Vision Feldenkrais Class- “Near and Far Sight”- MP3

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This 13-minute Feldenkrais  audio lesson increases freedom of the eye for movement and coordination to focus with near vision and far vision.  Improve flexibility and reduce strain in eyes.  Also great for people with insomnia and for deeper sleep.

Click to play podcast:   May #3 Feldenkrais Lesson: Close and far sight for eyes with Annie Thoe, Feldenkrais Practitioner

Recorded May 13th, 2013 on Whidbey Island and is temporarily available for all students  interested in my Feldenkrais Vision Series.  (Final version still in progress)

These audio lessons will soon be available for purchase on this website.  The above lesson is a sample.  Check back for my audio store for more.

©Annie Thoe, GCFP; www.sensingvitality.com  2013  – words on Feldenkrais, Healing & Nature

Bulls-Eye Vision Lesson for Eye Focus – Feldenkrais Podcast

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As humans– like all predatory animals, our eyes are set in front of our face to help us focus on a target.  If we focus too long and hard in one place, the delicate muscles in our eyes get fatigued.  Even the lens of the eye can begin to warp into an uneven shape from the imbalance of usage.  There are many patterns and habits with vision.  Some people focus for long periods at a computer screen without looking around or out a window, or concentrate on a needle and thread or close-range work of some kind.  As people age, they tend to look more narrowly in their vision without taking in the periphery and full visual field.

The following short lesson improves both the ability to focus closely and coordinate the two eyes for better reading, and also to see the periphery– which helps with balance and overall safety for peripheral vision of the environment.

You can practice this lesson sitting or lying down, as a break in your day to freshen and sharpen your vision.  Let me know how this lesson works for you.

Click for Bulls Eye Vision Lesson Podcast (4 min.)

 

 

 

©Annie Thoe, GCFP; www.sensingvitality.com  2013  – words on Feldenkrais, Healing & Nature

 

Blink Lesson: Feldenkrais Tip for Eye Strain

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1. Blink with relaxed eyelids, softly and often will quickly relieve tension, stress and improve vision (short lesson below with podcast bonus link)

The muscles of our eyes are small, delicate and used on an average for 17 hours a day.

We have been encouraged to focus, focus, focus on the outside world– without blinking.  This image of unblinking eyes has been portrayed by movie stars on film, news anchors and models.  While staring without blinking may show concentration and power, the eyes fatigue and become dry.

How can we maximize relaxation and clarity for eyes?   Blinking, which helps clean and supply nutritious fluid to the eyes, averages between 20 to 25 times per minute.  However, the frequency of blinking slows down with concentration and staring– especially in front of computers (7 blinks per minute)!  One of the first things you can do to revive your tired, blurry eyes is to consciously blink a little more often with awareness.  Not only will relaxed blinking improve your vision, but it will lower tension in your whole body. (Read on for a short  Feldenkrais lesson: “Blink”….) Continue reading →

Palming Eyes to Reduce Strain – Feldenkrais Podcast

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This simple 3-minute audio lesson is a powerful tool to freshen and vitalize eyes and improve vision before fatigue sets in.  The practice of palming the eyes can sharpen vision and reduce eye strain.  Palming is also excellent to speed up healing after eye surgery, injury and  reduce overall nervous tension and anxiety.  Deep relaxation of the eyes improves better tracking for reading, focusing and wide-angle vision.   Practice palming several times a day, especially if you work at a computer or do concentrated close-range work for extended periods.    Click to play: Palming Eyes Podcast (2+ min.)

For more information about palming eyes, see my previous post on Palming Eyes.

©Annie Thoe, GCFP; www.sensingvitality.com  2013  – words on Feldenkrais, Healing & Nature

Eye Palming: Clear Vision for Clear Thought

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What is in the line of sight often triggers a line of thoughts.  People develop habits of seeing that filter what they catch hold of: the messages, information and surprises throughout the day.  What are you looking for?  What do you expect to see?  With technology bombarding our visual senses with emails, pop-up advertisements, movies, books, etc.,  it’s more important that ever to clear our vision to sift through the important messages.  Vision is deeply connected with our thoughts and decision-making.

Attention and awareness is the filter of vision.  There are many lessons and exercises to improve eyesight, but attention and awareness during these exercises can dramatically shift the results.  If you practice any of these eye lessons or exercises, be sure to sense the light (and the absence of light) with your whole body during the exercise– with your eyes, skin, blood, bones.  The Feldenkrais Method® engages your senses to improve and deepen activities you do.  With vision, Continue reading →

Equinox effects on the Mind-Body

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neighbor dog with grizzly bear sculpture

The week of spring equinox of 2013 in the Northwest has been an odd week indeed and significant. Torrential rains, then bitter frost, high winds, sun breaks, balmy sunshine followed by a heavy snow that covered our daffodils accumulated one morning.  The snow was deep enough to close our local schools and make a life-size replica of a grisly bear on our lawn.  The giant snow bear still stands (five days later) amidst the green spring grass, a reminder that winter hibernation is over.

On Equinox this year, I taught a Feldenkrais lesson that is designed to bring the two hemisphere’s of the brain together in harmony.  As if invited to be one of my guest instructors, the weather on the evening of the workshop was tumultuous– cold, warm, howling winds and moments of calm.  It was as if the gods had decided to take over my workshop and really show me how two seasons come together in the middle.  How the mind and body can unite.  Night and day, winter and spring– the polarities shake hands.   Continue reading →

4-Part Breath Lesson for Reducing Anxiety – Feldenkrais Podcast

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This short audio Feldenkrais lesson working with breath quickly balances the nervous system to reduce tension, anxiety and stabilize emotions.  Improve vitality and groundedness.

This can be done standing or sitting.  Make sure you can feel your feet and sitting bones (if you are sitting).  Feel free to close your eyes during this lesson.

Play:  Equal Breath Lesson  (3 minutes)

This brief podcast leads you through a simple breathing lesson to help reduce anxiety and tension through stabilizing the breath and nervous system.  Practice this lesson several times a day to reduce tension and improve your ability to calm your mind and body.  You can do this much longer than three minutes, but even this minimal time will be highly effective and improve vitality.

©Annie Thoe, GCFP; www.sensingvitality.com  2013  – words on Feldenkrais, Healing & Nature

 

Breath Lesson – to calm and ground quickly

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The breath is one of the quickest ways to ground yourself in times of stress, adversity, illness and fear.  There are countless exercises and meditation techniques that have been developed over the millennia using breath to connect the mind with the body.   Here is a simple lesson to improve breath, reduce stress and anxiety, and ground yourself.
  • Rub your hands together to get them warm and energized– breathe as you rub your hands.
  • Place one hand on your chest in a comfortable spot.  Notice the warmth of your hand and begin to breath into your hand.  If this is difficult to breathe, press lightly with the hand so you have something to push into as you breathe.  Sometimes a little pressure actually makes it easier to breathe.
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Article: Lungs in Chinese Medicine from Daverick Leggett

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This month I have been researching about the breath and came across this well-written article on the lungs from a Chinese perspective by Daverick Leggett.  Sometimes I like to quote from research, but this was a great article.  I appreciated how Mr. Leggett talked about the role of the lung as a keeper of boundaries on many levels.  The breath can govern and work with this boundary making in a strong way.   Mr. Leggett was kind to give me permission to reprint his article below from his website which is also an excerpt from his book Recipes for Self-Healing:  http://www.meridianpress.net/articles/thelung-chinesemedicine.html.

Continue reading →

One-Breath Lessons: A Power Tool Kit

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From the moment we are born, our bodies register when we need to breathe to stay alive.  Without this signal from our nervous systems, the flow of oxygen stops and the lights go out.  Our heart, organs and tissues cannot survive without breath.

And so we breathe.  In a rhythm much like the waves of the ocean, the breath keeps a regular and constant flow with variations according to mood, health and activity.  This article will be an experiential journey to the power of breath for vitality in three areas. Continue reading →