Make Your Running Fun, Efficient—and Easy (Yes, Easy) Again
A Feldenkrais® Workshop for Runners
with Ray Sylvester, GCFP • Saturday, March 14, 2020 • MoveIntuitive Studio (Brassworks Building, 132 Main St., Haydenville, MA)
Runners: Ever said one (or more) of these things to yourself?
- “I love running, but it’s hurting my knees/back/feet/…”
- “I haven’t PR’d in years.”
- “I’m not working hard enough at my running. I just need more discipline.”
- “I’m too weak/tight. I just need to strengthen/stretch more.”
- “I’m following all the running cues and form tips I’ve heard, but running still doesn’t feel easy or natural.”
- “I don’t know who or what to believe or trust.”
Or the worst one of all…
Running is no fun anymore.
If you’re a runner finding yourself in the injury hole, or the “running is too hard/no fun” hole, you’re probably less interested in how you got there than what you can do to get out of it.
Running should be fun. It should be easy. And it can be.
A Feldenkrais® Approach to Better Running
When it comes to developing a running technique that’s easy, efficient, natural, and pleasurable—and less likely to injure you—you’ll enjoy much more progress when you work from the inside out.
The Feldenkrais Method® is a form of movement education that works with the nervous system to help you better understand your movement habits and safely develop more efficient ones.
Feldenkrais® lessons aim at building your ability to “self-sense”—to know where you are and what you’re doing as you move—as well as helping you learn how to reduce unnecessary muscular effort and distribute it appropriately throughout the whole body.
In this workshop, we’ll take a deep dive into the main concepts of whole-body movement that lead to efficient running form, and apply them in several gentle Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement lessons. We’ll also take breaks so you can feel the effect of what you’re learning on your running form.
You’ll leave equipped with a true “inside-out” understanding of what it takes to run well. You’ll gain clarity on three key things:
- how your ability to sense your body and know what you’re doing is your most powerful tool to improve your running
- how letting go of unnecessary tension and muscular effort can make your running feel more fluid and natural
- how to access your own ideal running form every time you run
You’ll also come away with a better understanding of:
- why the “spring” action of efficient running makes your running orthotics obsolete
- how your breathing pattern relates to your running form, and how to use the power of your breath to improve your running
- what to do about plantar fasciitis and IT band syndrome
- a few easy-to-remember form guidelines that will make a positive difference in your running
Most importantly, you’ll be able to feel what easy, efficient running is for yourself, gain more trust in your running abilities, and rekindle your love for one of the most human activities there is: running.
The Rest of the Details
This workshop is for runners of all stripes—whether you’re thinking about starting a couch-to-10K, an experienced mega-miler, or someone in between. No special skill is necessary to benefit, other than curiosity and the desire to learn something about yourself.
It’s led by Ray Sylvester, a certified Feldenkrais® practitioner. A multi-sport athlete growing up, he got into distance running on the later side, at age 36. He was quickly hooked, and has spent the past two+ years applying what he’s learned in over a decade of studying movement to the practice of running.
When: Saturday, March 14, 2020 • 10 AM – 2 PM
Where: MoveIntuitive Studio, Brassworks building Suite 2i, Haydenville, MA
Price: $70 through February 21; $85 through March 13 [early bird extended!]
What to bring: Your running shoes/gear. Light snacks (vegan, gluten free) will be provided, but you’re welcome to bring your own.
Register for the 3/14/2020 Runner’s Workshop
Questions? Call (415-225-2050) or email Ray at ray@moveintuitive.com.
Runner’s Workshop FAQ
The Feldenkrais Method is a method of movement education that uses directed attention to improve human functioning.
Feldenkrais emphasizes gentle, deliberate movements done with awareness to foster a richer connection between the body and the brain. This helps expand your perception, increase your awareness of how you move habitually, and create healthier movement patterns.
In a Feldenkrais lesson, the focus is on moving with your whole self, finding the support of your skeleton in gravity, and refining the quality and ease of every movement.
The workshop will be based mainly around a number of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons. There will also be time for discussion and questions, opportunities to test your running outside, and snack breaks.
Awareness Through Movement (ATM for short) lessons are typically 30 to 60 minutes long.
In each ATM lesson, I’ll guide you verbally through a series of gentle movements, usually around a specific theme relevant to running.
Lessons are usually done lying on the floor to counteract the effects of gravity. The movements themselves typically start with a simple idea, then build on that idea.
Throughout the lesson, you’ll be invited to notice what you’re doing at each moment and to move with greater ease and less effort, using more of your whole self.
Along the way, you’ll get to ask your brain new questions and begin to slowly open it to new possibilities.
The workshop will definitely be more of a gentle experience. You’ll be working out your brain more than your body!
That’s awesome! You’d be surprised at how much capacity you have to learn and improve, even if you’re already running at a high level
Definitely! Although it sucks to be injured, this workshop will give you a chance to become more aware of the movement patterns that may have contributed to your injury, and safely explore ways to use yourself more efficiently in running to avoid future injury.
In Feldenkrais, we never push past what’s easy, or into pain and tension. You’ll learn to develop greater sensitivity—an ability to listen to your nervous system’s warning signals when you’re moving in a way that’s not working well for you.
What Runners Have to Say About the Feldenkrais Method®
“The results of all [the Feldenkrais work] were impressive. My knee problem vanished. I’ve increased my mileage considerably without a trace of difficulty. […] The running seemed effortless.”
— Bruce Holmes, Runner’s World
“Running is wholly natural and free, and our bodies were made for it. Feldenkrais brought so much change in the way I move, and it reminded me to live with childlike freedom and curiosity. It has made such a difference.”
— Tarragon, Salty Running
“After the running, we went into the clinic and [Feldenkrais practitioner Jae Gruenke] gave me a ‘rolling lesson’ in which I lay on my back, knees bent, and she pulled and rolled my legs gently from side to side. Then we headed back out so I could run again. I felt great.”
— Adharanand Finn (author of Running with the Kenyans, The Way of the Runner and The Rise of the Ultra Runners), Runner’s World UK
“No other training teaches the body to move like The Feldenkrais Method does. Whether you’ve been injured or not, The Feldenkrais Method can help by increasing the central nervous system’s awareness of each muscle and movement, and helping to integrate these movements. This not only increases the efficiency of your running, but also keeps you injury free, and improves your day to day movements.”
— Kara Lubieniecki, Hudson Elite
“[Running legend and coach Melody Fairchild] also pursued a four-year training in Cortical Field Reeducation — body therapy based on the work of Moshe Feldenkrais, a physicist who founded a method of gentle movement to increase range of motion and improve flexibility. Fairchild credits her studies with improving her overall health and power.”
— Ian Torrence, Runner’s World
“It was all very interesting to me, but I left her office feeling like I wasn’t leaving with much. That is, until my run the next day.
On that run, I was able to discern how my feet and arches landed and rolled with each step. They did feel like they were planting differently! I recognized that my right leg was reaching much further than the left, almost straining to move forward. I started to pick apart differences in how the right side of my body felt compared to my much stronger left.”
— Jackie Dikos, RD, Runner’s World
