The Power of Play

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 04:04:25 GMT

The Power of Play

by Shari Lee, M.S., Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner®

Originally Published August 10, 2020

We played to learn. We learned through play; not only how to have fun, but to develop our sense of self, our relationship to others and the world around us. Playfulness stimulated our sense of curiosity, our development of strategies to access what caught our attention and interest and cultivated a sense of value within us for ourselves and others. Our interactions with and connection to our playmates and caregivers created a mirror reflecting back to us our value through our actions, our responses and interactions. The more playful and joyful, the more positive and stimulating our experience and the greater the likelihood of branching out and expanding our repertoire of new experiences, our self confidence, skills and abilities.

Like play, Feldenkrais ® lessons stimulate our sense of curiosity and encourage venturing into the unknown. Gentle, playful non-judgmental movement explorations improve our ability to move and feel better. Many of the movements resemble how we moved as infants and young children to explore our new world. Freedom, gentleness, and curiosity are encouraged through Feldenkrais lessons to remind us of deeply familiar, but often forgotten, internal processes that naturally emerged during our earliest interactions, explorations and discoveries which led us to learn and create possibilities.

A playful approach to Feldenkrais lessons, not only stimulates natural learning, but improves how you move and feel. Rediscovering your own ability to access ever increasing possibilities, goes a long way toward reclaiming self esteem, self confidence and your own self image as a fully functioning human being.

Through injury, particularly when it becomes chronic and life altering, perhaps more painful and equally debilitating, is the loss of one's sense of self and the joyful pursuit of living life to the fullest. Facing the sometimes limited progress toward full recovery from injury afforded by conventional methods, the life we've known and loved can come to a screeching halt.

With a teaching background in outdoor recreational skills, I knew the value and importance of getting out of pain to reclaim one's ability to participate in activities for play, to resurrect one's sense of self worth, re-open avenues for interacting with others and the development of relationships. So much of one's self esteem, sense of value as a person, outlook and ability to interact with others is linked to, and dependent on one's own ability to move, to feel something other than pain, to participate fully in life and to enjoy the reward that accompanies the exhilaration of joyful movement. This is an essential human need.

To help others bridge that gap between simply recovering from pain, injury and limitation to re-building their confidence to pursue activities, adventures, new experiences, and to truly find their passion again and experience life to the fullest,

I decided to create Feldenkrais -in-Action Retreats and Eco-Adventures for people who had undoubtedly experienced aspects of uncertainty, fragility and loss resulting from pain and injury. These Movement Options Feldenkrais Retreats create opportunities that offer adventure and new experiences, with the reassurance that guests will be fully immersed in a supportive environment congruent with the nonjudgmental nature of Feldenkrais Method . Providing these opportunities outside of one’s habitual environment creates a window for change that is supported by gentle, reassuring acceptance and encouragement. We explore playful possibilities through Feldenkrais lessons, accompanied by enjoyable activities and interactions.

Making adventurous activities more achievable, skillful and satisfying through the reassurance, ease and confidence that comes through the gently guided discovery process involved in Feldenkrais lessons offers a unique opportunity to flourish in the retreat environment. It is inspiring to experience the development of new levels of relationships within the group and enhanced regard for self and others, as people grow and extend so many aspects of themselves while learning and exploring new places, people and activities, along with new aspects of themselves and their own capabilities, interactions, ability to change and grow while having fun in the process!

Join Shari Lee's conference presentation, Feldenkrais ® Strategies to Make it Possible, Easy and Fun to Get Out and Play!

Learn to play more freely, fully, and confidently using some of the same principles we all naturally engaged in during our earliest years. Clarify your image of action and the accompanying movement patterns to develop and improve balance, power, proportionally efficient effort, whole body fluidity, overall enjoyment and enhanced self-reliance in your recreational pursuits.

Feldenkrais ®, Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movemen t® and Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner® are registered service marks of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America®.

Make the most of the season by following these simple guidelines

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 05:50:09 GMT

The new season is a great reason to make and keep resolutions. Whether it’s eating right or cleaning out the garage, here are some tips for making and keeping resolutions.

Make a list

Lists are great ways to stay on track. Write down some big things you want to accomplish and some smaller things, too.

Check the list regularly

Don’t forget to check in and see how you’re doing. Just because you don’t achieve the big goals right away doesn’t mean you’re not making progress.

Reward yourself

When you succeed in achieving a goal, be it a big one or a small one, make sure to pat yourself on the back.

Think positively

Positive thinking is a major factor in success. So instead of mulling over things that didn’t go quite right, remind yourself of things that did.

Keep in touch with site visitors and boost loyalty

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 05:50:08 GMT

There are so many good reasons to communicate with site visitors. Tell them about sales and new products or update them with tips and information.

Here are some reasons to make blogging part of your regular routine.

Blogging is an easy way to engage with site visitors

Writing a blog post is easy once you get the hang of it. Posts don’t need to be long or complicated. Just write about what you know, and do your best to write well.

Show customers your personality

When you write a blog post, you can really let your personality shine through. This can be a great tool for showing your distinct personality.

Blogging is a terrific form of communication

Blogs are a great communication tool. They tend to be longer than social media posts, which gives you plenty of space for sharing insights, handy tips and more.

It’s a great way to support and boost SEO

Search engines like sites that regularly post fresh content, and a blog is a great way of doing this. With relevant metadata for every post so search engines can find your content.

Drive traffic to your site

Every time you add a new post, people who have subscribed to it will have a reason to come back to your site. If the post is a good read, they’ll share it with others, bringing even more traffic!

Blogging is free

Maintaining a blog on your site is absolutely free. You can hire bloggers if you like or assign regularly blogging tasks to everyone in your company.

A natural way to build your brand

A blog is a wonderful way to build your brand’s distinct voice. Write about issues that are related to your industry and your customers.

Tips for writing great posts that increase your site traffic

website@sitemodify.com (Website Editor) — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 05:50:08 GMT

Write about something you know. If you don’t know much about a specific topic that will interest your readers, invite an expert to write about it.

Speak to your audience

You know your audience better than anyone else, so keep them in mind as you write your blog posts. Write about things they care about. If you have a company Facebook page, look here to find topics to write about

Take a few moments to plan your post

Once you have a great idea for a post, write the first draft. Some people like to start with the title and then work on the paragraphs. Other people like to start with subtitles and go from there. Choose the method that works for you.

Don’t forget to add images

Be sure to include a few high-quality images in your blog. Images break up the text and make it more readable. They can also convey emotions or ideas that are hard to put into words.

Edit carefully before posting

Once you’re happy with the text, put it aside for a day or two, and then re-read it. You’ll probably find a few things you want to add, and a couple more that you want to remove. Have a friend or colleague look it over to make sure there are no mistakes. When your post is error-free, set it up in your blog and publish.