Expand Your Ability: Embodiment, Somatics, and Feldenkrais Jeffrey Schwinghammer

On today's episode, we are examining the big picture, specifically focusing on awareness and choice, and how both are crucial for leadership. 
We inherit our physical bodies and patterns from our families and culture at large, as well as from our direct experiences. Until we become aware of our patterns, they simply appear familiar and normal to us. It is only when we develop awareness and begin to question them that we can initiate change. Until we question them, our lives remain a reflection of our past experiences.
Becoming fully aware and understanding the impact we have on others, including ourselves, enables us to exercise choice. How do I want to be in this situation? What do I need to change about what I'm doing in this situation. With choice comes responsibility, and this is essential for effective leadership. 
Awareness practices can help us get closer to what is truly valuable to us—what we believe is good in this world. It's so easy to slip back into old habits, so we need to have an awareness practice. 
In this episode, I offer a simple awareness practice. They can help you understand how you are doing and give you a choice to shift your physical experience and thus, your mental and emotional experience. There is actually a skill to awareness. We can get better at catching our habits and changing our behavior to meet the situation in front of us and it's so important that we practice awareness and we practice bring it in to our daily lives.
🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊This is Episode 50! Thank you so much for your support, everyone!🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊___________

Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.

Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 20 minute consult call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.

Join the newsletterto be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.

Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method

Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.

I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer. 

Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability
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Had an Aha? Let me know: jeffrey@expandyourability.com

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Today's episode is for you if you think you can do it alone, if you think you don't support, or you think being supported is a weakness.
As my mentor Jesse Koren says, big work requires big support.  By big work, we're talking starting a business, fixing your relationship, and healing from old wounds just to name a few examples. We can't do it alone.
This is one of those universal truths but our habits and unhealthy beliefs can blind us to this truth.
The Feldenkrais Method of Awareness Through Movement is about uncovering these habits and beliefs that operate beneath the surface, but only if we ask the question. In Feldenkrais movement lessons we're always curious about our internal support (the skeleton in relation to the Earth and gravity) but it's important to take the question further.
How am I supported socially? Do I even consider that a possibility?
This episode is a must listen if you think you're better off going it alone. I have walked that path and it's a tough one.
*****
Thank you for listening, dear listener!
I am wonder if you would keep your eyes out for me?
I worked in Filmmaking and Video production for 10 years and had to step back and do less because of debilitating back pain. This was a main reason that sent me on my Feldenkrais and embodiment journey, and now my back is more capable than ever before AND I am directing the biggest film of my life. That's why I am committed to helping filmmakers and videographers with back pain to help them restore their backs so they can work more jobs and move and feel better than ever.
I wonder if you know anyone in film or video suffering from a bad back.
Does anyone come to mind? Let me know jeffrey@expandyourability.com
*****Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.

Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method

Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.

I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer. 

Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability

Had an Aha? Let me know: jeffrey@expandyourability.com

Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast. 

On today's episode, we're exploring why movement is such a big deal according to Moshe Feldenkrais. We dive into his book, "Awareness Through Movement," and explore the ninth and final reason why movement is at the core of personal growth and self-awareness.
(You can find the previous 8 reasons in previous episodes.)
The Feldenkrais Method is about becoming aware of your habitual patterns in order to open up new possibilities.  Movement, according to Feldenkrais, lies at the heart of this process. He says that the habit patterns of thinking, feeling and sensing all hinge on movement. If you change the movement, the changes will cascade to how you think and feel.
This is an essential idea, using movement to free your mind, if you find yourself asking how can I get make lasting change in my life?
About the PodcastHi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.

Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 30 minute call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.

Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.

Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method

Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.

I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer. 

Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability

Had an Aha? Let me know: jeffrey@expandyourability.com

Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast. 

"We are all emotional beings."
I'm going to be a vulnerable here...even though I am feeling better overall than I have ever felt before, I have had a difficult history with my emotions. My frame before was that emotions happen to me. They drove the bus. What I have learned since is two primary things, 1) that emotions are information (not truth) and 2) we can influence our emotions through movement. Thankfully, I have a lot more say over my emotions today thanks to working with Laura Bond and her approach. We can choose how we feel to a greater degree than we think.
My guest today is Laura Bond, the creator of the Emotional Body Method. Her work has helped me to understand my emotions through a curious, compassionate and play approach that is a perfect complement to Feldenkrais and other embodiment work.
The Emotional Body Method aims to help people understand their emotions, be more comfortable with themselves, and improve their expression and presentation skills. Insecurities and old habits can interfere with how we express ourselves. In fact, we often operate in a mix of emotions. When we don't have clear expressions of emotions, other people don't understand us as well, they get mixed messages or confused, and we can feel powerless.
The method focuses on the 6 primary emotional patterns that we all are born with. The patterns are explored on all levels: posture, facial expression, breathing and vocalization. Through mixing within this simple palette of 6 comes the rich rainbow of all human expression. 
Another thing I really like about the Emotional Body Method is that it doesn't go into difficult stories or psychological concepts. Instead it's physical explorations. 
In this episode expect to hear:
The scientific origins of the Emotional Body.What are the 6 emotional patterns.What is emotional regulation and the importance of calming the nervous system.On unlearning old habits through repetition and variation.Why is does the Emotional Body use a letter and number system? (1a,1b,2a,2b,3a,3b)The 7th pattern, zero, and it's use for finding emotional neutrality.How Feldenkrais Method inspired the Emotional Body.Entanglements with our emotions, where two or more emotions are unconsciously mixed.
About Laura BondLaura Bond is an internationally recognized master instructor and teacher trainer in the emotional effector patterns, and the Emotional Body® courses. She is a master teacher of Alba Emoting™, having studied an intensive teacher-training path in Chile with its founder, Susana Bloch. Laura is a full professor at the University of North Carolina Asheville and a certified master teacher of the Estill Voice™ technique. She teaches physical emotion regulation methods in university classes, private lessons, and through national and international workshops. She is the author of two books: TEAM for Actors: A Holistic Approach to Embodied Acting, and The Emotional Body: A Method for Physical Self-Regulation.
www.emotionalbodymethod.com
Author Page on Amazon
Routledge Press Book Chapter Contribution: "The Emotional Body: A Somatic and Trauma-Informed Practice for Cultivating Expressive Capabilities for the Actor and the Individual," in a new book titled, Trauma and Embodied Healing in Dramatherapy, Theatre and Performance published by Routledge Press. Available for pre-order Feb 19th and shipping by March 11th!

About the PodcastHi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.

Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 30 minute call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.

Join the newsletter to be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.

Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method

Get Your Questions Answe

Feldenkrais Practitioner, musician and storyteller David Kaetz says that many of us get disembodied from our voice from a young age. It's common and normal for kids to make sounds as they explore and play, until they get the message that they should be quiet. Is this a message you've internalized? How playful with your voice are you
One of my main motivators in exploring Feldenkrais and the bodymind connection comes from my own pain and tension surrounding my voice. I could tell it was related to self-use and anxiety and it was clearly manifesting as a physical issue. My voice troubles started in my teen years and followed me into my twenties. While I'm doing better than ever, I am still learning. I am learning how to be more expressive, more relaxed, and more full-bodied when I speak.
On today's episode I reflect on my recent learnings around embodying the voice. I've had two profound mentors:
One is a man named Nicholas that I met at the Minnesota Men's Conference. He helped me playful with singing. The other was David Kaetz and his Listening with the Whole Body workshop that I attended this past weekend.
Learn more about the Minnesota Men's Conference here.Learn more about David Kaetz here.
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.

Want to put the ideas in this podcast to work?
You can book a free 20 minute consult call to find out if we’re a good fit for 1:1 coaching. Learn more here.

Join the newsletterto be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.

Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method

Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.

I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer. 

Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability

Had an Aha? Let me know: jeffrey@expandyourability.com

Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast. 

On today's episode, I take a question from a long time listener and student. She asks, Is it possible to have as much respect and concern for my body as I do for my mind?
This is a great question. Does it resonate with you? Are you intellectually gifted or cognitively centered? It's hard not to have an emphasis on the mind over the body in our culture. Is your body a second class citizen in your thinking? Here's the thing, your body is the basis for your mind. A truly strong and sensitive body is a strong and sensitive mind too.
In order to get more connected to our embodied experience, we need to get in touch to shift our habits and build new practices.
In this episode I offer a possible reframe for the body/mind, we talk about what it means and looks like to be more respectful of your body, and we explore a short, easy somatic exploration to embody respect for ourselves.
Hi, I’m Jeffrey. As a Feldenkrais and somatic movement practitioner I help you get in touch with your body so you can unravel old sticky patterns and make way for greater creativity, power and joyful play.

Join the newsletterto be the first to hear about future opportunities to work with me.

Download my free lesson: Effortless Freedom in Moving
Download my free guide: 9 Surprising Benefits of the Feldenkrais Method

Get Your Questions Answered!
Submit your questions! I will answer them on a future episode of the podcast.

I'm directing a documentary film about Feldenkrais. Check out the Teaser Trailer. 

Follow me on Instagram: @expandyourability

Had an Aha? Let me know: jeffrey@expandyourability.com

Stay connected and subscribe to the podcast.