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Video about the Integrative Learning Center

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Got #pain? Think there is nothing you can do about it? No so. #feldenkraismethod #bonesforlife #somaticeducation

7 Aug
 
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Somatic education approaches such as the Feldenkrais Method, Bones for Life, Alexander Technique and many others can make a big difference.  Read the science behind pain and three ways out of it.

 

http://toddhargrove.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/seven-things-you-should-know-about-pain-science/

 

http://toddhargrove.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/strategies-to-reduce-chronic-pain-part-one/

 

P.S. we have workshops that enable you to change your pain patterns.

 

http://integrativelearningcenter.org/workshops.htm

 

 

 

 

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Stack your bones| age gracefully| fantastic video #bonesforlife

6 Jun

Incredible video on importance of stacking your bones instead of focusing on muscle. 

So wish we would have thought of this video as it is what Bones for Life is all about. Well, well done.


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Bang a drum...while you carry it on your head--while you walk. #physical therapy #bonesforlife #feldenkrais #gait

16 May

Bones for Life exercises are inspired in large part by the African water carrier's gait.  Rhythm is not only a key aspect of gait, but also pleasure in life. Rhythm is often overlooked in settings such physical therapy, rehab or even learning in the elementary classroom.  Yet active engaging rhythm in voice, hands, or feet (better yet all at once) is very powerful in creating the space for new or improved function and engagement in the world. 

Here we see and hear, load bearing through the head, walking, and incredible music.  Enjoy.

 

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Hear What Arizona Has To Say About the Integrative Learning Center, Cynthia Allen and Bones for Life

30 Apr
 
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Bones for Life is a useful way to learn about habits and/or limitations and how to use movement to improve posture, balance, flexibility, and health.
–Amy Alexander, Tempe, AZ

Bones for Life is a series of movements and breath work that connects your body to the center and to the earth. This gives strength back to the individual and to their body, creating strength for positive change.
–Debbie Peterson, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is an effective program for building self awareness and easy and pain free movements in everyday life.
–Elizabeth Keith, Scottsdale, AZ

Bones for Life is a comprehensive teaching of moving and aligning all the bones of the body efficiently and fluidly to maintain their health and vitality.
–Mary Billingsly, Littleton, CO

Bones for Life offers experiences to discover how we can align, balance, and move our bodies to feel and awaken to our natural possibilities.
–Linda Richard, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a set of exercises that emphasizes how to be tall with a spring in your joints. It’s beneficial for people who want to feel better when they move, and especially for people who want to understand how to move with more vitality. This can help people who range from couch potato to the very active.
–Colette Claude, Prescott, AZ

Bones for Life is a focus on how our human skeleton determines our relationship with gravity. Changes to our movement patterns usually happen outside of our conscious awareness. Bones for Life exercises help us become aware of our movement options.
–Philip Gibbs, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a process of movement and breath work where you respect your individual idiosyncrasies. Elongating and aligning the spinal processes assists in natural bone stability and flexibility so that it becomes a spontaneous inner process.
–Donna Adler, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a method of somatic education that uses sensory experience, awareness and movement to allow for improved alignment,  flexibility, stability, and use of force that bones needs to be strong and health.
–Shannon Kolman, Golden, CO

Bones for Life is a program of gentle physical practices that offer opportunities for whole body improvement while placing focus on individual areas of the body and allowing feedback to the whole being using breathing, touching and attention to alignment.
–Pat Sands, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a somatic learning system to help you discover your personal movement patterns. It helps you become aware of how variations in movement and posture can change the sensations you experience and the amount of effort you feel is used when moving.
–Joanne Beitlich, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is somatic movement to enhance bone health. 
–Joan Taylor, Scottsdale, AZ

Bones for Life consists of exercises and activities that improve my daily athletic endeavors and just plain standing in line.
–Karen Kwong, Tempe, AZ

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The science of #pain. Share your personal understanding and experience. #Feldenkrais #bonesforlife #alexander #somatics

28 Apr

Reconceptualizeing Pain According to Modern Pain Science
 
An incredibly valuable article on the science or lack of science around chronic pain and solutions. 
 
This was my posted comment:

In my personal experience with chronic pain and in working with clients with chronic pain, the approach of lowering the excitation or alarm systems while finding small ways to actually move has a positive effect in most cases. This correlates to the above statement “If CRPS is an exaggerated protective response, then it seems sensible to devise treatment that aims first to find a baseline that is sufficiently conservative to not elicit the unwanted protective responses (to ‘get under the radar’), and second to expose the limb gradually to threat while continuing to avoid elicitation of the unwanted responses.”

Most somatic approaches such as the Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, Bones for Life, Rosen, Body Mind Centering etc. specialize in this dance between lowering the threat threshold while introducing movement. I hope these approaches will be thoroughly studied for chronic pain in the future. To date, I believe studies are quite small involving somatics. In my practice, I know a client is improving–usually about the 3rd visit or so when they say something like– “I still hurt over here, but this week I felt incredible ease while I was walking.” This tells me the attention is starting to widen and less focused on pain. Pleasant sensations are starting to become part of the equation. The habitual loop in the CNS is changing.

What's your experience?

Cynthia Allen

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What is Bones for Life? 15 new students speak out plus fun pics.

12 Apr

Bones for Life consists of exercises and activities that improve my daily athletic endeavors and just plain standing in line. –Karen Kwong, Tempe, AZ

Bones for Life is a useful way to learn about habits and/or limitations and how to use movement to improve posture, balance, flexibility, and health. –Amy Alexander, Tempe, AZ

Bones for Life is a series of movements and breath work that connects your body to the center and to the earth. This gives strength back to the individual and to their body, creating strength for positive change. –Debbie Peterson, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is an effective program for building self awareness and easy and pain free movements in everyday life. –Elizabeth Keith, Scottsdale, AZ

Bones for Life is a comprehensive teaching of moving and aligning all the bones of the body efficiently and fluidly to maintain their health and vitality. –Mary Billingsly, Littleton, CO

Bones for Life offers experiences to discover how we can align, balance, and move our bodies to feel and awaken to our natural possibilities. –Linda Richard, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a set of exercises that emphasizes how to be tall with a spring in your joints. It’s beneficial for people who want to feel better when they move, and especially for people who want to understand how to move with more vitality. This can help people who range from couch potato to the very active. –Colette Claude, Prescott, AZ

Bones for Life is a focus on how our human skeleton determines our relationship with gravity. Changes to our movement patterns usually happen outside of our conscious awareness. Bones for Life exercises help us become aware of our movement options. –Philip Gibbs, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a process of movement and breath work where you respect your individual idiosyncrasies. Elongating and aligning the spinal processes assists in natural bone stability and flexibility so that it becomes a spontaneous inner process. –Donna Adler, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a method of somatic education that uses sensory experience, awareness and movement to allow for improved alignment,  flexibility, stability, and use of force that bones needs to be strong and health. –Shannon Kolman, Golden, CO

Bones for Life is a program of gentle physical practices that offer opportunities for whole body improvement while placing focus on individual areas of the body and allowing feedback to the whole being using breathing, touching and attention to alignment. –Pat Sands, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is a somatic learning system to help you discover your personal movement patterns. It helps you become aware of how variations in movement and posture can change the sensations you experience and the amount of effort you feel is used when moving. –Joanne Beitlich, Phoenix, AZ

Bones for Life is somatic movement to enhance bone health.  Joan Taylor, Scottsdale, AZ

(download)

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Bones for Life #Cincinnati just completed. #Phoenix in April is next! See pics; read their comments; #PT CEUs

7 Mar
Cynthia Allen just finished introducing a small group of folks to Bones for Life in a 3 day workshop. Some came with minor intrigue but all left with great results and a desire for more!  Here are some of the comments:

"This is an amazing program that is well organized and well taught.  Goals are clear and no time is wasted.  Thank you!"

"Cynthia makes learning interesting as well as fun.  She is loving and supportive of everyone's needs".

"I enjoyed the process and the learning to honor self.  Cynthia has a unique ability to sense peoples needs; that's a gift."

"Bones for Life is for anyone who want to be able to navigate in the world safely, efficiently and comfortably."

"As an instructor, Cynthia is phenomenal, superb, able to navigate the multi-dimensional worlds this work delves into."

"I experienced Cynthia as a generous, informed, articulate teacher with a light, humorous, inclusive way of teaching and making us feel comfortable."

"I want to thank you for the wonderful and enlightening class.  Your support and relaxed attention to our focus and interaction with the group, helped my awareness expand exponentially.  When I worked out regularly, form in an exercise was always key to the “proper” outcome.  I really had to work to relax, both body and brain into this new physical concept through minuet and “acceptable” movements.  A paradox and an oxymoron for me! You were very skilled and smart in the compassionate way you avoided sharing your perception, of our perceptions.   Still, you worked with us when necessary to help us experience and feel for ourselves."

(download)

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Ta! Da! Our video, The Seed, on our mission/vision is now ready for your to view.

2 Dec

 We hope you will take a few minutes to view and listen. So many people contributed to this project! We have alot going on and wanted to capture as much of it as possible. Who knows you may see someone you know (maybe yourself) and get some needed inspiration. 

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Okay, now that was fun! Introduction to #somatics for 30 of #Xavier University's Special Education Faculty members.Kathy & I rocked...

14 Aug
Kathy Krebs and I rocked teaching Bouncing on Heels and Crossed Arms from Bones for Life and a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lesson on rotation in standing. The follow-up sharing, awareness, and interest was fantastic. What a great group of teachers, Dr. Sharon Merrill has in her program. It was so easy to pull forward principles of somatic education based on comments. There were some great questions on classroom application and if I do say so myself, some great ideas (given we had only a few minutes for that part).  The hunger in the room for more was almost palpable.  Thank you Xavier Special Ed!  Thank you Kathy Krebs!  Thank you Sharon Merrill!

In May of 2011, three of us will be co-teaching a 20 classroom hrs workshop in Xavier's summer program.  All this action is an outgrowth of a small interdisciplinary think group that formed almost a year ago to ask the question, "How can somatics be mainstreamed into the classroom?" 

Currently engaging in this Cincinnati based-discussion (and now action) group besides myself are Donna Lilley, Physical Therapist and Feldenkrais practitioner; Kathy Krebs, Occupational Therapist (and future Bones for Life Teacher), Sharon Merrill, Director of Xavier's Special Education Programs, Eileen Frechette a teacher/therapeutic educator with a great background in all kinds of things including Waldorf's way of teaching, and Jane Patty an early intervention childhood specialist.

This is not taking Feldenkrais practitioners or Bones for Life teachers into schools.  Nor is it turning teachers into somatic educators but instead examining ways to give teachers rich, deep learning experiences so they might embody the principles of somatic education with ease throughout the learning experience. What is so incredibly exciting about this is we have what we believe is an unprecedented opportunity to put somatics into three basic courses required for all new teachers, such as Human Growth and Development, as well as courses required for recertification. 

If anyone else out there has had the chance to do this and has some experiences to share, we would love to hear from you!

Rarely does a top-down opportunity like this arise.  And in the case of classrooms, it is so important that there is support throughout the school system for teachers to have what they need to make such a substantial leap in creating an organic learning environment. Classrooms have become pressure cookers for teachers as funds decrease, students are continually changing in and out due to open enrollment/charter school fallout or our increasingly mobile society, and standardized testing requirements.

We are imagining a future for making the teaching and learning experience easier, increasingly enjoyable, and with better outcomes for all.  Are you interesting that sharing that dream?

We highly value discussion, ideas and enthusiasm...we will also gratefully accept donations to fund this project. 

One of the goals of Integrative Learning Center is to bring together disciplines for creative thinking and new answers to old or emerging challenges.  If the program development were not new, if we weren't team teaching, funding would not be so important.  But this is new and time intensive. Out of sheer practicality, there is a limit to how many hours can be handled on a volunteer basis. The better the funding, the bigger chance we have of rolling out a program over the next three-five years that will sustain itself and become a model or jumping off point for other universities.
submitted by Cynthia Allen

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Walk Like an Upside-Down Pendulum

13 Aug

 

Look at the apparent ease with which this African woman at left carries her load. Of course, it isn’t easy, yet studies show Luo and Kikuyu women are supremely well organized, even outperforming male U.S. soldiers with loaded rucksacks. She can carry up to 20% of her body weight on her head before she begins to need more oxygen or burn additional calories. 

Just to put this in context, if you weigh 150 pounds, this means you would be carrying 30 pounds. Can you imagine balancing even 20 pounds on your head and, say, walking around the block? Much less without gasping for additional air? Scientists call the capacity to carry this weight without needing more air "carrying for free." In fact, she may add to her load up to 50% or more of her body weight and head into town. While her "free energy" zone has been passed, she will still carry her load at a lower metabolic cost to herself than to you or even to our beloved Army guys and gals.

In the 1990s gait researchers mapped the movement of the human center of mass in space and discovered the trajectory is like that of an upside-down pendulum swinging. Instead of a curve down, it curves upward with the crest being at the point when you are completely balanced on one foot and the other foot has lifted away from the ground and is swinging forward.

In the change over between steps, most of us will lose height faster than

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