A sensible gardener takes care of his tools,
A wise gardener takes care of his body as well.

This full day workshop introduces you to some simple ways of reminding your body to move easily and safely. As a young child you probably had a great deal of flexibility and freedom in your movement. The activities in this workshop will help your body to remember how to move in those easy fluid ways so you can continue doing what love with ease. Explore the movements involved in gardening tasks like; weeding, shoveling, pruning, lifting, digging, pushing a wheelbarrow or mower and relieving residual stress.
Discover the ‘less pain, more gain’ approach that will keep you gardening for many years to come.

How do you approach your gardening?

Do you grow the same plants in the same soil and accept the gradual decline in vitality? Do you tolerate (and complain about) the weeds and pests that appear in your garden or nursery? Do you put up with blunt or rusty tools?  Probably not!

Your body is a lot like your garden

Every day your body performs many actions so skilfully that you are unaware of when and how you use them. For instance, when was the last time you made a conscious decision to stay in balance while walking? Sometimes being skillful comes at a cost. When you stop attending to how you do something, your habits may mean that you perform at less than your best. Perhaps you now have scrappy writing, cut corners when you drive, or slouch when sitting in a chair? These habits or patterns in behaviour often develop very slowly and outside your awareness. Pain or injury can also inhibit your performance and cause strain on other areas. As the years go by your flexibility and vitality may diminish.

Weeds and pests begin to creep in

Moshe Feldenkrais, who developed a method of re-education for the body, noticed movement weeds called ‘parasitic activity’. These are unnecessary muscular contractions that occur during movement and sometimes remain even when you are not moving. Over time these cause strain, pain and even injury to other parts of the body. They eat away at your energy, crowd out the nutrients from around your joints and make it more difficult for you to move freely.

What can you do to revitalise your garden?

If your garden was overgrown, the plants deformed or straggly and tools rusty, what would you do to restore it to its potential beauty? Perhaps you would begin by oiling the tools and removing the most obvious weeds. You could clear the overgrown pathways and open up new ones. You might become curious about other plants. Are they weeds or an interesting or useful variety?  How could you rearrange, replant or re-nourish the garden?

Your body is a lot like your garden

By participating in an Everlasting Gardener workshop, attending Awareness Through Movement™ Classes or having individual Functional Integration™ lessons with a trained Feldenkrais practitioner, you can weed out the parasitic movement patterns that hinder your ease of movement. You can release old tensions, recover more quickly from injury and learn new efficient ways of moving. You can reorganise your movement patterns so that you begin to restore your body to its potential glory. Oil your joints, put the spring back in your step, improve the quality of your rest and prolong your active years so that you can enjoy your gardening for a long time.

Jenni Evans is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner and Assistant Trainer.  She is a skilled and experienced designer of adult education programs. She has had a passion for gardening since childhood and loves to help others get the most out of life.

‘Nothing is permanent except our belief that it is so’                                 Moshe Feldenkrais

Ccontact Jenni 03 9737 9945 or jenni@feldebiz.com.au9.30 AM – 4.30 PM

Full price $150 Concession $120 includes Printed notes, refreshments and lunch

Online registration and booking here:http://www.cvent.com/d/y5qyd3