Making Sense

Dear Reader,

“It just doesn’t make sense until you understand it.” Madelyn van der Hoogt, an amazing weaving teacher, was explaining a complicated bit of weaving. Weaving can be quite simple, but it can get incredibly complicated. The device used to hold the warp threads under tension can be as simple as threads wrapped around a piece of cardboard—or as complex as a machine controlled by a computer. Along the way, it goes from easy to mind bending.

Speaking of computers, did you know that computer technology has roots in weaving technology? But that’s another story.

Madelyn also gave us something called “rest sentences.” She saw the looks on our faces as we were trying to make sense of what she was saying. A former English teacher, when the students’ eyes began to glaze over, she would ramble on about something unrelated and innocuous. As she delivered the “rest sentences,” the students could allow some part of their brain to sort out—to make sense of—what she’d been saying.

Sometimes we need rest sentences. Time to do something nourishing, calming or just innocuous. To give a part of ourselves the space to make sense of what we’re experiencing.

Sometimes we need a moment to loosen our long-held beliefs, so that we can hear new and different ideas. Perhaps, let go of the need to be right. There’s some part of making sense that requires acknowledging that we just don’t know, that we might not be entirely right.

What does it take to let go of the need to be right? Probably a lot. Time, patience, a sense of safety, willingness to be curious, other points of view, new information. Maybe grace—that experience of receiving something beneficial that we didn’t really earn. It just is.

As the days get shorter, as we try to make sense of our worlds, may we find some grace. Grace enough to find pleasure, appreciation—and kindness towards one another.

Whether it’s coaching, Feldenkrais, or felt-making, my hope is to offer you an experience of rest sentences—time to let some part of yourself find rest, nourishment, new understanding, and grace.

Here’s what’s currently available:

Inviting Joy This Holiday Season is a short series of sessions—two small-group sessions online, and one private session (in person or online). Each session will include conversation, contemplation and movement. You might think of this series as “rest sentences” for the holiday season.

Every Tuesday, with rare exceptions, we have our online Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lesson, and it’s still Free/Pay as You Wish.

In person at the Jung Center of Houston, another Feldenkrais Mini-Retreat: Moving From the Heart, on Saturday afternoon, November 16, 2024.

Also in person at the Jung Center of Houston, on Saturday afternoon, November 23, 2024, Creating a New Cloth: Nuno Felt Technique. This one is always fun, and sometimes surprising.

If you’d like to work with me privately, you can Book an Appointment for a Feldenkrais or Coaching session, or for a free consult. You can even set up a time for a private, or semi-private felting session. Or you can simply reply to this email and let me know what’s most interesting to you.

Have all the fun you can!