With Violet's coaching I managed to improve my uphill running technique. Now when I run uphill it is easier for each given speed, as I am straining less and thinking more. I also have been driven by the ideas of Feldenkrais to search for more movement options in my running technique. I feel that my running has become more fluid, less muscle driven, and more skeletal driven.
Louise Oram, member of the Canadian National Orienteering Team; represented Canada at the 2005, 2006 and 2008 World Orienteering Championships
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Hey Dad – I can bounce like Tigger!!
Christopher, age 12, after a Functional Integration session to help him explore using his foot (which he had injured about a year ago when jumping off of a high place).
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I really enjoyed working with you with horses and Feldenkrais. I was so excited and relieved to finally feel comfortable that my spine is a support and is flexible. Since being diagnosed 10 years ago with a herniated disc between L4-L5, I have guarded my spine quite a bit. And that guarding has affected my horseback riding in a negative way. Now, since you worked with me doing introductory Feldenkrais, I have had a chance to experience my spine as good support, not an injured thing. So, it is helping me feel more comfortable riding young and inexperienced horses. It helped a great deal when a couple of horses did U-turns on me. I feel that my spine is my friend, not my enemy.
Linda Eddy, Nurse Practitioner, and Instructor of Nurse Practitioners at Washington State University.
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For many years I have had almost constant arthritic pain in my back and upper legs, and many normal, day-to-day activities have been very painful for me. For example, I had trouble sitting in a chair or getting to the floor from a standing position (and vice versa); I also did not know how to get out of bed without great difficulty. I go on daily hikes, and climbing hills was sometimes agonizing.
Last winter a local physiotherapist suggested that I give Feldenkrais a try. I immediately began taking a weekly class, as well as individual sessions with Violet.
After about the second week of attending class and meeting privately with Violet, I started noticing an “ease” in many of my day-to-day movements, and by summer-time I truly felt like I was “gliding”, and using “flowing motion” to get out of bed, to get from sitting to standing (and vice versa), and while hiking the hills near my home. As well, I have enjoyed learning about the nervous system and how our bodies organize themselves.
I am not completely pain-free yet, but certainly the arthritic pain has been reduced by more than 50%. I feel much more confident and aware as I move about throughout the day, and my yoga has improved.
Not only do I like Violet on a personal level, I find that she has a great deal of integrity as a teacher. She is reliable, well-organized and very knowledgeable about the mechanics of the human body and how Feldenkrais will benefit each person she works with. She is pleasant, warm, and compassionate, while at the same time she maintains a healthy, professional distance from her students.
I have recommended Feldenkrais to many friends and family members, particularly those with long-standing areas of chronic pain. Ideally, Feldenkrais is for everyone!
Barbara Frain Gower, 47, Whitehorse, Yukon
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After years of sprained ankles, Feldenkrais helped me regain ankle flexibility and movement.
Feldenkrais let me change those bad movement patterns I developed coming off injuries - it gave me a safe environment to try using my muscles more efficiently.
Pippa McNeil, double gold medallist in W35 at Canadian National Orienteering Championships 2007; former Canadian National Orienteering Team member
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Learning body awareness through Feldenkrais has helped me work through long-standing aches and pains that I used to feel helpless to deal with. Between regular classes, private sessions with Violet and going through the book "The Busy Person's Guide to Easier Movement," I have learned a variety of techniques to use when parts of me begin to hurt. "Oozing" as I turn over in bed at night is a delight everyone should come to know.
Wynne Krangle, Whitehorse, Yukon
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I feel, stand and move better because of Feldenkrais. Feldenkrais has helped me know my body, get in touch with it and listen to it better. This new connection is renewed each time I think about how it moves. Then, my body and I become one.
Annie Pellicano, Flamenco dancer and teacher, athlete (football, skiing, paddling, and more)
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Violet van Hees, a TTEAM Practitioner and Feldenkrais practitioner, took part in the TTEAM clinic with her daughter Kerstin. Violet gave Functional Integration Feldenkrais lessons to several people in the training. She tailored each person’s lesson to find something that would be helpful for their situation and she was right on the mark with everyone. The experience helped people relate to the connection between TTEAM and Feldenkrais.
In an article by Paula Loewen about the summer 2008 TTEAM clinic in Vernon, in the “TTEAM Connections” newsletter, July-September 2008.
TELLINGTON TTOUCHTM WORK WITH HORSES:
Comments from Violet's TTEAM Clinic participants:
- this approach makes so much sense, for me and the horse!
- wonderful and informative
- interesting and useful information - I learned a lot of new things I didn't know
- delivered with enthusiasm!
- it was great that I got to try out things myself to experience how they work
Villager: “She turned me into a newt.”
Bedevere: “A newt?”
Villager (after looking at himself for some time): “I got better.”
From Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1974
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