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| True Stories from Steve's Practice In my practice,
I have seen clients of all ages and walks of life who have experienced
somatic healing. So many experiences, repeated countless times,
have confirmed my belief that most of our pain-troubles come from
what we are doing, and how we are doing it. And what needs 'fixing'
is not our body, but our habits. A Computer Programmer - Pain Everywhere in Her Body She loved body-surfing, and didn't want to give
if up. Is it aging? she asked. I said no, it's
from how you are using your body; it's probably from your inverted
ankles – your balance is compromised. After one hour, working to restore ankle
mobility, her pain was gone. I taught her exercises to keep the
pain away. Years later, she came with disabling back pain, after
moving. I helped her out of pain, and taught her how to lift: as you bend your knees let your butt
stick out behind, don't tuck your tailbone! Years later, she
told me: Steve, I just moved again. No back pain! I do it like you showed
me. Thank you! Car Mechanic's Whole-Body Lock-Down – He Had to
Shuffle in the Door I wondered - what can I do? A semi-pro soccer
player, he was supremely fit. Nothing moved, anywhere I touched hurt. I began working
by giving traction to (pulling) his head. It was the only thing
I could even imagine being comfortable (in my own body) doing. After
10 minutes he was out of pain, fully normal. That's all I did. Speaking
on a hunch, I said –
as you work on cars, keep your lumbar curve, stick out your butt.
Use a stool! No more hunching over, tailbone tucked! Three years later, he profusely thanked
me: I've taught that to all
my mechanic friends, and their back pain has all gone away too. Mrs. D's Chronic Dowager's
Hump Pain Moving slowly, like any 85 year-old, she was politely skeptical that
dowager's hump is not only about osteoporosis; but also from movement
habits of a lifetime. After a few lessons she said: Steve, my pain
is gone - you have given my life back. Leaning against the wall takes away my pain,
every time - I'm writing a book about it! Her dowager's hump - still there – not enough sessions to make
a real impact. Except – no pain. The 96 Year Old Man, Very Stooped After a Bad Fall This client was given to me by a PT who told me progress
is slow, don't expect much – he's trying his best. They were strengthening
his back and neck so he could stand taller. Instead, we worked his
ankles, and also did eyes shut balance work, to reduce visual dominance,
and help him trust his feet and ankles. His stooped posture was from fear
of falling and resultant tight ankles, not a weak back. Soon, he was able
to walk fully erect, while using a walker, or not. Hip Replacement for a Thirty-Eight Year-Old Woman We worked for 2 years, intensively, to rehabilitate her painful right
hip. She knew she needed
hip replacement surgery, but insisted
on trying everything natural first. Each week, she got temporary
relief – maybe 3 days less pain. She learned many strategies
to minimize her pain, and enjoyed her sessions, even though the
pain never quite went away. She finally had to have her surgery
– after all, it was 'bone on bone' – and it went very
well; the outcome was perfect. Now she is completely out of pain.
My mentor had taught me that Feldenkrais
work before a surgery
is perhaps more important than Feldenkrais
work after a surgery. 'It makes the job of the surgeon easier, the muscles don't fight him,
the body is less compressed – more open - and the recovery
process is so much easier.' Sharp Shoulder Pain in a Young Man Whenever He Lifted
His Arm Up to the Side I showed him how to lift his arm overhead without pain (keeping the hand
midline) and many other strategies to help his shoulders (see my
Blog
on shoulders for more on this). Nonetheless, I insisted that
he get an MRI and if it was a torn rotator cuff (it was) to consider
surgery. Feldenkrais
will both help prepare, and speed recovery. Even a minor tear in a shoulder muscle will
not easily heal (as a cut anywhere else in the body would do) –
because the weight of the arms, along with arm movements, keeps
pulling it open. To put the shoulder in a sling can cause shoulder
lock-down (even adhesive capsulitis) – so surgery, or other
means such as taping (some specially trained specialists can
do this) needs to be considered. Otherwise, eventually the body
will repair the tear with scar tissue, which can cause its own set
of problems. Severe Astigmatism Left Eye – Gone From One Moment
to the Next Her trouble – so recent, from a bad fall – impressed me as
nothing serious. Optometrists could not remove the blur from her
left eye - she was concerned. After 10 minutes of Feldenkrais eye work, she
blinked, as if startled, and said – I don't believe this. My blur is gone.
What just happened? What did you do? How is it possible? Businessman With Extreme Stooped Posture His persistent questions – even demands – concerned how long
it would take to straighten his posture. Speaking my truth, I said
it will take 6 years, twice a week. He was not pleased: But can't you do it more quickly? No, it would take 6 years.
You're an extreme case. I helped his pain, he paid me generously, but he
never came back. Maybe he felt I was after his money. I saw him
ten years later – more stooped than ever. Severe Ongoing Back Pain in a 17 Year-Old Student –
Interferes With His Studies High expectations, along with stiff sitting posture, was what impressed
me. To him, concentration meant: rigid pelvis, stiff spine, tense neck,
hard-focused eyes. He was trying so hard to be the best student possible. We never did table work.
We explored how to sit without tensing the back, how to relax/stretch
the back by leaning down in a chair, how to release lumbar compression,
how to release eyestrain, and more. I showed him how unresponsive
his pelvis was - we did a little martial-arts style game in sitting,
where I pretended to attack him with a foam-roller 'sword' and he
was to defend himself. All his
movements came from his upper torso, his pelvis remained
frozen. I said, really, I have 80
year old clients, with a pelvis more dynamic. At age 17 you
have no excuse – isn't there some kind of sports activity
that you enjoy doing? We explored ways
to initiate movement from his pelvis, and he seemed better after
the hour. He was pleased to have found a new way to look at his
pain, although he may have been a little peeved at my bluntness.
My expectation is that our session will have an ongoing effect,
long term. A Long-Time Meditator with Neck Pain, Back Pain &
Shooting Pains Down Both Arms His problem was quickly discovered. He was meditating – with great
determination for many years - with chin too high. This
created compression down his spine and neck. To meditate
he thought he was lifting his gaze above the
horizon, while concentrating on the spiritual eye between the eyebrows.
He was not. I said: look, raise
your eyes, not your chin! Keep your chin level, that's essential,
then look up, at a point about 18' in front of you, just
above the horizon. Don't strain or try to be cross-eyed! It is mainly
the attention, not so much the poor eyeballs that have to focus
on the point between the eyebrows. Meditators need someone else to tell them
if their chin is truly level, it is too hard to tell by yourself.
It is far too important to leave it to chance. It takes a trained
eye. Even a chin ¼ inch too high can have devastating effect.
That's why I am here. I've studied this for many years. I can tell
at a glance whether a chin is truly level, or not. At first: eyestrain - he had been 'cheating' all those years. Even his
cranial bones were now configured to facilitate a downward, rather
than an upward, gaze. Anybody who looks down all day at a desk,
or a computer monitor can have the same problem. (I think this is
quite common – the eyeball muscles are 100 times stronger
than they need to be to just move the eyeballs. They can strongly
affect the cranial bones, especially the delicate sphenoid). He
had thought he was looking up, but really, only his chin was 'up'.
I showed him how to float down his chin to level by relaxing the
back of his neck as he imagined growing taller, using no effort,
which decompressed his spine. His pain - fully gone in three sessions. He was most appreciative,
since other treatments had failed. Yet he was confounded for the
many years of meditating looking
down into the subconscious instead of up into the superconscious.
'Basically I wasted my time, didn't I?' He said. I did not tell
him that it will take months of patient work with his eyes to be
comfortable looking up, with chin level, but he will discover that
on his own, I am sure. Yoga Teacher, Disabled by Severe Neck Pain from a Car
Accident In conversation, he actively gestured with his head. Every phrase - a
jerky head movement was attached. So many do this! As body language,
it is the exact opposite of poise and self-confidence. Even listening,
he'd nod his head, and crane it slightly forward, as if to assure
me he was with me. I said: look, your
head is as heavy as a bowling ball. Gesture with your hands and
eyes! Not your head! Watch any Italian! Your neck muscles have to
grip tightly for your head to do that! That means tremendous neck
compression. No wonder you have neck pain! Say often to yourself
'quiet neck'. We spent time
in conversation while he rigidly kept his head absolutely still.
It felt strange! He had had no idea what he had been doing. Other
therapists had not seen it. I said: For now, artificially keep your head still; in a short time you'll
learn to do it just by relaxing the neck – no effort. Your
whole life will get better. This made a huge improvement – within two
weeks he could work full time again, travel without pain, and more.
He was most grateful, since other types of therapy had not been
working. Post Open-Heart Surgery Patient with Severe Joint Pain
– Hips and Shoulders The surgery, and the resultant scars, let his 'soft underbelly' over
contracted, guarded. This tightness was interfering with normal
joint mechanics. We worked gently, slowly to restore normal breath
movement, doing nothing with hips or shoulder. Unfortunately, his
insurance ran out, and he had to discontinue. Some progress, yes;
full resolution, no. Chronic Hip Pain, Fifty-Seven Year-Old Woman Nothing else had helped - her face reflected her distress and pain. She
had done an MRI and was told that eventually she might need a surgery,
but not yet. Encouraged, I felt her style of stiff legged standing,
and over-striding while walking was creating some of her trouble.
She learned how to stand, shifting weight slowly side-to-side, while
softening (slightly bending) the weight bearing leg only and at the exact moment it 'took weight'. She learned quickly – and took it into walking. Then she learned
to slowly walk while sensing the exact moments when a foot takes
weight, and not the moments of placing of a foot in front. This quickly
reduced her tendency to over-stride, which was creating shearing
forces in her ankles, knees and hips. She was delighted - her pain,
she told me, was almost gone – in just 20 minutes. She had
worked for years with other kinds of therapies and not gotten such
relief. Full-Extension Whiplash, Scoliosis, Shoulder,
Back & Never-Ending Neck Pain He had endured too much pain, too long – including two adhesive
capsulitis shoulders after the whiplash, a roll-over
car accident, and numerous bicycle and skiing falls – that
he seemed embittered with Life. He stubbornly refused to take any
pain medications. He stubbornly refused to stop long-distance running,
even when he knew it aggravated his neck pain and severe scoliosis. He tried everything. He found that only by involvement with the Feldenkrais work was he able
to minimize his pain. He was a hard case. He had to get smarter, quick, about a lot of things! His neck, with so
many torn ligaments and tendons,
was so unstable,
that only getting really smart about organizing
the whole body to allow for an elegantly balanced head would help
him. He was extremely
fortunate to connect locally with an accomplished, patient and perceptive
Feldenkrais mentor - Pauline
Sugine, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner. Rather than remain embittered,
he resolved to learn Feldenkrais and share freely
with others as Pauline had shared with him. With Pauline's persistent
encouragement and help he got into a four-year Feldenkrais training, now
has a successful practice and remains pain free, even comfortable
most of the time. In
case you did not guess, that's me. If you want to know all the many things
I've had to learn, to stay out of pain, explore my web site, explore
my blog. I've tried
to share everything.
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