The Feldenkrais Method®
with Ralph Strauch

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Living in Gravity

Workshop DVDs exploring balance
in sitting, standing, and walking,
and in transition between them

We live within the field of gravity. Much of the effort we expend in life goes toward dealing with that gravity -- toward keeping ourselves upright in and moving within that field. And much of that effort is unnecessary.

We think of life as hard work, so we work harder at it than necessary. We unconsciously carry ourselves slightly off balance most of the time, constantly tensing to keep from falling over. In the process, we lose touch with the natural balance and fluidity that are our natural birthright.

This workshop will help you recover that natural balance -- through attending to the experience of sitting, standing, and walking, and of the transitions between them. You will gain greater awareness of your support from the ground, and how to allow that support to guide your movements -- from sitting to standing and into moving about it the world. You will rediscover how your body was meant to move, and experience the ease and fluidity that more natural movement offers.

Living in Gravity is available in two formats

book cover

The basic edition contains the half-day workshop described above, exploring the theme of Living in Gravity. (One DVD, approximately 2 hours.) This edition should be useful to anyone seeking to enhance their balance and ease of movement.

book cover

The professional edition includes second DVD containing advanced training for Feldenkrais Practitioners that builds on and extends the basic workshop. This training explores the theme of Skeletal Support in Functional Integration, with additional focus on deepening the sensitivity with which practitioners connect to and interact with their clients, and on the changes that can produce in the Functional Integration experience for both client and practitioner. This edition should be of value to Feldenkrais and other somatic practitioners interested in better understanding how to facilitate grounding and skeletal support in their practices.

The price is $35 for the basic edition (workshop alone) or $70 for the professional edition containing the additional advanced training.

Buy Living in Gravity basic edition -- $35

Buy Living in Gravity Professional Edition -- $70

You can find additional discussion of some of these ideas in my article on Connecting with the Earth and in my blog series on The experience of being grounded.

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Both DVDs are divided into sections and subsections, as indicated below, to make them easy to navigate. This lets you easily return to and re-experience material that you wish to explore further.

Skeletal Support in FI -- 1:54:01
(Feldenkrais advanced training DVD)

Section 1 -- 28:16
  • support as a theme -- 2:03
  • lifting through the spine -- 3:28
  • sensing into the body -- 6:32
  • learning to sense more -- 4:23
  • Fl - sensing into body -- 3:46
  • feeling subtle change -- 3:34
  • Fl - switch partners -- 0:49
  • broadening your focus -- 3:36
Section 2 -- 34:31
  • seeing in the dark -- 5:28
  • the conjoined system -- 10:05
  • Fl - conjoined system -- 2:38
  • ask different questions -- 3:09
  • Fl - different questions -- 1:19
  • finding trajectories -- 3:17
  • more Fl practice -- 6:52
  • discuss FI practice -- 1:41
Section 3 -- 29:29
  • non-verbal knowing -- 2:01
  • diagnosis & treatment -- 2:00
  • ending the lesson -- 4:08
  • integration into life -- 3:30
  • Fl - skeletal path -- 6:23
  • using the spine to lift -- 5:36
  • computer stress -- 1:52
  • rocks in a backpack -- 3:53
Section 4 -- 21:28
  • support from the table -- 1:42
  • Fl - theme of support -- 3:09
  • sitting in chairs -- 2:46
  • lightness and grounding -- 1:20
  • pushing into the ground -- 4:22
  • shifting weight to stand -- 1:18
  • walking on ice -- 3:44
  • rigidity is not stability -- 3:23
Living in Gravity DVD -- 2:05:10

introduction -- 02:07

sitting balance -- 23:51
  • living in gravity -- 1:39
  • balance in sitting -- 1:43
  • using your spine -- 2:26
  • moving your ribcage -- 2:53
  • being six years old -- 2:35
  • separating your legs -- 3:47
  • why you held them still -- 5:04
  • shifting into your feet -- 3:44
sitting to standing -- 41:06
  • shifting into standing -- 1:48
  • sit-to-stand transition -- 6:04
  • the urge not to listen -- 1:19
  • feedback from your legs -- 5:43
  • "working hard" -- 3:39
  • listening to pain -- 5:54
  • current information -- 2:49
  • getting out of a car -- 1:16
  • listening to the chair -- 5:47
  • forces through your spine -- 3:27
  • awareness & consciousness -- 3:17
walking -- 30:08
  • standing weight-shift -- 5:40
  • walk by shifting weight -- 3:41
  • hurrying -- 1:22
  • discussion of walking -- 4:41
  • why tense when we hurry? -- 5:41
  • attorney story -- 2:26
  • stack of spools -- 1:37
  • walking with an empty foot -- 4:57
discussion -- 30:04
  • shifting neurological control -- 3:08
  • one thing at a time -- 4:21
  • why awareness matters -- 3:13
  • tight thighs & knee problems -- 4:30
  • walking with a cane -- 2:39
  • moving your SI joints -- 2:34
  • summing up -- 5:44
  • physical and emotional support -- 3:54

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