Hi all!
I've been vacationing for a bit but I'm back and jumping back into RSI reality.
In just a few moments I am going down to City College and enrolling (hopefully!!) in a PE class called Experience the Feldenkrais Method Can you believe it? This is potentially going to be great. Just wanted to share, more on this later.
crossing my fingers that I can add the class

Good luck Thursday- I hope that you can add the class.... It sounds awesome. I can't even find an Awareness thru Movement teacher in my new city. booooo.

I am extermely jealous.

you should blog about your classes here!

I got in!!!! I will update here for sure! So far I was pleasantly surprised to find 2 people I met once upon a time at a RSI support group. They are wonderful and I am thrilled to have some buddies to gab with on all things owie, medical, workers' comp and disabiliity insurances YAY!!

So far I can tell you that it is guided sensory awareness with slow movement. Of course I saw it as a challenge the first day and pushed myself to the limit. (I gotta learn to accept my limitations... its just so hard) I actually started having a neck spasm while on the mat. But the professor, who is trained in Feldenkrais and has been instructing since 1994, came over to me and gave me a modification and I was able to continue

Here are the Guidelines for success and comfort in Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement given to me in class:
"Take it easy do each movemenr w/ as little effort as possible.
Take it slow- So you can pay attention to wwhat you feel inside.
Do each movement completely- then take a short break before you begin again.
Relax- and let go of unnecessary tension in all parts of yourself.
It's ok to stop & rest- and do nothing whenever you wish.
If you feel any pain or discomfort- do less, move slower or smaller, go extra easy, or IMAGINE yourself doing the movement. Imagining the movement can be just as effective as physically doing it.
In Feldenkrais, Less = More."

To be continued......

Awesome,
yes- definitely keep us updated on how it is going for you!!

So far, class is going ok. Some sessions are groundbreaking some are totally discouraging. I have to learn to go slower, accept that I can't do some things, AND ask for modifications.
My professor is concerned for me to be sure though and that is nice!! She is constantly on the move in the gym space we do our Feldenkrais work in and she stops and makes adjustments on what I am doing or just asks if I'm ok. I think I am beginning to become more aware of my body and understanding that there is more than one way to move my body to get something accomplished.
However, this week was a discouraging one. I had to take a tramadol during class But the professor came over and did some Functional Intergration work with me. She worked on my upper back, scalenes,collarbone and ribs.
The way she described it was [paraphrasing] she's using her hands to move the client's body and invites the parts of the body that don't want to move to the party, askng the body to allow these parts out of a holding pattern. its much different that PT where you make your body do something because someone is kind of working your body for you. There's no flexion or extension being done by YOU.
After this session of one on one my cloud was lifted and I tried to participate in class again. I would not say I physically felt "better" but it was certainly nice for my problem areas to move without me causing added stress (if that makes sense). One on one Functional Integration is something I would like to do more of and I might recommend for you all to look into it. Unfortunately for me, its not the focus of this class. And unfortunately for us all, it seems to be a costly therapy as is much of bodywork out there...

City College of San Francisco will have Introduction to Feldenkrais again this semester. Classes start this Wednesday 1/14/2009 and Saturday 1/17/2009
As decribed in the college catalog:
Classes meet:
PE 582 Intro to Feldenkrais (Credit 1.0) Professor Jean Elvin
38942 001 Lab W 03:00-05:00PM
38943 601 Lab SAT 02:00-04:00PM

Interested and in the Bay Area? enroll here: http://www.ccsf.edu/