Starting by stopping – stopping, observing and directing with Alexander Technique

Starting by stopping – stopping, observing and directing with Alexander Technique

As we come to the end of the year and the beginning of a new one, it’s an excellent time to stop. In DiscoverEase in Movement classes we practice starting by stopping, to figure out where we’re at, let go of what we don’t need and free ourselves up for something new. We give ourselves time to observe what we might be doing without being aware of it so that we can have more choice in what we do and how we do it.

Screening of “This Might Hurt” pain recovery documentary

Screening of “This Might Hurt” pain recovery documentary

You are invited to view a free screening of "This Might Hurt," the documentary following the lives of real people who learn how to unlearn chronic pain. The Red Willow Learning Center has initiated this community event that is open to all and recommended for people...

Free viewing of pain recovery documentary with live Q&A

Free viewing of pain recovery documentary with live Q&A

Hello all! The Red Willow Learning Center has sponsored a free viewing of the documentary film "This Might Hurt," the story of several people's journey through and beyond chronic pain with innovative treatment. You can view the film and participate in a live Q&A...

Expectations and the experience of pain

Expectations and the experience of pain

When it comes to pain, self-fulfilling prophecies can be a powerful force. When we believe something – like movement – will harm us, it’s more likely to hurt. Scientists can even see brain activity when people expect a movement to hurt, and then pain is actually more...

Add some spring to your step

Add some spring to your step

Hello all! I hiked up to Goldbug Hot Springs last weekend for a glorious soak in natural hot spring water on the side of a mountain. That felt great! On the hike I enjoyed observing people (there were plenty) to see how they go about locomoting themselves. It's...

Why Pain Persists – Pain Education for Health Care Practitioners

Pain Education Courses for Healthcare Professionals

Pain is the most common reason for people to seek healthcare, a leading cause of disability and a source of distress for a growing number of people.1 How can professionals involved in mental health and physical health help people living with pain to recover? The first...

Article published in Cadenza magazine

Article published in Cadenza magazine

I just realized I never published this article on the website! Here's an article I've had published in Cadenza, which is a magazine for music educators, on the benefits of the Alexander Technique for musicians! Click on the article images below to read the text of the...

New Missoula location and referral discount

New Missoula location and referral discount

Hello all! I'm excited to announce my new Missoula, MT location! In addition to my Charlo studio and online classes which will continue, I can now see people in downtown Missoula. To celebrate my new space I'm offering a 25% discount to anyone referring someone to the...

Your body pays the cost of concentrating

Your body pays the cost of concentrating

Have you ever noticed what happens to your body when you concentrate? We’re taught from a young age to “Concentrate!” but is it really helpful? Could it be that concentration gets our attention and body fixed and stuck rather than available and flexible? Give...

January-March 2021 class schedule

January-March 2021 class schedule

Hello all! We have new and continuing classes in February and some schedule changes. Class descriptions and links to register are below. I'm looking forward to continuing to discover ease and freedom of movement together with you! FEATURED CLASS:  Reduce, Prevent,...

Creating the foundation for hope

Creating the foundation for hope

Hello all! I've been thinking about hope a lot lately. Mostly because what I have experienced and what I have seen others experience in DiscoverEase in Movement classes gives me hope. I have seen people with difficulty moving due to pain start moving with curiosity,...

All the more reason to move – nerves love it!

All the more reason to move – nerves love it!

Hello all! The more I learn about the nervous system, the more I understand why it's so important to decompress and to move. Here's why and what you can do about it. Our nerves are basically the highways that transport information from our body to our brain to help...

Part 2 of “Deconstructing pain” with Xiaosong Que

“Deconstructing pain” live conversation with Xiaosong Que

Catch my next live conversation with Xiaosong Que "Deconstructing pain part 2" Monday, Oct. 26 at 8:00am MT (10:00am ET) To join us live (or to watch afterwards), go to Xiaosong's Healing Circle on Facebook and join the group. Here's the recording of part 1: Recording...

Tips for balancing and avoiding falls

Tips for balancing and avoiding falls

Meeting the ground quickly usually isn't fun. Here are some tips for staying balanced as you walk. Tip 1: Let your head balance on top of your spine Do you know how much your head weighs? Roughly 10 pounds! If your head isn't balanced on top of your spine, that weight...

Communicating genuinely

Communicating genuinely

I've been told I mumble. My parents tried to get me to stop mumbling but didn't succeed! Not long ago I was told I speak fast and mumble when I'm nervous, so I decided to try to figure out what I was doing so I could stop, so I could communicate more clearly. As an...

Changing the world one reaction at a time

Changing the world one reaction at a time

Where is this work taking you? That's what I was asked in a conversation about the processes Alexander Technique can take us through. My conversation partner was telling me about his growth toward greater wholeness, and his question to me led me to reflecting on what...

Tips for turning down pain

Tips for turning down pain

Most of us have learned that pain means there’s something wrong in our body, and when there’s not, we may be told “it’s in your head.” Fortunately, we know better now. You can experience pain without damage in the body, and you can have tissue damage without pain....

September classes and St. Luke Healthcare Foundation auction

September classes and St. Luke Healthcare Foundation auction

You can bid on 4 online Alexander Technique sessions at the St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation online auction taking place September 21 - September 25. Visit https://one.bidpal.net/stlukefoundation to bid on that and other donated items. Money raised this year...

What do your arms do when you’re walking?

What do your arms do when you’re walking?

Did you know that your arms are very important for walking? But just how are they involved? If we watch people walking around going about their business, we may notice a gazillion different ways in which people use their arms. In walking, arms move contrary to the...

Ankle movement

Ankle movement

How much variety of movement do your feet and body get? What sort of surface do you usually walk over? If you’re like me, you usually walk on flat, even surfaces in your shoes. This last weekend I got out for a nice hike in Rock Creek. My feet and body got a delicious...

Discover ease in walking – tips and upcoming classes

Discover ease in walking – tips and upcoming classes

1) In image 1, I'm pulling my head down and pushing it forward as I brace my torso and arms, limiting my stride. 2) In image 2, my head is releasing up, allowing my body to lengthen and my limbs to move freely. Walking is a fantastic way to get moving and walking more...

Strengthening your core just happens – Don’t try to do it!

Strengthening your core just happens – Don’t try to do it!

I’m going to say something a little controversial here: it’s not a good idea to strengthen your core. When you work on specifically strengthening your “core,” the tendency is to emphasize musculature that is already involved in habitual gripping and holding as you...

Improve your breathing

Improve your breathing

Hello all! There’s one really important thing that many breathing exercises don’t take into consideration. And that is that any exercise that manipulates your breath is restricting the free and natural movement of the groups of muscles in your torso involved in...

New free online stress reduction class

New free online stress reduction class

Free Stress Reduction class Based on the Alexander Technique Monday 4/13 at 6pm Wednesday 4/15 at 12pm Learn how you can reduce stress now! Taught by Mari Hodges Sign up at https://my-site-109208-104020.square.site/ More information at...

Free and Regular Online Classes

Free and Regular Online Classes

Hello all! In addition to the free online Stress Reduction class on Thursday, March 19, at 6:00 pm and Sunday, March 22 at 4:00 pm. US Mountain Time, I am offering free mindful movement mini classes via Facebook Live every day this week! Since all the in-person...

Protocols to prevent spread of COVID-19

I have implemented the following protocols in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to protect the health of everyone involved, especially those at higher risk. I always wash hands before and after classes. In addition to washing my own hands with soap...

End habitual tension to ease pain, balance and move with ease

End habitual tension to ease pain, balance and move with ease

It seems like pain, lack of balance and stiffness are just part of life, no? Could it be possible to live without constant or recurring pain, difficulty balancing and stiff muscles? In fact, there’s something that helps with all of those seemingly unrelated issues....

Moving mindfully to reduce pain and strain

Moving mindfully to reduce pain and strain

Hello all! It's easy for us to fall into habits of tensing muscles, pulling in and pulling down. Tensing muscles is a natural response to the cold and to stressful situations, and we tend to make that a habitual activity. Habitual tension then feels normal to us. But...

Thank you and free online class!

Thank you and free online class!

Hello all! This Thanksgiving I want to share how grateful I am to life for giving me this opportunity to touch so many people’s lives in a positive way, helping people to turn their pain and tension into expansion, ease and conscious choice. It is such a high for me...

How to get yourself out of pain Part 1

How to get yourself out of pain Part 1

The first thing to know about pain is that it's all in uour head - but that doesn't mean pain isn't real! ALL pain is real and is an experience that's created by your brain when your brain considers all the information at hand and decides that you are in danger and in...

How I overcame pain

How I overcame pain

  Do you experience back, neck or other pain that lingers on? Or that keeps coming back? Maybe you tried going to physical therapy, medication, exercise, massage, alternative therapies? All of those are great things to do and each one has it’s time and place....

Try this experiment

Try this experiment

Hello all! Movement of any type is almost always better than not moving at all, but how you move matters. Doing exercise is great, but generally speaking, we take our postural habits into every activity that we do. When we take unconscious habits of tension into our...

BIG Announcements!

BIG Announcements!

Hello all! The first, very exciting announcement that I would like to share with you is that I will be offering Alexander Technique in three new locations. They are: Wholistic Healing in Ronan, MT, starting August 1 Wholistic Healing has a philosophy of providing...

Using power tools with ease using Alexander Technique

Using power tools with ease using Alexander Technique

When we have an important goal in mind, like getting this fence fixed, we tend to try to achieve the goal at any cost to our own self. It seems more important in the moment to just get something done, like that last bit of work on the computer, or getting to where...

Unfettered by delusions of perfection

Unfettered by delusions of perfection

I learned a couple particularly helpful lessons at fiddle camp last week, and I'd like to share one with you today. It was when banjo and guitar teacher Clark Wyatt said that all of his favorite humans and musicians embody one thing, and that is that they are...

Allowing ease as you pick up a dog

Allowing ease as you pick up a dog

Snoopy helps demonstrate using the Alexander Technique for greater ease while picking up a dog. The way we habitually bend can affect the way our body looks and feels. Volunteering and working an Alexander Technique booth at a dog show in Missoula, I was inspired to...

Discover ease in gardening

Discover ease in gardening

Gardening can be very enjoyable, but we can often find ourselves contorting our body and ending up very uncomfortable. Here are some tips on making bending in the garden easier and more enjoyable. As always in this series, I want to give you an idea of what I'm...

Alexander Technique and the art of vacuuming

Alexander Technique and the art of vacuuming

Keep your springiness as you do your spring cleaning, or "Alexander Technique and the Art of Vacuuming"! Vacuuming can be a strenuous activity, or it can be an opportunity to lengthen and move easily (and get a little bit of exercise!). This week I want to show you...