à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Ritual
Feldenkrais: Detangler of the Spirit
Some people have epiphanies in the shower. The other day, I had one afterwards. I wanted to comb my hair, but since my comb was in another room, I reached for my hairbrush. As I raised my arm to use it, I noticed I was holding my breath. Before beginning my Feldenkrais training, I wouldn’t have sensed … Continue reading
Feldenkrais, Food and Self-Image
“I can’t imagine giving up gluten” – Facebook comment It’s more than a week into my trial separation from gluten. Rather than immediately stocking up on gluten-free substitutes, I doubled if not tripled my consumption of fruit and vegetables. My head is clearer, I feel lighter, I sleep better and, unexpectedly, my waistline is trimmer. While I’m marveling at the nearly immediate … Continue reading
Feldenkrais and At-One-Ment
Health is the ability to realize our avowed and unavowed dreams. – Moshe Feldenkrais. In the Jewish calendar, we’re in the midst of the Days of Awe, a period of introspection that began with Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, and culminates with Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, also known as the Day … Continue reading
Road Trip as American Camino: Yellowstone as Santiago?
Before I left for El Camino de Santiago nearly two years ago, my dance teacher told me she had seen the film, “The Way”. Wide eyed, she recapped a scene at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, where robed priests swung a censer across the church, releasing white smoke into the air. My innards tightened, as if that … Continue reading
Remembering a Holy Maverick: Encounters with Reb Zalman (z”l)
The world lost one of its luminaries, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z”l), in early July. At a moving celebration of his life last weekend, I recalled a few of the more powerful times when my life intersected with this amazing being, with a “heart as big as the world”, if not as large as the cosmos. Grief introduced me to … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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