Whole Healing, Elaine Clark, LMT

12/21/2024

"Functional Integration is essentially nonverbal. It is effective because the injured person […] has lost the ability to help himself. Their self-reliance is so compromised that most treatment produces only superficial improvement, if any at all. (In Functional Integration)… the deepest kinesthetic sensations formed in early childhood are affected. The person withdraws from what happens in the outside world and is completely absorbed with attending to the internally occurring changes. The smoother eye movement, the rotation of the head, the change in pressure distribution on the soles of the feet, the reduction of intercostal tensions, the completion of the antigravitational muscular patterns for a clear feeling of vertical upright standing cannot occur without a complete change of neural functioning of the intentional or motor cortex and of the sensory one.

The muscular tonus becomes more uniform and is lowered. A feeling of well-being prevails. The breathing becomes regular; the cheeks more colored. The eyes are brighter, wider, and moister and sparkle. At the end, one rubs one’s eyes as if awakening from a restful dream."

- Moshe Feldenkrais, The Elusive Obvious

09/28/2024

Day 2 of my CST2 training and I'm toast. My brain is soup, literally and figuratively swimming in the learning and changes that went on today.

A good night's sleep will do me some good.

08/28/2024

No matter what your ability, there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

08/15/2024

"Uncertainty is a normal condition of life, but these days, with social media and round-the-clock news coverage, it sometimes bombards us. At every moment, there’s a crisis somewhere in the world: war, political chaos, climate-induced fires and floods and school shootings, not to mention the occasional pandemic. Too much uncertainty is metabolically draining and can leave you feeling distraught and worn out. But these feelings don’t emerge from mythical, overtaxed fight-or-flight circuits. They may just mean, in an ever changing and only partly predictable world, that you’re doing something really hard."

Lisa Feldman Barrett

The brain's primary job is to reduce uncertainty in an ever-changing world

08/13/2024

New business cards are in! And with them, a special promotion!!

Scan the QR code to leave me a review and you'll get 1/2 off your next session!

And as always, if you're a first-time client and you don't feel better or learn something about yourself by the time we've finished our lesson, your session is FREE!

When was the last time YOU took care of how you move?

08/06/2024

There is no knowing like that which you get from curiosity and experience.

07/03/2024

What IS Feldenkrais, anyway?

Here is a link to an old blog post of mine, give it a read and maybe, just maybe, you'll read something that sparks your curiosity.

Curiosity is the path to authentic, organic learning. And if you don't learn about how you are, you'll forever rely on others to keep you going.

Steer your own ship. You are the only captain.

https://elaineclarkmassagetherapy.wordpress.com/2020/04/03/what-is-feldenkrais/

07/01/2024

Functional Integration(r) is a part of the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education(r). It is a neuro muscular strategy to find easier, more comfortable ways to move. An FI(r) lesson is usually performed with the student lying on a table designed specifically for the work. It can also be done with the student in sitting or standing positions. At times various props are used in an effort to support the person's body configuration or to facilitate certain movements.

The method is based on principles of physics, biomechanics and an empirical understanding of learning and human development. In a Functional Integration lesson we will look more closely at HOW you do what you do. Through movement and attention we will access the mechanisms through which our sensory motor systems adapt. This is a work of slow, gentle movement that is safe for anyone of any ability.

If you have a brain, you can do Feldenkrais.

07/01/2024

Whole Healing for the Whole You:

To reduce or allieviate discomfort

To gain mobility

To help heal after surgery

To recover from trauma

To find balance

To gain strength

To avoid or reduce prescription medications

To increase activity

To nourish yourself

To stay healthy

To reduce stress

To get you feeling your best with as little work as possible.

04/25/2024

Knowing how to recognize an unhealthy relationship — and help the person who’s in it — isn’t always easy or straightforward. Educator Katie Hood and community advocate Karen Mason…

03/12/2024

If what you've tried before isn't working, time to branch out.

In the US, we live in a culture where if you aren't burned out, you're not doing enough. What's up with that?

Is that a sustainable way to live? Certainly not a way to attain growth or ease in your life.

Take it easy for a change. If you're in pain or struggling with some kind of barrier, come see me.

Come to a place of zero judgement, space to be yourself and be ok with whatever that is. It'll be the easiest hard work you'll ever do.