Alexander Technique Teacher Michael Ostrow Profiled In The New York Times

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Luke Ford

From the New York Times:

Improvements: My posture improved. And my piano playing. I trained as a classical pianist when I was younger; my shoulders were always killing me. When I get out of bed in the morning now, at age 55, I don’t have aches and pains.

Don’t relax! In general I find that the word “relax” leads people to collapse and deaden themselves. My rap is that people interfere with their bodies and start gripping up muscles that were designed for movement and using them for support.

The unfurled spine: I put my hands on a student’s head and say things like: “Think of your whole spine, from the base to the top, and let your skull unlock from your spine. Imagine that your neck is your spine. Imagine a stream of water flowing up your spine and supporting your head.”

Technique, not treatment: I see office workers with neck and shoulder pain. Performers with voice issues. Musicians in pain from the way they hold their instruments. Equestrians. Sometimes I can help people get better at something I can’t even do — though as part of my training, I took riding lessons twice a week. I’ve had success with people with asthma — not that we heal people. We’re giving lessons, not treatment. Our students are not our patients.

Posted in Alexander Technique | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Alexander Technique Teacher Michael Ostrow Profiled In The New York Times

Physical Therapy And The Alexander Technique

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Luke Ford

John Macy is an Alexander Technique teacher, Physical Therapist and Pilates instructor in Omaha, Nebraska. He talks with Robert Rickover about the relationship of the Technique to Physical Therapy.

Robert: [With Alexander Technique], it sounds like a lot of thinking is going to have to take place. How I move this leg. How I move that arm.”

John: “The beauty of the Alexander Technique is that it is simple. It has to do with that one first movement we make. We have an idea to move in our head. To do that, we send signals from our brain to our body to move on your joints. The first joint you can move on is the atlanto-occipital joint, where your head sits on your spine. When you change the quality of that movement, all the other movements can work more easily. You don’t have to worry about moving all the other parts or adjusting them. Just take care of the first things and the other follow because that’s how we’re wired as vertebrates.”

According to Wikipedia: “The Atlanto-occipital joint features predominantly in the symptom of tension-like headaches as a result of prolonged inappropriate posture from poor ergonomic adaptation.
In such cases, patients typically report cracking of the neck, discomfort when sitting, continuous migraine-like headaches, dullness, dizziness, tingling in the fingers, sensitivity to light and a feeling the head is expanding.”

John: “Athletes have known for years that the head leads and the body follows. Watch high-jumpers. They will run up to that bar and turn and you can see their head lengthen away from the body and the rest of the body goes up in the air after that.”

“F.M. Alexander‘s insight was that if you influence that little event, you can influence everything else you want to change.”

Robert: “Unless the head-neck relationship is working well, you’re not going to get far with adjustments further down.”

“You don’t meet many old physical therapists.”

John: “I heard today that the ten-year burnout rate for physical therapists is 75%.”

Robert: “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was not also high for massage therapists and other body workers.”

“What is the difference in the approach of physical therapists and Alexander Technique teachers for, say, someone with back pain?”

John: “The perspective. The Alexander Technique teacher will say, you’ve got pain in your lower back. What are you doing with the rest of you that is leading you to do things that injure this area and can we change those to take stress off your system, to take pressure off there, so it can function better?

“Most physical therapists will say, oh, you’re lower back is hurting. What is wrong with the tissue right there? Let’s see what we can do to speed its repair. And not take the step to see what is it you are doing with your lower back to cause pain and damage.”

“The major idea in the Alexander Technique is the concept of use. How are you using yourself? I love it sometimes when patients come in and say, I’m hurting right there. And I will say, ‘That’s great. When you are moving that way, you are supposed to hurt right there. I’d be concerned if you came in and told me, ‘My back doesn’t hurt any more even though I walk around like this.’ Then I’d know you’d such serious damage that the nerves don’t work right any more.'”

“A lot of the Western medical model says, if you are hurting here, that’s what we treat, instead of stepping back and saying, what are you doing that led to the injury. Sometimes you do need to intervene. If you tore up cartilage in your knee, you need to fix that. But you also have to do something about what they did in the first place to tear up that cartilage.”

Robert: “An Alexander Technique teacher is going to want you to think differently about movement. A person in pain is not going to be in a good place to think differently about movement.”

“Your mental physical state is transferred through your hands. If you have a tight neck or tight shoulders and you put your hands on someone, you are conveying that information to them. When you don’t, you’re conveying a greater sense of ease to them.”

John: “We’ve all been in a room where someone walks in very depressed and grumpy and you feel everybody get slumpy about it. Or somebody energetic comes in and everyone lightens up. The communication follows what that person is doing.”

Posted in Alexander Technique | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Physical Therapy And The Alexander Technique

Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11)

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Luke Ford

I discuss the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Rabbs this Monday at 12:30 pm PST on my live cam and on YouTube. Facebook Fan Page.

This week we study Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11).

Kirk emails:

Is someone allowed to make a profit on shabbat even if they don’t violate the 39 malachot? In other words, if a Kosher caterer caters a kiddush, but has workers do the work while they are present supervising, is that permissible? Is it okay because they are not technically violating the malachot?

If so, then a person technically can go to his office and read documents for work and have meetings as long as he/she doesn’t talk on the phone, etc.

Rabbi Rabbs responds:

Hello Kirk,

Thank you for watching the show and for your excellent questions.

Many Jews work on Shabbos, but without doing malachos. For instance, shul rabbis work very hard on Shabbos. However, they are paid for their work all week, not for their Shabbos work. Another example is the chazan who sings on Shabbos or the Ba’al Koreh that reads the Sefer Torah. He is paid for his practice time during the week.

As for caterers, I can answer that with some authority, because I used to work in kashrus, and I have supervised kosher catered affairs on Shabbos. The basic rule is that I had to do some work eruv Shabbos so that I was paid for my time PRIOR to Shabbos. After that, I can work all I want to on Shabbos. The only problem was being paid for hours I worked during Shabbos.

The same principle applies to the caterers and their staffs. You pay them for preparing, not for their hours worked ON Shabbos.

As for malachos, caterers are NOT permitted to do malachos on Shabbos and neither are their staff employees. Period.

So, in the end, no malachos performed, everyone paid for their time PRIOR to Shabbos.

I hope that makes sense.

As for going to the office to read documents, that’s a bit more complicated, and I would defer that question to your local Rav. One thing that makes it more complex than catering food is that whereas all of the ovens and stoves are covered and have knobs removed so as to avoid accidentally doing any cooking on Shabbos, that might not be the case in the office where a person is accustomed to picking up a pen and writing stuff down, and writing is a melachah.

I know that we don’t do business transactions on Shabbos as a precaution of coming to write something down, and that might be a concern when going to the office, especially if the documents involve a transaction. But, again, I would advise getting a psak from your local rabbinic authority.

Also, there is the concern about doing stuff that is weekday-related, as
Shabbos is set aside as a holy day in which we don’t do weekday tasks such as read work-related documents, even if you read them at home.

Posted in Torah | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11)

Orthodox Flee Tottenham Riots

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Luke Ford

Posted in Orthodoxy | Comments Off on Orthodox Flee Tottenham Riots

More Ultra-Orthodox Abuse Arrests

Posted on August 8, 2011 by TheJewishChannel

Posted in Articles | Comments Off on More Ultra-Orthodox Abuse Arrests

NYT Blames Poverty And Alienation For London Riots

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Luke Ford

The New York Times reports:

In Tottenham, the northern London neighborhood at the center of the rioting, residents spoke of twin perils that had converged to leave their streets scarred and smoldering on Sunday.

Frustration in this impoverished neighborhood, as in many others in Britain, has mounted as the government’s austerity budget has forced deep cuts in social services. At the same time, a widely held disdain for law enforcement here, where a large Afro-Caribbean population has felt singled out by the police for abuse, has only intensified through the drumbeat of scandal that has racked Scotland Yard in recent weeks and led to the resignation of the force’s two top commanders.

I don’t think the riots had anything to do with budget cuts or with diminished respect for law enforcement. Instead, this thuggish behavior had 100% to do with the lousy values of the thugs who committed it.

Budget cuts and phone hacking don’t force one to set buildings ablaze and to loot. Only people without values do this kind of behavior. Only savages act this way.

The looters in London, like the looters in Los Angeles in 1991, are savages. They are scum. They deserve to be strung up.

Giving people welfare without requiring anything in return breeds dependency, entitlement and bad values.

Walter Russell Mead writes:

For some time now, residents of some US cities have noted occasional incidents of seemingly random, racially motivated violence in which young Black males are involved. The hot weather and bad economy seem to be combining to generate a small but possibly significant uptick this year. The national media are doing their best to avoid looking too closely at this disturbing phenomenon, and perhaps for good reason. What the United States doesn’t need is a media firestorm that triggers copycat violence.

Posted in Abuse, England | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on NYT Blames Poverty And Alienation For London Riots

This Week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11)

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Luke Ford

I discuss the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Rabbs this Monday at 12:30 pm PST on my live cam and on YouTube. Facebook Fan Page.

This week we study Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11).

* Deut. 3:26. Moshe gets mad at the Jews and says because of “you”, I’m not getting into the Promised Land.

* This parasha does not give spiritual welfare. There’s no free lunch in return for assenting to certain theological dogmas. In the Jewish view, you earn your way. Little children are given things. Adults earn their way. Judaism is an adult religion. Jesus’s message was perfect for children. “Let the little children come unto me.” In the Christian view, it is good to come to God as a little child. There’s nothing in 4,000 years of Judaism that says one should come to God as a child. You come as an adult. You study. You learn. You practice. No welfare. Salvation doesn’t swoop down from above. You don’t join with God by eating His son’s flesh and drinking his blood. There are no invitations to spiritual cannibalism in the Torah. That’s pagan. That’s Christian.

* I’m cool with welfare, when it is voluntary (not when it is done by coercive government). As the rabbis of the Talmud said: “The prisoner himself cannot free himself, by himself, from his own confinement.”

* Moshe doesn’t waste words on pretty ideas about the next life. He doesn’t repeatedly enjoin the Israelites, “Now go forth and love one another.” There’s no theology in here to match the preoccupations of the New Testament. This is not romantic religion. This is nuts and bolts because that’s how life works. That’s how you make good people. You drill them. You drill them in piano or tennis or ethics.

* Moshe is not like Coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights. He doesn’t tell them, “Clear eyes, full hearts” for Judaism trusts neither the eye nor the heart.

* Deut. 4:4. It is not possible to literally cling to God but you can get close to Torah scholars and to support them and to listen to them.

* This week’s Torah portion forbids marrying non-Jews (Deut. 7:3). Shiksas are not for practice. Such bestial behavior just leaves you feeling empty inside.

* Deut. 4:6 Observing the Torah is supposed to make you look smart to the goyim “for it is your wisdom and discernment in the eyes of the peoples.”

* Deut. 4:8. I dig how Moshe boasts about how close God is to the Jews. Seems tribal. Doesn’t seem sophisticated. Isn’t God close to everyone who calls upon him?

* Deut. 6:7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children.” Your students are considered your children.

* Deut. 6:18 “You shall do what is fair and good in the eyes of God.” It’s hard to legislate ethics. (Artscroll)

* Moshe accepts that his prayers will go unanswered. We all have prayers that will go unanswered. For instance, I’ll never get to date Heidi Klum or Halle Berry.

* After Tisha B’Av, we enter seven weeks of consolation leading up to Rosh Hashanah. Judaism has this profound rhythm of affliction and consolation.

* Nobody is indispensable. Not even Moshe.

* This week’s Torah portion repeats the Ten Commandments. Does this new version allow for driving on Shabbat?

Rabbi Berel Wein writes: “Over the long run of Jewish history many individuals and groups have attempted to retain the beauty of the zachor of Shabat while disregarding the seeming stringencies imposed by shamor. All such efforts and formulae have proven to be worthless and disastrous. In our time, the Shabat of Conservative Jews was not enhanced when they were allowed to drive their automobiles on Shabat, ostensibly only to synagogue services. The laity did not understand the difference between driving to the synagogue and driving to the golf course. And thus the long descent of Conservative synagogues into the pool of non-observance of Torah, intermarriage and loss of Jewish values proved itself to be inexorable.”

* Rabbi Berel Wein writes: Justice Louis Brandies of the US Supreme Court had an uncle, Louis Dembitz, who was an observant Jew. Louis Brandies was an occasional guest at the Sabbath table of Louis Dembitz. Brandies wrote lovingly and longingly of the serenity and spirit that pervaded his uncle’s home and table on the Sabbath. He wished for himself “such a day as well, but without the restrictions.” Alas, without the restrictions – without “shamor” – there is no possibility to achieve the serenity he and all of us so craved and crave. “Shamor” is the key to unlock the door of peace, which is represented by “Zachor.”

In parshat Yitro, the Sabbath is used as a tool to remember creation and the Creator. It thus has a seemingly universal character not restricted to Israel alone. However, in parshat Vaetchanan, it represents the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, an historical event unique to the Jewish people alone. Based on this latter interpretation of the Sabbath, the Talmud effectively excludes the non-Jewish world from observance of the Jewish Sabbath.

Posted in Torah | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on This Week’s Torah Portion – Parashat Va’etchannan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11)

Rick Perry’s Day Of Prayer

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Luke Ford

Chaim Amalek emails: Mocking people for praying to God comes too easily for our cultural elites. Would they have dared mock Martin L. King for his public prayers to Jesus, or more recently, any of Obama’s pastors or an Imam? Never. But there is something about a White Man praying to Jesus that predictably sets these same people off.

…I don’t think his claims were ever that strong, but plenty of top flight economists have advocated eliminating the minimum wage, including Milton Friedman. The problem is that these men formed their views at a time when immigration into the US was tightly controlled and very limited. American workers were not forced to compete with a third world labor force such as is now resident here. Personally, I think the way to go about this is 180 degrees opposite from what we usually hear: impose a $40/hour minimum wage on all foreign born labor not employed in agriculture. Change the H1B visa program to require that employers pay such visa holders triple the prevailing wage paid to U.S. citizens in the market and field in question. Create a cause of action that would let any US citizen (but only a US citizen) sue any business that fails to pay its illegals or H1b visa holders these amounts, and for treble damages (think of all the unemployed lawyers this would help!). And require prior shareholder approval for any CEO compensation package in excess of $2,000,000/year.

…There used to be actual serious intellectuals among the Republicans, as well as seasoned politicians who had seen quite a bit of the world before venturing into politics. Like Ronald Reagan, who ran a labor union full of liberals and leftists. Or Gerald Ford, who served in the Navy during WW2. Even Nixon had a rather varied background, arising from humble beginnings and moving across many social strata before becoming president. By rubbing shoulders with very diverse sets of people, they built out their understanding of the world and how it operates. This generation of Republican leaders, on the other hand, seems as ghettoized as hasidim. (And liberal democrats are often even worse.)

Posted in Christianity, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Rick Perry’s Day Of Prayer

Who Is An Addict?

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Luke Ford

I used to think that an addict was somebody who lacked moral strength. Others argue that addicts suffer from a chemical dependency or a mental disorder.

In his book God of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addiction, Rabbi Shais Taub writes:

All human beings have a deep-seated need for spiritual contact. But most people can also live their lives without it. Addicts are people who, for whatever reason, are unsettled to the core and cannot handle the business of life without maintaining a continual and acute awareness of the Divine. Absent such higher consciousness, they are miserable and sick. What makes their dilemma fatal is that their drug of choice will actually produce in them short-term affects that simulate the release and relief that can only really be had through spiritual consciousness. Consequently, the only real treatment for their condition is to make sure that they get the “real thing” instead of self-medicating with the fake stuff, for if they do not get the real thing, they have no choice but to take the fake stuff.

Posted in Addiction | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Who Is An Addict?

Danielle Berrin Interviews Israeli Singer Idan Raichel

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Luke Ford

Sara* emails: Danielle Berrin MC Idan Raichel in Los Angeles last night:

Organized at the valley JCC by MATI (Israeli organization) $60. a
couple (2 tickets) including a CD. The price of a single ticket: $40, for not sitting in a theater. This should have forewarned me… But did I listen??? NO!

When my friend called to have a girls night out (Her husband had a
surgery to perform) and I accepted. Tickets were sold at an open table
with people hanging around. I said that WE ARE A COUPLE. and got in
for a M’tziah price of only $60. The Israelis around acted very
nice…my friend almost died from laughter.

Needless to say it didn’t start on time. A given, for any Israeli event.

Eventually the rows of folding chairs filled with about 400 people,
among them 1 Non Hebrew speaker.

The Program:

After talking about MATI’s work and conveniently forgetting to mention
their squabbling that caused at the last minute the cancellation of The
Israel Yom Haatzmaut Festival at Woodley Park…)

Next the MC was called up: Danielle Berrin, blogger and a writer at the
Jewish Journal. Pretty, slander woman. She tells us she will ????????
interview Idan Raichel! ????In English!???? I guess she must be the 1
non speaking Hebrew person there… It makes the interviewing process
difficult and the artist had to get some help translating some words to
English.In a way it was very cute and made us feel Haimish and
informal.

BUT I thought we came to an Idan Raichel performance!
On “stage” was a piano, 2 folding chairs and 2 hand held microphones
with the noise that comes with it. I decided to give it a chance and
roll with it, till… Ms. Berrin starts chattering.

My friend, (A polite Jewish American writer, mother of 3 speaks Hebrew
fluently) turned to me in horror, whispering: “What is THIS???”
Danielle kept going. Idan joins her. Her questions were inappropriate (Your parents want you to marry?Comments about his hair, on and on. Embarrassingly shallow and stupid. With lot’s of “I”s in every sentence.
Her mannerism too flirty and if this was not enough…she kept interrupting him, paying no mind to the conversation about “The Project” considered by all as his lifework and a Masterpiece:

* Idan Raichel recorded 80 hand picked artists. He records the artist
first (at his parents home in the basement) later decides how to accompany them with the most effective way to promote their talent. This is a major Anthropological as well as Artistic project, preserving unique cultural talent from Ethiopia, Yemen, Israel… all corners of the world.

Problem:
Ms. Berrin impatiently, kept interrupted this gentle artist barely
allowing him to finish a sentence.Before you know and with signals from some Fat Lady… there is always one…Danielle announced that the event Is over. All this, while Idan Invited the audience to ask questions and was ready to illustrate how he composes. The audience was totally shocked.

Someone called out: “Why Is it over? He wants to perform and we want
to listen!” followed by cheers from the audience. At this point she
left the stage. Idan finished the song and that was it. In total: 5 songs for the entire evening. It comes to $6 a song, her mindless chattering for free.

Happy Ending??? You wish…!

He did sign the CD while a lady named Orna, from MATI Center, with a
Kindergarten teacher, sour expression on her face, stood by him,
holding him by his Baytzim, listening and rushing everyone…

S o r r y!!! I did mean to…

Sorry for coming,
Sorry for wasting money, gas, time and a long Shlep from the city to
JCC.
Sorry, I know now Danielle Berrin, I liked her at first till she
started speaking…
Sorry MATI being unprofessional, pertinacious balloon full of air who
needs to get their act together….

and Mostly Sorry for:
An Artist in such stature as Idan Raichel. He just came back from a
tour with India Ari. He is an amazing international artist. So sweet, humble and gifted!!!

Posted in Danielle Berrin, Israel | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Danielle Berrin Interviews Israeli Singer Idan Raichel