Every breakthrough I have ever made in teaching has come from a life-shifting chapter in my own experience. To be honest, these chapters might be better described as ‘ordeals’ — something long and hard and painful. Joy never quite registers… Read more ›
Alternative Title: When empathy feels like the greatest form of loving. We are all gifted time on this earth. We spend it in the ways that makes sense to us. We leave, we stay, we come back for.… Read more ›
There is an assumption that young people are able-bodied. It is the gift of youth, the privilege of being newer to this world designed to break you down. It has become incredibly apparent, though, particularly in this last semester, that… Read more ›
Amongst other things, COVID-19 revealed how fragile the American educational system is, and how unadaptable it is to changing and evolving times. Designed to churn out compliant workers, it conflicts with the world around them — a burgeoning economy of… Read more ›
Physical Education classes have gotten bigger over the course of the pandemic. The powers that be have knowingly placed too many kids within too small an area. Like athletics, it seems to have a separate set of rules that allow… Read more ›
This is a question that requires more probing questions. Must there be a unifying variable of sameness? If so, what is it? The age of the people? The thematic subject? What actions are expected? How about the time of day? … Read more ›
Typically, when I write, I try to give an overview of a completed loop of learning: this is where I started, this is where I went, and this is what I found. As a public educator in the midst the… Read more ›
For a very long time, I blunted my sensitivity. It left me open to being hurt. I had to learn not to be responsive to being receptive. I adjusted my interactions with the world to protect me from it. My… Read more ›
How does your ability to care for something affect how much you can enjoy it? When the yard is full of weeds you can’t pull and awry branches you can no longer trim, do you begin to despise the home… Read more ›
The nature of hurt is a protective hardening. It heeds and is hypersensitive to perceived warnings of “don’t”, so much so that it often re-wires them as “can’t”. Doubt barricades them into safe worlds where they are capable and can… Read more ›
The following is part two of my course notes and findings from Stress, Movement, and Pain. As practitioners seeking to help bio-psycho-social organisms, we have to be able to read, analyze, and gather information from all three dimensions. The… Read more ›
The following is part one of my course notes and findings from Stress, Movement, and Pain. Linked through the perception of threat and cause to protect, Seth Oberst generously delivered on the hows, whats, and whys between sensation (or lack… Read more ›
The ego has many layers and interpretations. It can signify a sense of self, the definition of “I”, and/or the determination of esteem or importance. A psychoanalytical description fans this into, “the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious… Read more ›
It is on rare occasion that I am floored by what I hear on a podcast. While listening to fusion health radio on a recent commute, my eyes sprung open when I recognized what was being given away. The topic was Neuro-Somatic… Read more ›
I live a charmed existence. I get to play with kids and problem solve painful movement with adults. Familiar with the importance of each, I also teach teens about pain and guide adults toward rediscovering play. I step between the… Read more ›
You are willing to explore when you feel safe and confident. Safety comes from recognizing your limits and being able to measure and manipulate risk. Confidence comes from knowing what you’re doing and trusting in your ability to adapt. Experience… Read more ›
Finding and being able to engage in what you’re passionate about is touted as the end all and be all of existence. Though loving what you do can lead to a love of self, it doesn’t quite translate into feeling… Read more ›
feature photo credit: telegraph.co.uk Work has always made me feel accomplished. I did stuff simply for the sake of getting it done. Checking off a box or crossing off a project was immensely satisfying. Afterwards, I waited anxiously, bouncing my… Read more ›
My father takes pride in being a worker. He grew up poor in Italy and emigrated to the U.S. when he was 16. He had $20 in his pocket and no grasp of the English language. Somehow, though, like so… Read more ›
There are two ways to leave something — choosing or being forced. The decision to walk away from something is based on faith and competence. There are few things more empowering than making plans to leave and following through with… Read more ›
Dear high school athletes, Sport can teach you a lot of things. It can help you understand self-belief and show you how to contribute to a group. It can make you feel as if you belong. It can provide you… Read more ›
Pain science is a hot topic. Our brain interprets inputs, perceives something as a threat, and outputs pain as a protective measure. The way we feel about our injured part, though, can be even more damaging. Far beyond placebo and… Read more ›
Change is scary. It has equal potential to be better or worse, but the malaise of getting somewhere else is guaranteed. The fear keeps us still, finding excuses to stay and justifications that things aren’t as bad as they could… Read more ›
When we first feel pain, we treat it as a freakish aberration, and do our best to shrug it off. Whether it’s mental or physical, we hinge our bets on rest — that it will give us the miraculous fix… Read more ›
I am a thirty-five year old Health and PE teacher at a high school in Oregon. Ten years ago I was that girl who played rugby. The time in between is when I seemed to figure everything out. I didn’t… Read more ›
When we find ourselves good at something, it automatically becomes our cause. We get praise, we try hard, we find success. We get enough success, and we become that something. When competitive athletes fall short, they come back smarter and… Read more ›