Getting Back to the Why

It's been a busier week than most with almost every night this week being at my office until eight or 9 PM. I've also been swimming in details of how to best convey what I do to people in a new ad Ill have at a local grocery store. It is important to me to keep the heart of it at the forefront. I've also played around with sharing more on social media in order to help more people get out of pain. I did get results with two wonderful new people coming to group classes!

During this busyness I have reminded myself that it's important to have a pause and a rest in my routine, just as I teach those I work with. Research shows that after 45 minutes the brain stops focusing and that's why movement sessions are that length. If you were studying it's good to take breaks every 45 minutes, also, even if it's only for a five minute one to walk , stretch, check Facebook, or to listen to some tunes.

I've gotten clear this week on some actions I need to take where things are unsettled. I need to meditate on some. Yes, I'm a big supporter of meditating on bigger decisions or questions I have before taking action. I've been continuing the organizing part of my happiness project at home and have started at the office, too, which feels great! Yay!

I'm happy and pleased that one social media post asking if people had leg or knee pain and giving a mini movement experience resulted in those two new people I mentioned above. Both will be coming back. Which means more lives to be changed by this powerful work. I was wowed by the power of social media. To me it's not about the numbers (that's why I left working for a corporation). To me it's about the person and the life that that person has. This work matters to their heart, their happiness and their joy. A new person in my class or in a private session is not a number, it is a life potentially transformed (if they do their active part too...it's our daily habits that make or break us)!

One woman in her 80's who I have been seeing the past few months told me today that she has not felt this good in over seven years. She said that no one has been able to help her until she found me. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes and I could not help but to tell her how honored I am to be able to help create such a positive changes in her healing journey. Granted she is doing her movement homework & being aware, but I feel blessed as the facilitator. Things that might seem small like feeling more fluid with walking or being able to do stairs are huge for someone who hasn't been able to do that in a long time. The above the woman's husband said "Honey, you're walking like you did when we first met"! The couple has been married for over 50 years and he whistled at her as she walked down the hallway. What a priceless moment to witness!

Things such as getting back to back to gardening, sports, tying their shoes without difficulty, playing with their grandkids or getting rid of a limp they had since they were a teenager (and now they're in their 60s) happen all of the time with the work I do. One takeaway I got from the last abundance cube radio show was when Noam Kostucki said "share with people how good you are and talk the way your clients talk about you". When I heard that I know I have been being way too humble. Dramatic improvements in physical function occur, lasting change happens and people feel better than they have in years! They can do things they haven't done in years and they get more pleasure out of their activities to boot! It happens ALL THE TIME! It seems like a miracle but it's really not it's just working with the body and brain connections with options. Simple as that. Back to the heart of the ad: I guess I could advertise that I'll have your spouse whistling at your renewed and enlivened saunter and sway in your walk. [if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f> </v:formulas> <v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"></v:path> <o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"></o:lock> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_i1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:54pt;height:54pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:/Users/LisaDP/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.png" o:title=""></v:imagedata> </v:shape><![endif][if !vml][endif] lol [if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="mage-1-1024x768" style='width:111.75pt; height:111.75pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:/Users/LisaDP/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg" o:title="mage-1-1024x768"></v:imagedata> </v:shape><![endif][if !vml][endif]With it being Valentine's Day and all this weekend I decided to wear this crazy sparkly red headband with hearts atop springs sticking out of it. I got several laughs and smiles today. That may not seem like a big deal, but for one client who is dealing with major anxiety over a potentially serious health condition...that's a smile you could not have put a price on! I take my work very seriously AND I know how important laughter is. It is the pause or the rest and it adds zeal to our lives! My clients are committed to their healing journey and are courageous enough to do the awareness work that they learn with me. I feel blessed to have touched them with decreased pain, increased relaxation, transformation in movements, feeling good in their bodies again and the laughter and smiles that adorned their faces today. For one of my clients who may be facing surgery for a health issue I made it a point to not only connect with the movement work but also their spiritual side by reminding them that we are more than bodies. I shared with that client one of my favorite quotes "if you knew who walks beside you, you would not be afraid". Yes we calmed minds with laughter and breathing exercises but that took us to a deeper sense of truth and trust.

That is the reason I am committed to getting this work out because it is about the whole person. Feldenkrais is miraculous because of how it creates amazing changes in the brain and body with results that just happen. AND I put my own personal style and flavor into the work. it's my love, heart and compassion that I share in every interaction with my clients that also heals. Today I got to witness smiles, laughter, tears of joy, the melting away of anxiety, better walking, less pain and a remembrance of the Spirit beyond the body. WOW! What blessings to witness and be a part of. My pause for tonight includes gratitude for letting me serve you all. As I give love so I have received tenfold! After one of the most busiest weeks I've had I am still renewed and quite content. Do remember to take your own pauses and celebrate with sharing your love and laughter this Valentine's Day weekend! I have rented a romantic comedy as part of my pause for this evening.

This week's "power in the pause" is a simple breathing exercise. *first of all notice where you feel the movement of your breath. if you can place your hands on your abdomen and do several breaths just filling the abdomen. Your belly rises as you inhale/ Belly Falls as you exhale. Do that several cycles. *Now after you inhale into the belly, continue the inhalation into the chest. *Then exhale both the chest and belly simultaneously with an "AH" sound or sigh. Repeat this wave type breath of inhaling into the belly & continue into the chest and then exhale both with a sigh. * You can imagine the breath being a wave. and imagine healing washing over you with let the fresh oxygen pouring all over your body and massaging your heart space. * repeat that for several minutes rest and focus on the feeling you have in your heart. What do u feel?

That is the real "why" to be here...what's in your heart and to remember who you really are. It's love! Can you feel it? XO XO XO