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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

Have you ever been told, "Pull your shoulders back!" or "Roll your shoulders back and down"? Do you find yourself doing that when you noticed that your shoulders are slumped forward? Well, I have some great news for you! Shoulders actually do round forward when they...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

Last week I wrote about how pain works and why it’s important to know about that. The more you know about how and why it works, the less of a mysterious, scary threat pain is. And that means your brain receives less information about “danger” in you, and as a result...

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...

  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....

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...

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...

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...

Hello all! It's that time of the year again! Time to weed. And like everything else, weeding can be a trigger to tighten as we focus on the thing we want to get rid of, or it can be an opportunity to continue to observe ourselves and invite ease. Option 1: In the...

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...

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...

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...

When you're doing stuff, do you find it hard to notice what you're doing with your body? Do you notice at the end of the day that your back aches? With these pictures, my goal is to help make it easier for you to make your own discoveries about how you coordinate your...