Monthly Archives: December 2015

Cultivating a Growth Mindset

You probably first researched the Feldenkrais Method® because you wanted to change. Maybe you wanted one of your knees to be more reliable in walking. Or to diminish back pain so you could run with pleasure.

You might have an explanation about why the problem exists. Like your age. Or because you have a particular skeletal pattern like scoliosis. Or because your gym teacher said you weren’t athletic.

Cultivate a growth mindset: we all had one when we were children.Feldenkrais practitioner John Tarr wrote an excellent blog, “Growth Mindset and Movement,”  about the importance of believing you can change. Which means letting go of those explanations, your familiar stories, and creating  space for something different with a growth mindset. He writes, “. .  the march of time and fate do bring about irreversible changes, but often we are not fully using the potential we still have.” We can investigate this potential by cultivating curiosity, enjoying investigation and discovery the way we did as children.

John’s blog cites Carol Dweck, author of the book Mindset, and Maria Popova‘s summary on Brain Pickings. Read his complete blog here.

Making the Floor Your Friend

When was the last time you lay on the floor? Do you remember how delicious it felt to be completely supported and feel effort gradually drop away?

Stacy Barrows, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Feldenkrais Practitioner, wrote an excellent blog about the value of using the floor for more than getting from one place to another.

Stacy Barrows, PT, GCFP

Stacy Barrows, PT, GCFP

Stacy says:

“When I practice getting up and down off the floor, I’m building resilience in my musculoskeletal system. Being able to get up and down off the floor is an essential movement skill. It is not only one of the first things we learn as infants; it is one of the last things we want to lose as we age. In fact, the ability to get up and down from the floor is associated with greater longevity. People who do this regularly are counteracting the long-term effects of gravity and maintaining their proprioceptive abilities that are part of maintaining upright balance and navigating the world with less risk of falling.

Proprioception is how we sense where we are in space, and the speed and intensity with which we’re moving.

Read the rest of Stacy’s blog here, including tips for enticing your family to the floor.

And speaking of making friends with the floor, I can’t resist sharing this video of Baby Liv again. Babies don’t have to make friends with the floor. They love it!