BLERG!
The good news is that I get to use a word I just learned.
I think I learned to use a bilingual dictionary first. It had words and pictures in it. I was five years old, going to kindergarten in East Orange, New Jersey. That’s when I developed my avid fascination with being able to learn what words mean, whether I read it in a scientific journal or the New York Times, on social media or on a wall.
Anyway, if you don’t know about it, the Urban Dictionary provides a window on current North American jargon from one of its main fountainheads, the language of inner-city culture.
Be that as it may . . .
Here’s what happened. A friend sent me a message — which, through no fault of hers, I received in the middle of an awesomely fun and important Zoom meeting — letting me know that I’d, in the email that I sent everyone with a professional account on the Mind in Motion website hardly more than 24 hours ago, written PM when it should have been AM.
That was the bad news. The instant I learned it, I blurted:
BLERG!
Thankfully, as it happens, at that lucky moment — lucky enough to have such a good friend (you know who are!) — I was muted in the Zoom meeting.
Somehow, that mistake had been invisible to those of us who wrote the blog, checked it, and set up the meeting.
Oh fiddlesticks . . . I wonder if this is yet another humbling example of what Moshe Feldenkrais called the Elusive Obvious?
As I said during that Zoom meeting I was telling you about a moment ago, referring to both what had just happened during that meeting and to the news that I’d just received, you know you just learned something important when, after somebody points it out, when it seems obvious, when you think, “Of course, that’s right.”
Sometimes, it’s my blind spot that’s rendered, suddenly and inescapably visible. Sometimes, it’s a collective misperception. Either way, there’s the flash of embarrassment, or maybe it’s shame, that comes with it.
The only remedy, the only thing that doesn’t make things worse, is to be grateful for what you learned and then to make it right.
If you know what mistake I’m referring to, please accept my apology and kindly skip the letter below. If you wonder what I’m yammering on about and you’d like to satisfy your curiosity, please read on.
One day, many years ago, when I was trying to figure out a homework assignment for one of my Functional Integration® students, I had what seemed like a crazy idea at the time: using a doorway as a constraint. The student was intrigued by the task and, given how much fun he was having, so was I! I began to explore the possibilities in my personal ATM® practice only to find myself increasingly curious about adapting classic lesson compositions to this context and delighted about the new directions I was discovering.
Next Tuesday, for the first time ever, I’ll be teaching the first of eight new, state-of-the-art Awareness Through Movement® lessons based on what I’ve learned since then. Called the Threshold to Transformation, this series of ATM classes use an ordinary doorway as a tool for making extraordinary changes in how you sit, stand, and move.
As a complement to this course, I’m offering a BACKSTAGE PASS exclusively for Feldenkrais® teachers and trainees. Would you want to miss the chance to delve into the process of developing these lessons and constructing the curriculum?
We’ll have time to debrief what happened during each class, decode the ATMs, and discuss the underlying learning logic. You’ll have a chance to participate in the conversation, consider each lesson carefully, unpack what makes them work, examine why they work so well together, and develop an even deeper appreciation of the strategies, tactics, and techniques that comprise Moshe’s method.
All along, I’ll be there to support you in fleshing out your insights, developing your way of understanding, and integrating what you’re learning into both your professional work and your personal ATM practice, classes, and creative process.
Each TTT BACKSTAGE PASS session will last an hour and three-quarters and include a fifteen break. So that you can learn from and with the other participants, breakout sessions will be a part of these meetings as well. So that colleagues around the world can participate, I’m offering this program at two different times:
The Pacific Rim group
Fridays from 5:00 to 6:45 PM US Pacific time
24 April 2020
01 May 2020
15 May 2020
22 May 2020
The Americas and Atlantic group
Saturdays from 10:00 to 11:45 AM US Pacific time
25 April 2020
02 May 2020
16 May 2020
23 May 2020
We’re taking a break in the middle of the series for the Feldenkrais Awareness® Summit (Affiliate link*), which happens from 1 to 10 May 2020.
(To find out when these meetings are happening in your timezone, please click here.)
To ensure that you’ll get plenty of chances to participate, as well as ample opportunity to receive individual coaching, each TTT—BP group is strictly limited to only 15 participants.
As with all of my distance learning courses, the sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be available soon after each meeting. The recordings are included in the price of your tuition (an $87 value) at no extra charge whatsoever. Even if you can’t attend every rendezvous, you’ll be able to send your questions ahead of time and then access the recordings afterward.
This worldwide upheaval has created financial uncertainty and hardship for many. That’s why I’m offering two tiers of tuition; full fare and reduced tuition. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. The tuition includes access to the audio recordings of the TTT BACKSTAGE PASS at no extra charge whatsoever.
Please note: Participation in the Threshold to Transformation is required for enrollment in the BACKSTAGE PASS program, you cannot do one without the other and must also have a professional Become a Better Teacher MIMO (Mind in Motion Online) account to be able to enroll in it.
To find out the schedule of our meetings, the tuition, and more, please click here.
If you’d like to learn more about this practical, down-to-earth program, find out about the accompanying course for Feldenkrais teachers and trainees, and experience this unusually effective way to change yourself, please join me for one of two free Zoom meetings. Please click on either date and time below to sign up:
- Friday, 17 April, 4:30 to 5:45 PM US Pacific time
- Saturday, 18 April, 10:30 to 11:45 AM US Pacific time
Please take note: My most recent free Zoom meeting maxed out with 100 participants, meaning anyone who tried to join after that many people had logged in was locked out. So to make sure there’s room for you, I encourage you to sign in a few minutes before the meeting starts.
If you’ve signed up for the meeting and it turns out that you can’t attend one of these meetings, for whatever reason, I’ll let you know how to access the recording.
I’ll also post a link to the recording on the Threshold to Transformation page and I’ll add it to this blog post; either that, or I’ll make a new post for it.
Hmm . . .
Please stay tuned.
What a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Frederick has been raving about you for weeks; I look forward to Friday and beyond.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
I look forward to the great and wonderful beyond!