Ash’s first Awareness Through Movement Series

I recived an email mid-way through my last series, Your Summer Anchor which really struck me. A new student, Ash wrote:

“Your class is having a profound impact on my life, I'm grateful”

I was touched and asked her if she would be open to share more about her experience. She wrote such a comprehensive and beautiful explanation that I wanted to share it. She shows how Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® has a deep and layered impact on life:

Here’s Ash sharing about her experience:

“Structural: I am experiencing physical structural changes. When I lay down to do my daily body-on-the-ground work, far more of my back is touching the ground. I think my posture in general has improved. Also I am incorporating some of the movements that you have us do in class daily because they felt so good to do.

Cognitive—Positive Introject: I am surprised by how willing my brain has been to "take in," "internalize" your particular voice (the words, inflections, timbre), which has been helpful because the way you communicate in the class is a voice that the inner kid really needs to hear, and I've been able to let your voice influence what my own inner voices sound like. My inner voices like your voice—they want to imitate it!

Cognitive—Reframing: The idea to "do less" pairs perfectly with my own recent motto "we don't struggle" and when I discern a moment to do less, and then do less, I often find that I can "do more."

Curiosity: I have found other body work group classes (especially yoga) to be consistently retraumatizing or activating in a negative way. The experience of attending a body-based group class that feels good makes me want to experience others and engage my body more.

Nonspecific therapeutic benefits: E.g. being with a group; focus; looking forward to something; learning something new; identity bolstering ("I am a person who goes to an important class on Mondays this summer")”

-Ash Martin, LMSW, is a psychotherapist in Brooklyn, New York.