BreathXpress

A Somatic Approach to Self Expression

Utilizing Alba Emoting and Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement

Dates: July 20-27 2012

Price: $550 Early registration before May 15,  $600 after

Location: University of North Carolina Asheville

Instructors: Laura Bond, CL5 Alba Emoting & Lavinia Plonka, GCFP

Contact: breathxpress@yahoo.com (Laura) or laviniaplonka@gmail.com (Lavinia)

Click on this link to download the registration form and housing/travel Information: Summer 2012 Asheville Workshop Registration Form

The Workshop

Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage,” and each one of us plays many roles during the course of a lifetime.  Some professions require the ability to take on a role or an emotional attitude: actors, psychotherapists, teachers, lawyers for example.  But everyone carries a repertoire of emotional postures and attitudes that are the result of a lifetime of conditioning and habit.

The ability to recognize, understand and intentionally embody various emotions can be learned by anyone.  Lavinia and Laura have designed a five day somatic immersion into expanding emotional awareness and kinesthetic sensitivity by combining their extensive experience in their respective fields.

The week is divided into two parts separated by a day off.  The first part of the workshop introduces Alba Emoting, including the patterns and integrates it with Awareness Through Movement lessons.  The second part of the workshop will explore practical applications of the two methods via specific themes.

Some Themes Explored in the Second Part:

• Personal Presence of the Performer/Presenter
• Our Expressive Behavior Tells Our Story
• Interacting With Others: Conflict Resolution, Compassion and Empathy
• Emotional Tactics and Overcoming Obstacles
• Interacting With the Inanimate and Nature
• Polar Shifts: Examining How Emotions Mix and Shift

Schedule

Friday, July 20^th  to  Friday, July 27^th 2012

• Friday, July 20 – 5 PM Orientation and Welcome Reception
• Saturday – Monday – 9:30am –12:30pm  & 2:30pm – 4:30pm
• Tuesday – Day off
• Wednesday – Friday – 9:30am – 12:30pm  &  2:30pm – 5:30pm
• Friday night farewell event

A limited number of Private lessons with either instructor can be purchased during the workshop for $65. Lessons are approximately 50 minutes and will be by appointment only.

Lodging

For convenience and economy, single occupancy dorm rooms are available on the UNCA campus for $55/night including taxes and administration fees.

For those that would prefer hotel or bed & breakfast accommodations during the workshop, a list of local hotels and inns can be provided.

The Methods

Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement

“Less pain, more gain, improve your brain” is the Feldenkrais motto.  Gentle and easy movement sequences change the way you move affecting the way you feel, think and act in all aspects of your life.  The emphasis is on inquiry, not striving.  The movements are mostly done lying down, sometimes sitting and standing. They improve posture, breathing, flexibility, agility and vitality.   Founder Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais’ forty years of research into the relationship among body, mind and emotions have yielded numerous somatic strategies that help shift life long emotional habits and postures toward improved quality of life.  More information.

Alba Emoting

Alba Emoting was developed Dr. Susana Bloch, an internationally recognized research psychologist, who specialized in Neurophysiology and Psychophysiology.  Dr. Bloch developed Alba Emoting, after extensive scientific research, as a safe and purely physical technique for releasing, maintaining, and controlling emotional states. She discovered that in order to evoke the emotion throughout the whole self, one could learn to apply effector patterns, comprised of: breathing patterns, postural attitudes, and facial muscular triggers.

Alba Emoting lessons follow a slow gradual instructional process where participants learn the technique through suggestive exploratory lessons on how to access each element of the patterns.  Lessons begin with participants lying down on mats, and gradually work towards sitting, standing and moving positions as they explore how emotional states are revealed at varying levels and through different channels of expression.

Alba Emoting techniques increase awareness of breathing and postural patterns that evoke and exhibit specific emotional states.  Learning Alba Emoting provides the individual with valuable skills for evaluating, clearing, and expressing emotions, identifying mixed messages and chronic emotional conditions that can affect personal health as well as daily social interactions.

“Everything is given to us, it is in us; all the cues of what is happening are present, but we do not see them.  If we just stopped for a moment and observed …all and each are very precise signs of internal states – maybe we would not live so confused and ignorant about our feelings and emotions, we would more easily acknowledge what happens with us and with others.  We could therefore live with less misunderstandings and be happier.” ~ Dr. Susana Bloch

Who benefits?

• Life Long Learners: Acquire tools for enriching and improving your quality of life.
• Feldenkrais Teachers: Expand your approach to teaching Awareness Through Movement.
• Health Professionals: Develop tools that enhance your practice.
• Educators: Experience a new way to look at learning and teaching.
• Performers: Increase your emotional repertoire and possibilities for expression and character development.
• Coaches: Discover elegant strategies for setting and reaching goals.

The Teachers

Lavinia Plonka is a dynamic and innovative teacher and writer who uses movement as a tool for personal development and health improvement. For over 30 years, she has pursued the links among body,emotions and the mind. Her books and audio programs, which explore the relationship of emotions to the body, have been translated into several languages. Her training and professional career have included mime, dance, yoga and the martial arts in addition to being a master teacher of The Feldenkrais Method®. She was an artist in residence for the Guggenheim Museum and movement consultant for theater and television companies around the world, from the Irish National Folk Theater to Nickelodeon. Her popular workshops have been sponsored by organizations throughout the world: from Esalen to the Feldenkrais Guild of North America, from physical therapy clinics and yoga schools in the US to learning centers in Beijing and Mexico. She is currently the director of Asheville Movement Center in Asheville, NC, offering a complete movement curriculum as well as private Feldenkrais lessons.