à la carte spirit by ilona fried
ilona fried
Feldenkrais: The Wine Tasting of Movement
Imagine attending a wine tasting where the pourer fills a large goblet and, instead of handing it you, splashes the contents in your face. Some of the liquid might reach your lips and tongue, but likely you are so shocked by the dousing that you’re gasping for breath rather than inhaling the bouquet. In lieu of finding the precise phrase to describe the wine’s complex notes, you let fly a few … Continue reading
Dear New Yorker: Your Gluten Article is Hard to Swallow
Dear New Yorker, There was a time when I couldn’t wait for you to arrive in the mail each week. That was in the mid-1990s, when I was in my late twenties and worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Your covers and cartoons delighted me, your articles and essays informed and challenged me. Spending … Continue reading
Thoughts on My 200th Post
While I haven’t been counting, WordPress recently notified me that this will be my 200th post. It’s a large enough number to warrant acknowledgment and reflection. This figure does not include dozens of posts I began, to capture an idea or a thought, that I either chose not to develop or incorporated into other pieces of writing. Much of … Continue reading
Feldenkrais and the Tyranny of “Touch Your Toes”
“…some have the knees straight as if it were a rule that you have to touch the floor having the knees straight.” – Moshe Feldenkrais, The Master Moves One afternoon in my Feldenkrais program, trainer Katrin Smithback invited us to take a break from a seated activity by having us stand. “Now,” she said, “touch your toes.” … Continue reading
Feldenkrais: Drawing a New Self
Decades ago, as a tween, I took a class at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA to learn to draw cartoon characters. While I don’t have those drawings in front of me, what I recall is that we started by sketching approximate shapes: circles, ovals, cylinders, whatever roughly characterized a face, arm, torso, belly or … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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