Photo by Jurica Koletic
June 9, 2023
Deep Listening
Through The Feldenkrais Method®
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From the Editors
There are many things that distinguish the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education from other traditions of movement learning, but one of the most noteable features of the practice is the unique way in which students are asked to work with their attention. While the sequences of movements taught by Feldenkrais® practitioners are essential to the improvement of posture, flexibility, coordination and overall ease of movement, the "magic" of the method is arguably to be found in the learning process itself. This month, our contributors zero in on the wordless inner dialogue that we will call 'Deep Listening'.
This month's interview features Russell Delman, who has been a Feldenkrais trainer for nearly 4 decades and a meditation practitioner for over 5 decades. He explains that just as we all have particular habits of moving our bodies, we also each develop particular habits of moving our attention - and the profound transformations that can happen by creating new attentional habits. Practitioner Sheri Cohen invites the reader to experiment with simple movements and then discover how this experience is transformed through the addition of creative attention (and gives a nod to the American composer Pauline Oliveros who created her own unique Deep Listening® practice). Practitioner Joe Webster explores how Feldenkais practice also uses movement as a vehicle for exploring the psyche.
Jane, Joe and Seth
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Moving Towards Freedom - Developing the Skill of Our AttentionAn interview with Russell Delman
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This month Seth Dellinger interviews Russell Delman about the profound transformations that can take place through deeply studying our habits of attention
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About Russell:
Russell Delman is deeply indebted to his more than 50 years of Zen meditation, movement awareness and somatic psychology for his learning. Trained by Moshe Feldenkrais from 1975-1978, Russell maintained a close personal relationship with Dr. Feldenkrais until his death. He has helped educate more than 2500 Feldenkrais® practitioners worldwide. He is grateful for the profound influence of Eugene Gendlin, creator of “Focusing”, for his mentoring and friendship.
Russell is the founder of The Embodied Life™ School, a deep integration of Meditation, Feldenkrais Movement and Embodied Inquiry. Russell credits his 49 years of marriage to Linda and the raising of their daughter, Liliana, as the greatest teachers in his life.
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Listening as Sensing: How Awareness Through Movement® Is Different from Exercise
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Photo by Hayes Potter
By Sheri Cohen
Listen, let’s make an important distinction
Many kinds of movement training distinguish themselves by the kinds of exercises that constitute their programs. One might focus on strength, another on flexibility; yet another might claim to improve both. Teachers of Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement have a different view altogether. We teach students how to learn about themselves, rather than to repeat exercises.
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About Sheri:
Sheri Cohen is an Assistant Trainer of the Feldenkrais Method. She is co-director of the New England Awareness Through Movement® Teacher Training. Sheri first encountered Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening® practices in the 1990’s, and had the great privilege to dance in a long-form performance event with Pauline in 2000. Sheri had a years-long collaboration with Stuart Dempster, member of the Deep Listening Band and listener-extraordinaire, in a project we called ROOM. Gratitude to my teachers, Stuart, Pauline and all who have listened deeply to and with me.
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Learning to Listen to Your ‘Self’ In Movement
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Photo by Sir Manuel
By Joe Webster
Somewhere in the mess of our personal experience – meaning our upbringing, schooling, social relationships, romantic relationships, likes, dislikes, ideas, emotions, behavior and habits – is the ‘self’. It is the place that navigates all those experiences and provides us with a sense of ‘me’ in the midst of all that chaos.
But often we have very strange ideas about ourselves that arise from our lived personal experiences. For example, we might believe we are not a worthwhile person because we are bad at math, or bad at using computers, or singing, or playing badminton or swimming. We might consider ourselves clumsy or bad in the social sphere, or we might have habits that we know are bad for us that we feel unable to change. We might even use self-deprecating language as we go through our daily lives which constantly reaffirms the above sentiments and reinforces our self-beliefs.
But what would happen if we truly and deeply understood that all of our inabilities, insecurities and unintentional behavior’s were just the effect of what we have learned up to this point in our lives?
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About Joe:
Joe began his study of Qi Gong, Taiji and Meditation when he was 18, over 20 years ago. He was lucky to train under a Taiji grand master and lineage holder in both Chan (Zen) and Tibetan Buddhism.
He began studying the Feldenkrais Method® to help deal with some physical challenges developed through overtraining, and some mental / emotional challenges from many years of experiencing anxiety symptoms. The process was so impactful that he decided to undertake the 4-year training and has since qualified as a Feldenkrais® practitioner in 2020. He is now based in Bristol in the UK, and teaches classes and 1 to 1 lessons, locally and online.
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- Experience "Awareness of Breath: The Golden Key", an Awareness Through Movement® lesson taught by Russell Delman. Click here to listen
- Experience "Soft Feet", an Awareness Through Movement® lesson
taught by Sheri Cohen. Click here to listen
- Experience "Developing Awareness", a short Feldenkrais® lesson taught by Joe Webster during his Lockdown Lesson series Click here to watch
- Learn more about Pauline Oliveros, the creator of Deep Listening® Click here to watch
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