The Feldenkrais Store: What Are You Afraid Of?

The ordinary manner in which we carry ourselves physically, our automatic gestures, and the accustomed comforts of our bodily habits inadvertently reinforce fear's hold on our lives. "What Are You Afraid Of?" explores how our fears often arise from physical and mental triggers that have been learned over the course of our early lives-and can be un-learned. Fear, explains award-winning movement teacher Lavinia Plonka, is not the product of intractable psychological demons; instead, it often revolves around repetitive body/mind cues. By teaching the body new habits through a series of exercises and postures, the cycle of fear can be broken.

From Publishers Weekly: According to the author, a seasoned workshop leader in movement therapies, "fear is often the process of taking a past negative experience and posing it as a potential future negative experience." Children who are raised by overprotective parents, for example, can turn into adults who are so frightened that they will not even drive a car. Their fearful disposition, Plonka says, may be expressed by rigid posture or shallow breathing. She offers a series of physical and mental exercises designed to uncover the layers of anxiety that mask the cause of current fears, such as fear of starvation, illness or death. For example, she recommends dealing with fear of injury by doing breathing exercises, "discovering your options" through body movement and writing down new ways to handle fearful emotions. Many of Plonka’s strategies for living bravely are drawn from the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, a pioneer in the field of how the nervous system is impacted by "movement, repetition and rest in a safe environment." While the author doesn’t delve deeply into the psychology of fear, her sensible and clearly explained program should help provide relief for many beset by debilitating anxiety. (Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Listen to the Audio Companions for "What Are You Afraid Of?"

Sensing the Unknown

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Prayer Hands

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Non-Striving

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Listening to the Body

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Feeling Your Power

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Discovering Your Options

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"This helpful book contains exercises that can provide an antidote to the overwhelming stress which overcomes our bodies. Plonka also takes a hard look at the different types of fear including fear of failure/success, phobias, fear of abandonment, and fear of injury or death." -Spirituality and Health Magazine

"Her succinct and straightforward survey.....encourage(s) us to begin to notice how our bodies hold and generate emotions." -Dragonfly Media Review

"Lavinia Plonka says what so many writers and therapists miss: that we hold and generate fear through the habits and postures of our bodies. This simple yet vital truth is the missing link in many of our therapies and efforts at self-help. In What Are You Afraid Of?, Plonka provides practical insights and at-home exercises that help readers discover ways to feel more free from the fears and anxieties that often ocnstrict our lives." -Frank Lipman, M.D., author of Total Renewal: 7 Key Steps to Resilience, Vitality, and Long Term Health

"Lavinia Plonka takes us step by step through a body/mind journey that frees us from fear. Everyone, no matter how much or how little afraid, will benefit from her clear, effective and potent exercises. Plonka not only reveals how our bodies are part and parcel to our fears, she shows us how our bodies can be one of our greatest allies." -Alan S. Questel, Feldenkrais Trainer and student of Moshe Feldenkrais