As someone who spent a year exploring barefoot running, it was difficult for me to accept the idea that an insole could strengthen my feet. While I still think that walking and running barefoot is one of the best things you can do for your alignment and core strength, I do wear shoes most of the time I’m outdoors.

More than you probably realize, the way you find support from the ground has a lot to do with how easy or difficult it is to engage your core. Many of us were born with a foot structure that tends to promote instability and misalignments due to a congenital twist in the talus. This tends to promote a lack of contact between the big toe and the ground and less support through the midline of the body. If you do have “Morton’s foot structure” or “Rothbart’s foot structure” you’re in good company. In Botticelli’s painting of Primavera, Mercury and Charity have this foot design and you can see what it’s doing to the alignment in their knees. Unfortunately most of us are not gods, and are more prone to problems with our feet, knees or low back due to this misalignment.

The way that Posture Dynamic insole work is to provide a minimal lift to the ball of the big toe (we’re talking millimeters here) that allows the medial arch to engage sooner in the gait cycle. This subtle shift helps to align the foot and consequently the leg and pelvis. Because it’s not an orthotic it isn’t designed to support the foot, but instead strengthen it and bring it back into alignment by changing the timing of when you feel the ground through your big toe. A wacky concept, but it seems to work.

Anyway, here’s a link to Posture Dynamics. If you’re unsure about whether these insoles are right for you, I can do an assessment next time you come in. It takes about 5 minutes.

If you’ve already done the series, are thinking about coming in for a Hellerwork series or just want to know how you can improve your posture, this is a fantastic book. It’s called The New Rules of Posture by Mary Bond and I’m recommending it to anyone starting the 11 session Hellerwork series. The New Rules of Posture is filled with fantastic body oriented exercises that come from Mary Bond’s 25 years of experience as a Rolfer, Rolf Movement Therapist and Dancer.

Many of the exercises are similar to ones I practice with clients in a more personal way during the Hellerwork series. They cover the basics of breathing, sitting, standing, and walking while developing core stability and making changes in perception that make it easy to recover a feeling of balance no matter how out of whack you may feel. Even an advanced mover can learn something from this book. In my Hellerwork practice, I find that the movement aspect of the series is often what allows my clients to develop the personal awareness to continue to find balance and improve their alignment long after the series is over. The new rules of posture is a great compliment to this work.

I recently received this email from someone interested in the Hellerwork series. I often hear questions about whether Hellerwork can change the body in a lasting way, so it seemed worthwhile to post my response. If you’ve considered the Hellerwork series, but aren’t sure if the series will make a lasting difference in your body, this is for you.

Dear David -
I am considering seeking Hellerwork therapy but have couple of questions: How lasting are the effects from the 11 session Hellerwork protocol? I understand the concept of reshaping the muscle tissue and fascia - but isn’t my body essentially the by-product of my gentics? Meaning what I see is what I get - right? I have a hard time believing that any of the changes can be truly lasting without utilizing Hellerwork therapy through a practioner continually for the rest of my life - Yes call me pessimistic (many people do) but I do not want to set blind expectations on the 11 session protocol as a cure all.

Can the effects be maintained through specific exercises that I can employ after completing the 11 week therapy?

Kaushal,

It’s a great question you’re asking, so I’m going to give you the long answer. A lot of people coming to me for the series have the same questions.

So to your question…
Yes, to some extent your body is a result of your genetics. Your genes determine what is possible for you to become. My feeling is that DNA is given far too much responsibility for shaping the human experience in our culture. One way to think of it is that the DNA in your cells is the book collection of your bodies library. It determines what information is available to be read, while you, and the forces acting on you as the library patron determine what gets read in the language of the body.

Here’s another example you might relate to: when you have an injury to your left ankle lets say, and you start to favor your opposite leg, your fascia is rearranged over a short period of time, weeks or months, and successive layers of tissue build up around that adaption. We call that a limp. It is no more difficult to rearrange the tissue, over weeks or months (11 weeks in the Hellerwork series) to undo that adaption and balance your weight over both legs. The Hellerwork series is a systematic process designed to undo the majority of those injuries and your compensations for them in a short period of time. After the series, many things can happen that change your body both to create possibilities for greater movement or to make movement more difficult. But whatever happens in your life after your series, the balance created by your Hellerwork experience will help you to have a greater capacity to deal with whatever comes your way. It’s like setting back the clock. Will it last forever? Of course not, and neither will you. Life happens to us and through us. We respond to our experience in ways that shape us daily. Can it change your life? Most definitely.

I’m sure you have some postural habits you’d like to undo but that feel hopelessly ingrained. There are plenty of kids in my neighborhood who adopt a limp to look tough and to some extent we all change our posture to express ourselves in a certain way. Hellerwork is primarily an educational experience. I can’t take your postural habits away from you, but what I can do is give you options for how to move with more ease, realign your connective tissue to support more ease and help you to become more aware of how the way you carry yourself effects how you feel and even think.

After that, the choice is yours about what you do with this opening. It’s like having a new set of tools for your body and having to chose between a new craftsman or that old rusty wrench with the threads stripped off. You might be used to using the old wrench out of habit, but then there’s that unfamiliar, but silky smooth new socket set you could try out too. I like to think the movement exercises we’ll work on are kind of like that new socket set.

This will sound even stranger, but the real magic often happens after the series is over. Ida Rolf often said, “The body continues to Rolf itself.” I’ve seen many of my clients continue to grow towards better alignment after the series is over. They had no further input other than the changes they made in their lives as a result of the series and it’s as if their bodies are taking a cue from the work and continuing to reshape themselves. If you are open to Hellerwork creating change in your body and in your experience, it will improve your life in ways that will far surpass your expectations, but that is up to you.

Ultimately, all of this is meaningless as a mental exercise. The only way to know whether this work will benefit you or not is to experience a session. I hope that answered your questions and let me know when you’re ready to take the first step.

Warmly,

David.

Many of my clients have asked what they can do to support the changes they gain from their Hellerwork series. I usually give an answer something like, “Yoga, meditation, chi gong, pilates, or anything that brings you towards a deeper connection with yourself.”

Meditation is one of the most direct ways to do that and it can be as simple as observing the inhale and exhale of your breath. Of course it’s often not as easy as that sounds. I came across the following advice on meditation and thought I would share it. It’s sound advice for beginners or experienced meditators alike.

I’ll add that if you don’t already have a meditition practice with a group that sits together regularly, I highly recommend it for avoiding many of the pitfalls that beginner meditators fall into. It can help to have some support from other folks going through a similar process.

WHAT IS THE RIGHT ATTITUDE FOR MEDITATION?
By U Tejaniya
Shwe Oo Min Meditation Center
Yangon, Myanmar

1. Meditating is watching and acknowledging in a relaxed way whatever happens whether pleasant or unpleasant.

2. Meditating is waiting and watching with awareness and understanding: not thinking, not reflecting, not judging.

3. Just pay attention to what is exactly in the present moment.
Don’t go back to the past!
Don’t plan for the future!

4. When meditating, both the mind and the body shold be comfortable.

5. The meditating mind should be relaxed and at peace.
You cannot practice when the mind is tense.

6. Don’t focus too hard, don’t control and don’t force or restrict yourself.

7. Don’t try to create anything, and don’t reject what is happening. However, as things happen or stop happening, be aware of them.

8. Trying to create something is greed.
Rejecting what is happening is aversion.
Not knowing if something is happening or has stopped happening is delusion.

9. Only when the observing mind has no greed, aversion or worry/ anxiety will the meditating mind arise.

10. Don’t have any expectations.
Don’t want anything.
Don’t be anxious, because if these attitudes are in your mind, it becomes difficult to meditate.

11. You are not trying to make things turn out the way you want them to happen. You are trying to know what is happening as it is.

12. You have to accept and watch both good and bad experiences.

13. You have to double check to see what attitude you are meditating with. A light and free mind enables you to meditate well.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

David.

I hope your Holiday Celebrations have brought you closer to friends and family, and may 2007 be all that you wish for.

A little about what I’ve been up to in 2006…

This year brought a lot of change to my practice. At the beginning of the summer I moved my office to Midtown Manhattan where I share an office with a fantastic colon therapist, Rachel Bastow. While I miss being able to walk 8 minutes to work, being at 34th and 6th Ave. has made my office much more accessible for the majority of my clients, and even better, I no longer have to convince anyone how close Williamsburg is to Manhattan.

In September I finished my Somatic Experiencing Training and I am now a full fledged Somatic Experiencing Practitioner! It was exciting to have completed the three year training and I’m looking forward to assisting the upcoming trainings with some of my favorite teachers.

This summer took me to New Orleans where I joined a team of trauma therapists with the Trauma Outreach Program (TOP). We provided sessions and training for Social Workers from Catholic Charities, and other care givers who provide direct services to people in New Orleans. The most exciting part of the trip was our training where we taught the basics of Somatic Experiencing and how to work with Traumatic Stress in a disaster situation. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and it was an amazing experience to watch how quickly they were using the material and how empowered the participants became in the process.

During frequent trips to New Orleans and to Thailand after the Tsunami in 2004, TOP has done two initial studies to determine the effectiveness of Somatic Experiencing for working with PTSD after a disaster. Results showed the highest level of statistical significance with a high reduction in symptoms in only 1-2 sessions, both in Thailand and in New Orleans. Obviously more studies need to be done, but it’s exciting to see some credible research to back up this exciting work. Results of the studies can be found here.

With the help of a fantastic designer I was able to put the finishing touches on my new website. I’m very excited to have it up and would love to get your feedback to make it as articulate as possible. I’ll also be updating it throughout the year with body awareness and movement tips, so be sure to check back every now and then.

As you have probably already heard, the biggest excitement in my professional life has been my project to design a line of therapeutic shoes. My idea to start designing shoes came from my difficulty teaching movement to people wearing shoes, especially shoes with heels or that restrict the movement of the foot. This summer I began partnering with a very enlightened Podiatrist and a team of design engineers to create an initial design. Coming up with a design that’s both flexible, supportive and stable is not an easy project! The process has brought up all sorts of questions about how we connect and relate to the ground, and while I don’t think our first design will create world peace, our first round of prototypes were a great success. As part of our commitment to promoting alignment, each pair of shoes will also come with a DVD that teaches a lot of the movement principles that I cover in my Hellerwork sessions. It’s certain to be like no shoe you’ve ever worn and the feedback we’ve gotten on looks have been extremely possitive, so my hopes are high that this project will be a success. We’re planning to spend the first half of the new year continuing to develop the footbed while we secure funding. I’ll keep you posted as it develops.

On a personal note, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to spend the holidays with family in Georgia, Nevada and California, which meant a lot of traveling, not including my now annual surf trip to Puerto Rico before Christmas! This year I’ve been blessed with a growing practice, fun travel, great friendships and a supportive family. I couldn’t be more thankful.

Wishing you great success in the coming year,

David.

Gratitude is something I think about a lot. Lately I’ve been thinking about it less as something I feel like I should do and more as a solution to whatever is going poorly in my life. Often when I start to feel upset, if I look at the situation I’ll realize that the cause of my negative feeling, thought or sensation is a tunnel like focus on something negative. When I’m able to broaden my focus to what I’m grateful for, new opportunities always begin to appear in the periphery.

This isn’t always easy if your attention is easily drawn to negative thoughts, feelings, or sensations, so sometimes it’s better to take a break from the negative subject all together rather than to try and re-spin the negativity as positive. After spending some time focusing on what I have to be grateful for, when I return to the subject that’s vexing me, I’ll often feel better about it.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I received this email about Gratitude from a stranger, Dave Faagau. I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I’m reposting it here. I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your holiday season brings you much to be thankful for.

Here’s his email:

Most people do no realize the many health benefits of gratitude. Studies indicate that thankfulness is directly linked to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Compared to people who do not live a lifestyle of thankfulness, research shows that grateful people
.

1. Experience higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination optimism and energy
2. Experience less depression
3. Better manage stress
4. Are more likely to help others
5. Exercise more regularly
6. Make more progress towards their personal goals
7. Have stronger immune systems
8. Have fewer symptoms of physical illness

Those are some impressive benefits that can be yours without even increasing your physical activity or changing your nutrition plan. All that is required is a grateful heart. Are you a thankful person? If you are unsure, then it may be in your best interest to consider the following questions:

Are you the type of person who dwells on the good or on the bad things that happen to you?

Do you tell others about the blessings in your life as much as you tell them when things go wrong?

Are you considerate of the people closest to you or do you often take them for granted?

Are you thankful only when things are going well or do you look for blessings even when bad things happen?

Is there someone you admire who is a thankful person? What other attributes do you admire about them?

Are you leaving a legacy of thankfulness that others will remember you by?

There is nothing complicated about gratitude. Quite simply, thankfulness is a choice. To say we fell grateful is not to say that everything in our life is great. It just means that in spite of all we see that is worthy of complaint, there is far more we can choose to focus on that is worthy of thankfulness.

Why not choose to extend the tradition of giving thanks through the entire year, instead of limiting it to the Holiday Season? You’re physical, emotional, and spiritual health will all reap the benefits of a thankful heart. The choice is yours.

By Dave Faagau, a Fitness Specialist and owner of Total Body Training

– Happy Thanksgiving!

“You are not what you think you are, but what you think
you are!”

I recently saw a great movie that I’ve been recommending to some of my clients called the secret. I like to describe it as a great cognitive/life coaching compliment to Somatic Experiencing. The movie follows the director on her search to find people who understand “The Secret”, which in the movie is the universal law of attraction.

For those who liked ‘What the Bleep’, this may become your new favorite movie. If you couldn’t stand the crazed animations and difficult to follow scientific extrapolations to every day life in ‘What the Bleep’, you still might get something out of this.

Hope you enjoy it and Let me know what your impressions are.

David.

A friend of mine who is a writer asked for advice to prevent the aches and pains of sitting at a desk for long hours. Often times those knots we get in our backs are related to posture. Here’s a little experiment you can try while sitting at a desk, without the stress of “trying” to sit up straight. Most people think of posture as something you have to strain to do, but if you have to work to sit up, as soon as you think about something else, you’re likely to start slouching again. For this reason, good posture has to be relaxed for it to last. Read the rest of this entry »

I originally wrote this article for The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, 2005/Vol.1 Issue 4/Los Angeles. Through my own experiences and the writing of others, I explore the personal implications of social disfunction and point to some possibilities for our collective liberation.

Physiology of the Oppressed by David Murphy

Recovery is based on the empowerment of the survivor and the creation of new connections.
-Judith Herman Trauma and Recovery

Over the last 10 years, my experiences working for social justice left me feeling like a boxer toward the end of his career beat up and unsure why I was still getting into the ring. While I’m proud to say that I participated in many hard won battles where forests were saved, grassroots media networks created, oil pipelines stopped, neighborhoods temporarily protected from gentrification, we dont seem to be any closer to ending oppression or creating peace in the world. The conviction that justice would prevail used to pull me through but over time I realized that I had become more angry than when I started along the activist path. I had begun experiencing what I now recognize as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), shell-shocked from the continual threat of police batons and rubber bullets, and I resented feeling that there were never enough people to do the work of creating change. It was just too much for one person to stop humanity from committing collective suicide. Read the rest of this entry »