order to "De-stress". That is, they look forward to their own established private, quality time, that they have decided to dedicate to themselves, for my soothing Movement Education sessions in order to relax, rejuvenate and feel great all over ... especially now, during the hectic holidays.

Regarding the benefits of receiving my Functional Movement Education work for alleviating stress, I often enjoy sharing with new clients the following two, Peer-Reviewed, articles.:1. Malmgren-Olsson E. Armelius B. Armelius K. A comparative outcome study of body awareness therapy, Feldenkrais , and conventional physiotherapy for patients with nonspecific musculoskeletal disorders: changes in psychological symptoms, pain, and self-image. [Journal Article: Research, Tables/Charts] Physiotherapy Theory and Practice. 2001 Jun; 17(2): 77-95. (55 ref). Peer Reviewed.

2. Johnson SK, Frederick J, Kaufman M, Mountjoy B. A controlled investigation of bodywork in multiple sclerosis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 5(3): 237-43, 1999. Results show lower perceived stress after Feldenkrais sessions compared to a sham intervention control group. Peer Reviewed.I also have Sunday appointment times available! Let my hands relieve and refresh you on your precious day off.Please feel free to contact me to schedule a Movement Education session at tel. 310-395-1952.Holiday Gift Certificates available!The best of holidays to all!

James

Saturday, September 28, 2013

What I Do as a Functional Movement Educator

Please click here for a video introduction for "What I Do as a Functional Movement Educator"

Thank you for coming here to my blogspot. :-) Please let me start by saying that my background to become a Functional Movement Education Therapist, I completed a 4-year training in order to become a Practitioner of the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, he being the famed Israeli neuro-physiologist. The curriculum included 1600 hours of course work, spread over 4 years, which is necessary before a student finally “gets it”. In this light, let’s explore together what I as a Functional Movement Education Therapist do. ...

Are you able to recognize an approaching acquaintance long before you can see his or her face? The way we move is an identifiable part of who we are.

We, as human beings, enjoy movement. We love to move. Babies love to move. They love to learn. It’s within the innate desire and curiosity of a child (and adult) to learn about themselves and their environment. They enjoy to learn how to, for instance, roll, turn, bend, walk, or run. It’s within our being the natural desire for rotation or rotating, flexing, extending, twisting or other kinds of movements.

Functional Movement Education is about learning. It’s a way to learn. However, in order for someone to learn, it has to be fun and interesting to the individual, as well as comfortable. Thus, trying to, say, abruptly do a somersault or roll on the ground, or to strain by forcing your hands to touch your toes with locked knees, if this is uncomfortable, your Self (your body) is not learning.

Clients originally come to me because of an injury … a back or neck injury, joint pain in the shoulder, wrist, elbow, knee or other orthopedic problem.

As a Functional Movement Education Therapist, I do not directly go in with the intention to “fix” the other person or to even change the other person. However, I stay in tune with the “process”. I do the “process”. As part of the “process”, I am always staying observant, to be observant or aware, of the “process” that is happening or continues to occur between myself and the client before me. By me, as the Functional Movement Educator, being engaged in this “process”, this ultimately has wonderful therapeutic results, such as eliminating pain or improving the quality of life function, actions, or activities for the client.

As I am working with a client before me, the following are questions that continue to reverberate in my thinking as I am engaged in the process, or "working" in my relation to the client.:

"How can we 'dance' together? ... How can we move together? ... How do we move together? ... What movement is it that we want to do together? What is it (from preventing us) from moving together? What do I put out? What energy do I put out? Where do they meet me? ..."

"Where my hands currently are on this person, rather, from where I'm currently working, what else within this person moves? ... How much of them goes along with this movement? Where along them does this movement stop? How can I 'catch' the rest of themselves within this movement? ... Are we dancing together differently? ..." "As I push here, how much or how far does this movement or action trickle along them? ..."

I may or may not get immediate answers, or, at least, no cognitive or articulate answers to my questions. This is very typical. As part of the process that I am engaged in, I continue to move or “dance” with the individual, or continue to see where I can dance or move with this person, continuing to re-circulate these kinds of questions.

A physical example of what I do would be the following. A client comes to me complaining of back pain. I ask the client to lie down on my table on their back with supporting rollers placed under their bent knees for further comfort. I am having them lie down in order to give their body the opportunity to be taken out of their habitual pattern of holding or tension while upright, in order to make them more comfortable, so that they can be more open to Learning.

Questions that begin to pervade my thinking as I am engaged with this person are.:

"What am I attracted to or drawn to within this person? ... What catches my eye? ... What 'dance' do I wish to do? What dance do we wish to do together? Where does this person want me to touch them? ... to dance with them? ... to move with them?"

Sometimes, I might be drawn to the shoulder area. Yes, the shoulder, even though the client complained of back pain. As I "work" the shoulder, I allow myself to stay aware and observant of where does this shoulder wish to move? Where does it want to go? How much of the rest of the person comes along with this movement of the shoulder?

Where within them, how can I "catch" the rest of their body within this movement? I may then move to another place that I am drawn to. I decide to lift their leg. As I lift, what else of this individual is connected to this movement? I continue to move and dance with the individual and allow myself to remain aware and observant of the process.

After a session, a client will sometimes say how she was surprised that I never touched her back but her "back pain" is gone now. Again, I don't "fix", or rather, I don't go in with the intention to fix. However, this Functional Movement Education work, a.k.a. movement education, this cultivation of body awareness, brings therapeutic benefits. Thus, it ultimately brings helpful results or fixes.

Another word we Functional Movement Education Therapists use is to refer to this session with a client as a session for improving "Functionality". Note how I continue to use the words Functional, Functionality, or their derivatives. We are working with a person's functionality, or how they function, how they move or act. Functional Movement Education is functional work. It is not structural work. We Functional Movement Educators don't have the direct intention to change or manipulate a person’s structure, albeit, their physical anatomy. This may happen ultimately, but it is not my direct intention. The functional work is unlike other structural workers such as, for instance, rolfers, who's intention is to manipulate or work the fascia structure of an individual, or the chiropractor, who manipulates or adjusts bone placement.

Every single Functional Movement Education session is different. Each session is customized to the individual. Each individual, each individual's body, his or her needs, is unique, just as each snowflake.

As a Functional Movement Educator, using my hands-on tactical feedback, I help to expand a client's kinesthetic, or bodily, awareness of themselves. By a person encompassing more of themselves, rather, a greater self-image, pain or discomfort is eliminated.Conclusively, I have given this individual the sensory-motor experience of moving easily, rather, what it is like to move effortlessly without strain or discomfort. Thus, they now have a better “organized” body for movement. Having a better organization, they are now pain-free. They have learned a new pattern for movement.

Some of the conditions I have successfully treated include:
Acute and chronic joint pain - including back, neck, shoulder, hip, and knee pain, arthritis, sciatica, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, balance issues, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, as well as other orthopedic or neurological conditions.

As a keyboardist, as well as former all-state trumpet player and all-county cross-country runner, I especially enjoy working with musicians and athletes, for enlarging their body and self-awareness to enhance performance. I was previously honored to have presented Movement Education, twice, to the International Association of Fitness Professionals (IDEA) at their 1996 and 1997 World Fitness Expo & Conventions, as well as at the 1996 North American Feldenkrais Guild conference.

If you haven't already, you may be interested in viewing a short, 2-minute video of me (made within a full, 45-minute session) working with a client, by clicking on the link above.

Please feel free to contact me for any further questions you might have.

Your first Functional Movement Education session with me:

Functional Movement Education is a wonderful, body-centered method for self-exploration using movement. I recommend to my clients to wear loose, comfortable clothes. You will find that this special form of bodywork is very relaxing. In fact, you’ll probably find that as a result of the pleasant unwinding experienced, your body begins to slow down. Therefore, you may have a tendency to more easily feel cold during a session. For this reason, you probably do not want to wear shorts. Thus, I recommend you wear long pants. Some clients like to wear sweats.

Also, you may want to wear socks and possibly even a sweat shirt if you might need, otherwise, to avoid feeling cold.

After the session, you will be in a nice, calm, relaxed state. Some clients after receiving my work desire some quiet time afterward to be by themselves to be alone. This may be as little as 15 minutes, or substantially longer. After your session, your body is still continuing to nicely process the “lesson” for some time afterward. Therefore, you probably don’t want to do anything especially hectic or active, or any heavy lifting, after a session. Preferably, you may want to wait until the next day before doing anything especially active as your body continues to process. However, living in today’s fast times, within our fast, familial and societal obligatory world, this isn’t always possible. Therefore, I usually tell clients to at least not do anything especially active for at least 3 hours after a session.

Clients ask me about "working out", or a "workout", afterward. I tell them that it’s better if they work out before they see me, and then they have the nice, relaxing session with me to look forward to afterward. This is more productive than the opposite, that is, to receive my work and then to immediately afterward go out and do a rigorous workout.

However, I should add that if you have decided for yourself that it is imperative that you work out, and there is no other time to schedule your workout than for after a session with me, then, fine. Receiving my work before working out and then working out afterward, … this is probably better for you than only solely working out and never receiving any Functional Movement Education work at all.

Come on in and enjoy!

The best of health to all!
James

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