Category: Mind Body Wellness

Dance Improvisation: Connecting to Source through Magical Arteries

This weekend I’ll be teaching my first workshop in NYC of 2018,

Connected to Source: Deep Listening & Freedom of Expression through Dance Improvisation.

And for the first time in the three years since I moved away from NYC, I feel really excited and energized to be heading in to share my work in the city. As in, not secretly dreading or deliberately avoiding NYC (a la 2016 & 2017), but sincerely looking forward to working and playing there.

Why? Because I know it won’t suck me dry.

I know that even with all the crazy paced running around to get anywhere, the dulling sea of myopic gazes and the drowning noise of lights and sounds and advertisements, I’ll be shining on. That is to say, I don’t expect to be leaking too much energy.

Not too much. Maybe just a little, because there’s no use wasting as much on the effort of guarding it in as I would on letting it out. Some energy out means space for energy in after all, and strict orthodoxy of any kind is a dangerous form of militarism in today’s world. But even with those little leaks, I’ll be motoring through the streets to teach my workshop, dropping in on favorite classes and jams and reconnecting with dear friends fueled by confidence that the energy balance is in my favor.

It’s not my clairvoyance I’m relying on to know that, unlike the past, this time I’ll be coming home with more energy than I expended…

Wasting clairvoyance on seeing into the future and holding on to a specific image of how things will be is a surefire way to cut yourself off from your creative energy.

I have no idea if things, and the workshop especially, will go well. People, the studio, and even material I’m sharing will be new, so lots of unknowns await. And I’m not relying on a game of low expectations to keep my balance and protect me from the drain of disappointment. I have a fair share of expectations, but they’re not really about outcome, they’re about what I’ll treat my life force to: surprise, stimulation, intimacy and perspective.

In part, I can be sure that I’m in a very different place because I gave myself the time and space to fully integrate a deep transition.

When I closed my beautiful Brooklyn studio 3 years ago and moved upstate to Newburgh, it felt like a free fall at times. But I was aching to be more fully invested in my art work, dance improvisation at its core, and walking my holistic talk was motivating me to find a more quiet and balanced life. Permission to do less and observe more helped facilitate a seismic shift in my inner world.

Now that I’m easing back into doing more, the quality of my doing is very different.

Still, my confidence in riding the energy of the city with mastery and grace is not so much about the past or the future. It’s about what I know I can do in the moment.

This is what dance improvisation is all about, and this is what it’s taught me about myself:

I know I can keep myself grounded. And balanced. I can find great pleasure in falling and satisfaction in resistance. I know I can soften in an instant to avoid a hard blow… or to welcome a warm embrace. That I can articulate what I feel with great clarity and bring a sharp focus to the small details splitting my attention. I’ve learned I can release a thought or a plan that’s weighing me down and catch inspiration from a random sideways glance. And that I can listen with patience and curiosity to the subtle shifts of my energy and take a pause when I need, or even pause just because.

To pause in NYC! And just because, no less!

If that’s not art, it’s sorcery. Or rather, Sourcery: because doing it on a whim comes from a deep connection to the inner flow of your impulse, blood and breath. It’s Artery too! Because cultivating your pathways to that deep connection is a matter of artful craftsmanship, fueled by passion and imagination and informed by patience and technique.

Dance improvisation is the practice of cultivating arteries to your life force.

It is a magical, powerful craft that teaches you to connect to the deepest sources of your energy. You can use it to create art if that’s your thing. You can use it to create more healthy resilience to your every day if that’s what you need…

And once you’ve experienced the connection and know how to get there again and again, you have much more agency to actively and consciously choose how you use your energy. That in itself is an act of great resistance and activism in the demented political climate we’re living in. Add that to healthy resilience and creative flow and watch things change.

There you have it: to be Connected to Source through the magic Arteries of Dance Improvisation – that’s our destination for this weekend’s workshop. Details and RSVP below – check it out and join us on the adventure!

Here are the details:

Connected to Source
Deep Listening & Freedom of Expression through Dance Improvisation

Sunday, March 18

1 – 3 PM

CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing)
White Room
124 4th Avenue, New York, New York 10003

*A Fundraiser to Support The Dragon’s Egg Artist Retreat Center*
$30 Suggested Donation (all proceeds go to The Dragon’s Egg)
RSVP to attend forthedragonsegg@gmail.com

Workshop led by Ophra Wolf from Force and Flow Integrated Bodywork

Dance improvisation can be one of the most direct and profound ways to communicate with your soul and give expression to the subtle movements of your heart. When you’re able to drop down into a deep state of listening and connection with the very source of what moves you, you experience a sense of freedom and innate knowing that will fuel every aspect of your life.

In this 2-hour introductory workshop we’ll explore pathways for entering this state of deep listening and embodied awareness, and draw on knowledge and techniques from the worlds of Qi Gong, bodywork, authentic movement, and Tuning Scores. Expect to move energy, find new possibilities for expression and discover thrilling satisfaction in free and mindful movement.

Open to all levels and backgrounds – whether you’re a dancer, a creative from another field, or simply someone who’s ready to move more freely, there will be treasures waiting for you. Bring comfortable clothes to move in, water, and a notebook.

PHOTO CREDIT: CRAIG CHIN

March 13, 2018
What if the Key to World Peace Is Your Personal Relationship to Your Body?
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Hello dear friends and lovers of pleasure, health and vitality!

It’s been over two years since I published a blog post and I confess I’ve missed the conversation with you very much.

But OH! I’ve taken such great pleasure in the freedom from forced screen time.

I promised myself that when I came back to sharing reflections and lessons from my journey with you, it would be without an ounce of pressure, and wow, do I take my promises seriously.

Hence the hiatus and hopefully also your confidence that whatever I write, no matter how simple or strange it may land, is coming from my heart with lightness and a love of life eager to be shared.

I invite you to take it as poetry rather than science. Or just the opposite! As proposals for scientific experiments in search of personal laboratories like yourself. You are the scientist, your life the laboratory, and this a place to share your observations and results… comments and private messages are welcome!

[spacer height=”10px”]Here’s an experiment to try on yourself…[spacer height=”5px”]

…though, I confess it may take a lifetime and requires serious dedication. (Serious, by the way, is one of my best and worst traits, it’s the secret to my health and also to my sickness. So take serious with a grain of salt and do it your way.)

The hypothesis is simple, it’s written in the headline and goes like this:

[blockquote]The answer to world peace is to be found in you and you alone, and the key is in observing and transforming the way you relate to your physical organism, aka your body.[/blockquote]

Underlying this hypothesis are three fundamental philosophies:
1. Your body IS your mind
2. The outer is a reflection of the inner is a reflection of the outer (aka the part reflects the whole, microcosm=macrocosm)
3. Love is the answer and you are the Source (click the link for info on an upcoming workshop!)
[spacer height=”10px”]Peace is a way of being, not a way of thinking. It’s an action, not an idea.[spacer height=”5px”]

You can think you want peace all day long, but if you’re waging war against your own impulses, habits and desires, or even worse, against the very essence of who you are, then your actions are violent and you’re living in battle mode.

That’s not to say that you should give in to every habit you’ve formed or act on every desire and impulse that arises. Peace is not submission.

Peace is acknowledgement, dialogue, and a willingness to be transformed.

That last one – that’s the kicker. There’s a difference between seeking transformation and a willingness to experience it. When we’re seeking, we can have a sense of what we might find and a feeling of being in control.

But to be transformed? You have to let go of who you think you are and what you think you want and open yourself to the experience of seeing and feeling from an entirely different perspective.

You may as well call transformation death. And who in their right mind goes out seeking death?!

Death is not for the faint of heart. But neither is birth, and here you are born and living, and as sure as you are born you will die – at least your body will.

Peace, I propose, begins when you acknowledge and make space for death in your life.

And I further propose that how you choose to eat, sleep, spend the greater portion of your time, exert yourself and care for yourself (or not) has more to do with your relationship to death than to health.

[spacer height=”10px”]Health is just a byproduct.[spacer height=”5px”]

I assure you that if you enter into a more peaceful dialogue with your incredible body that’s bound for death, your health will flourish.

For women, peaceful dialogues with our body can be especially challenging. I’ll skip the discussion of sociopolitical and religious reasons for this at the moment and simply refer you to guiding philosophy #2, i.e. as without so within… I’ll be back in another post with more to say, that’s a promise. Meanwhile, look to mother nature and the environmental crisis we’re facing for clues of what we’re individually facing within.

Women aren’t alone here. We’ve all been trained to look for our sense of self-worth in the image we project out to the world and we spend a lifetime waging war on our multi-dimensional, embodied being trying to beat it into submission and create a flattened image we think will earn us a place in the world. No wonder we feel stiff and tired, heavy with pain and bruised by our own emotions.

[spacer height=”10px”]When you’re working too hard and resting too little, when you’re eating without pleasure and moving without feeling, when you’re ignoring your pain and silencing your emotions, you’re in the war zone.[spacer height=”5px”]

On the flip side, when you’re giving yourself the rest you need, sacrificing productivity for some play, taking time to acknowledge and attend to your pain, making safe space in your life for feeling emotional, you are doing nothing less than contributing to world peace.

You’re also cultivating peace at home and at work and giving health the right conditions to crop up as a byproduct you didn’t have to struggle and toil for.

So remember to eat with pleasure! Because, you know, death. And peace!

[spacer height=”10px”]And as for moving with feeling…[spacer height=”5px”]

You may be wondering what the hoo ha that means? Maybe you’re even sensing a longing to know more?

This is where the work of coming into a more peaceful relationship with your body begins, and this is the exercise I’ll leave you with:

Beginner: Whenever you notice that you’re moving (ha ha! that’s a joke!) try to also notice what you feel. For example, can you feel the floor? Or your clothes? Certain muscles moving (or hurting)? Certain bones? Are you making contact with objects or people? What are you sensing? Notice sensation, but don’t lose track of noticing that you’re moving. Also, don’t shy from pain or ignore pleasure, they’re both calling your attention! Think of them as your personal mindfulness coaches.

Intermediate: Next try to notice how you feel while noticing how you’re moving. Doing one without the other doesn’t count, so pay attention. And be careful of controlling or shutting down the feeling, even if it’s “f’ing tired” or “like shit”. If your mind is doing it’s job trying to notice everything at once, it should be too busy for judgement. I can write this in a sentence, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do. I suggest trying this step when you’ve remembered to do the first exercise at least three times that same day.

Advanced: This is really ninja, but go ahead and try – notice that you’re moving, what you’re feeling as you move and how you’re feeling as you move. Actually, this isn’t ninja at all, this is Dance. But don’t let that stop you!

[spacer height=”10px”]The exercise is not an answer…[spacer height=”5px”]

…it’s a way of posing a question and listening to what comes up.

Take some time with it, and while you may not come out the other end considering yourself a dancer, you’ll certainly emerge with a better picture of how peaceful or not your relationship with your body is. You might even find clues as to where you’re ripe for a change in dynamic – if you need help picking them out, I’m here to help. In any case, try it out and please report.

[spacer height=”10px”]And one last word for those of you whom are feeling especially ripe for change![spacer height=”5px”]

I’m also ripe and now ready to re-open my private practice to a few select new clients. If my way of working with your body and cultivating health in your life is speaking to you, let’s speak us two (or three, I also work with couples)!

What makes you one of the select?
1. You’re serious, in your own special way of course, but enough to commit to a process and not assume that dropping in now and then at your convenience or only when crisis looms is the way forward.
2. You’re hungry for peace, thirsty for pleasure and willing to sit at the table with your pain and look it in the eye. I’ll create and hold a beautiful and safe space for the feast.
3. You’re not only open to transformation, you’re haunted by the thought you might die without experiencing it. And while you understand that no one can make transformation happen for you, you know that you need to be witnessed, held and sometimes guided in the process to move forward.
Contact me using the form below and we’ll start with a conversation.

Love,

Ophra

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Contact Me! (or leave comments below)
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February 9, 2018
October Breathe Deep Workshop in Brooklyn focuses on Stress Relief
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Breathe Deep

Sunday, October 11
The Grand Room at South Oxford Space, Brooklyn
138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
6:30 – 8:30 PM
$40
Register Now

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Breathe Deep is a workshop in ways you can use your breath to relax and release tension from your body quickly and effortlessly, so you can avoid stress build-up, stay out of pain and manage your energy levels with ease.

This month’s Breathe Deep workshop is focused on [spacer height=”10px”] Stress Relief ~ Register Now [spacer height=”10px”]

Learn to tune into and access your breath as an effective strategy for improving your comfort, energy and focus throughout the day.

Your sharp focus on detailed tasks and bright screens invites shallow breath, and your days require so much focus it’s easy to miss that you’re hardly breathing at all. At the end of the day when your head hurts or your back and shoulders are killing you, it’s tempting to berate your body for failing you and look for a pill to fix the malfunction. Unfortunately this rarely works for actually feeling better.

This workshop is here to offer you a far more effective strategy for actually feeling better, quickly and easily, and simple tools for easily applying it to your everyday life.

Discover the secrets of full and connected breathing and catapult yourself to a new level of comfort and performance.

The gentle movements and guided meditations of the Breathe Deep workshop make for some of the simplest, most practical and effective techniques for significantly improving and maintaining your health and wellness, not to mention your focus and stamina on a daily.

For lovers of immediate gratification, come see just how quickly and pleasurably you can energize and relax your body, mind and spirit. And then do it again and again with the fancy skills you pick up.

[spacer height=”10px”] Small Groups means there’s lots of space for your personal questions and feedback. [spacer height=”10px”]
It also means Space is Extremely Limited! Register Now [spacer height=”10px”]

All of which make this workshop by far one of the most valuable experiences you can give yourself.

But what makes it over the top great is the the small group size and intimate setting that Ophra creates, making sure that every individual can benefit from her incredible store of knowledge and warm care in a personalized way.

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Which means that SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED!!!
If you can’t afford to miss this workshop, make sure to Register Now

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Sunday, October 11
The Grand Room at South Oxford Space, Brooklyn
138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
6:30 – 8:30 PM
$40
Register Now

Next Breathe Deep: Thursday, November 19

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Enroll Now

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[alert color=”white” background=”#FF7E00″ border_color=”#FF7E00″]Register and pay using a credit card or paypal account:
[paupay_cart id=”14816″ trans_type=”variable_purchase” pretext=”Enroll Now” text=”Select Payment”][/alert]

[alert color=”white” background=”#3A1A45″ border_color=”#3A1A45″]POLICIES
- Your spot in the workshop is not guaranteed until we’ve received your payment.
- We will issue a full refund minus a $10 processing fee for all cancellations made within 7 days of the workshop.
- We will issue a 50% refund for all cancellations made 2-6 days prior to the workshop.
- Cancellations made 48 hours or less prior to the workshop are non-refundable.
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[one_half_last][alert color=”white” background=”#7E9245″ border_color=”#7E9245″]WHAT TO BRING
- Yoga Mat, if possible
- Comfortable shoes and clothes to move in.
- A bottle of water.
- Optional: a notebook, drawing pad, camera… some kind of mneumonic aid.
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[alert color=”white” background=”#7E9254″ border_color=”#7E9254″]If you have questions or concerns, use the form below to leave us a note. Your spot is not reserved until we’ve received your payment.[pauf id=”workshop_registration” text=”Workshop Registration” width=”200px”][/alert]
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October 2, 2015
When I Looked Death in the Face, This is What I Saw

This article was originally send as a newsletter to my list in May – to join the mailing list, use the field on the right.

A lot has changed since I wrote you two weeks ago – flowers have come and gone, temperatures have climbed and worlds have shifted internally – but I haven’t forgotten my promise to follow up and tell you more about what I learned when I took time to face death.

If you read my last email, you know that just over two months ago I was (mis)diagnosed with a heart condition that could cause me to suddenly die at any moment, and precisely two weeks ago I was told, based on extensive testing by a carefully chosen doctor, that I was just benignly irregular after all.

I could and probably should be pissed at the first two doctors who were so quick to send me to the operating table, but the truth is that I’m increasingly grateful for that crazy diagnosis precisely because it brought me so close to death and forced me to ask some difficult questions.
Here’s one that proved to be especially fruitful:

If I die today, what would I regret?

There was a lot of tuning in to my heart happening at this time. The answer it gave me changed my life profoundly.

I’ll tell you right away what the answer was not: even though I would have loved to see such and such a project take off, or to taste this or that kind of success, and to make one or the other dream come to life, none of these things would have stopped me from going to my grave feeling that I’d lived the best life I could live.

And that’s not because I haven’t had my fair share of challenges, pain and disappointment, it’s because I’ve never let failure or hardship stop me from following my dreams.

But there’s one thing I hadn’t given myself, something that no one but me could possibly give me, and when I thought of dying without experiencing it, I tasted regret:

I had yet to live a single day in which I accepted myself fully, as I am.

In the quiet of my new home, in the abyss between the life I’d been living and the life I was seeding – and hoping intensely to be able to grow – I was alone with myself. That open, quiet space allowed me to see so clearly that the source of most of my stress and worry wasn’t “life in the city”, or “financial strain” or “professional challenges”, it was ME.

My self-identity was completely tied up with my need to pressure, berate, and cajole myself to do the “right” things in the “right” way at the “right” time. And my willfulness to succeed in this task was stealing my chance at life away from me.

This became my prayer, and my one and only goal:

To just be. And for that to be enough.

Whether I’m being productive or useful in any way, or not,
Whether I’m doing something “well” or “messing it up”,
Whether I’m making the right choices or heading in the wrong direction,
Whether I’m saying the right things or pissing someone off,
Whether I’m in a great mood or feeling like shit,
Whether I’m full of energy or not feeling much like getting out of bed,
Whether I’m feeling limber and juicy or hunched over in pain,

To live in the state of knowing I am enough, precisely as I am, faults, blindness, weaknesses and all.

And at least for one whole day, or even a few sweet hours, to taste life from a place of inner peace, knowing that I’m part of a much, much bigger whole that needs nothing more from me than to just be.

That was and still is my burning desire. The longing it’s woken up in me has given me a taste of strength beyond anything I’ve known… and I’ve known strength!

I want to say more about this strength, because it is something you can train for, and you can cultivate it most efficiently in and through your physical presence. So I’ll come back to it in the next newsletter, but for now I’ll leave you with a resounding message that came through for me from my meditations on death:

Your judgment means so very little in the big picture. Whereas your presence to things as they are, and most of all to your experience of life as it is, is your best chance at living fully.
Presence is far more passive than you imagine. In order to be truly present and available to life in its unfolding, you have to have two things:

The courage to do less.

And the longing to be more.

Neither one is necessarily comfortable, but together they are the key to your magic powers.

So I’m grateful for your courage to long and be uncomfortable on the way to greater things. And I’m sending you love and joy on your way there,

Ophra

May 27, 2015
3 Reasons Why Sharing Touch is Essential to Your Health

With affordable health care at the center of so many debates these days, I’m always surprised at how little of what’s being discussed actually has to do with health, or for that matter, care.

Actually it’s really no wonder that the cost of our health care is exorbitant, considering how many fancy technological gadgets and complex pharmaceuticals are essential to what we consider “health care”. Add the many middlemen and women of the health care industry to the equation and you have a recipe for a decidedly unaffordable and unsustainable approach to health.

So here’s a proposal for an extremely affordable and easily sustained long-term health care plan with no middlemen involved:

More Touch, More Often!

And here are three reasons why sharing touch is so essential to your health:[spacer height=”10px”]

1. Less Stress, More Pleasure

Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and when its sensory receptors are stimulated, two essential hormones are directly affected.

The hormone oxytocin, also known as the “Love Hormone” and largely associated with feelings of pleasure, is released, and cortisol, a steroid hormone that’s associated with stress, is reduced.

Many studies have shown that increased levels of oxytocin will help you to reduce anxiety, but a fascinating study by Jason Yee of the University of Illinois at Chicago has shown that increased levels of oxytocin when coupled with social contact actually leads to a significantly faster recovery from stress. Yes, these days you can pop an oxytocin pill and I would never underemphasize the benefits of self-touch, but sharing touch with others is the apparently the most effective way to go.

Cortisol is not so much an antagonist in this scenario as a victim of our abuse. It’s actually an important hormone for healthy functioning and is associated with stress because it’s secreted in higher levels when your body is experiencing a “fight or flight” response. In the right proportion it actually helps you respond to stress by giving you a quick burst of energy, temporarily heightening your memory functions or lowering your sensitivity to pain.

The problem is that we’re so addicted to stress in our culture, so dependent on the quick rushes that we get from increased cortisol, that your body’s relaxation response never has a chance to be activated long enough for your system to balance out and return to normal. And without the relaxation response to neutralize the negative effects of stress, you end up with the problems that high cortisol levels have been accused of causing – weight gain, adrenal fatigue, and a compromised immune system.

It’s unlikely that you can completely avoid all stress, but you can definitely activate this relaxation response quickly and at absolutely no cost. All you have to do is share a tender touch: a hug, a pat to the back, a kiss to the cheek, holding hands…

Any touch will do, as long as it’s consensual, but of course the more expert the touch, the more effective it can be at lowering the stress and increasing the pleasure.

If you’re in the NYC area and wanting to improve your tender touching skills, you can still claim one of a few remaining spots in my upcoming Art of Healing Touch: Couples Bodywork Workshopon Sunday, Feb 15.

If you’re not in the neighborhood, check out this video I made for about.com by clicking here or on the pic above. [spacer height=”10px”]

2. Better Immune System and Faster Recovery

Because cortisol can act as an immune suppressant, reduced cortisol already translates into an improved immune system. But touch also helps to boost your immunity by improving circulation and increasing your white blood cell count, which translates into more resistance to viruses and other pathogens and less tendency for inflammation and autoimmune diseases.

The touch in question doesn’t always have to be fancy, just caring – according to a 2004 study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, all it took was 10 minutes of sharing a love seat with a partner for pre-menopausal women to have lowered blood pressure, and when they got lots of hugs on top of that, they also showed reduced heart rates.

Next time you feel yourself starting to get under the weather, consider asking for a good cuddle before running to the pharmacy for a pill. [spacer height=”10px”]

3. Better Relationships and a Longer, Happier Life

In case the connection between healthy, happy relationships and a healthy, happy body isn’t immediately clear, consider that there are dozens of studies out there that show that not only do people with satisfying relationships tend to experience more health, they’re also happier and live longer.

At least one of the reasons is that people in satisfying relationships experience more frequent tender touch, and not just from a primary partner – children, parents, friends, colleagues and pets are all excellent partners for sharing tender touch.

For couples, making a point of touching each other more often has been shown to contribute to more happiness and better quality relationships. For example, a 2011 Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction study that polled more than 1,000 men and their female partners in five countries about the power of touch, found the more men hugged and kissed, the happier they considered their relationships.

The many opportunities for contact that intimate relationships provide us tend to make us more trusting, empathetic and even charitable, and again, the boosting of oxytocin in the body that comes with contact is what scientists are pointing to as the reason. But whether this theory holds or future research will discover an array of other relevant factors, the main point remains that when you touch more, you access a whole other level of intelligence and connection that in the very least makes your life better, and potentially also longer. And isn’t a better, longer life what we long for when we long for health?

Touch, like diet and exercise, is a long-term health strategy – not something you do once in a while and hope to see a quick improvement, but a practice that you integrate into your lifestyle and make a priority on a daily basis.

My February 15 Art of Healing Touch: Couples Bodywork Workshop focuses on couples because your partner is your most readily available source of healthy touch! It’s also that time of year when we’re reminded to celebrate our relationship via a little holiday called Valentines Day, but what if every day could be a little holiday and celebration of the goodness you share with each other?

January 30, 2015
Is stress ruining your holiday season?
[spacer height=”15px”]DIY Stress Relief

[divider style=”medium”][spacer height=”15px”]Feeling pushed and pulled by life?

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Learn how to push, pull and vibrate the stress and tension out of your body.

Come to this two-hour workshop cum holiday party for your body, and learn potent and effective techniques that you can use from day to day and year to year to help relive stress and tension.

We’ll be getting loose and relaxed with self-massage and acupressure, breathing and toning, and release techniques to make your body, mind and spirit say ahhhhh.

[spacer height=”10px”]Space is Limited! Register Now

[spacer height=”10px”]Have you been a good friend and lover to your body this year?

If you think there’s a better way to nurture your closest relationships than running around in search of pre-fab products and pretty packaging, you’re right. This holiday season, spend time nurturing the closest relationship you have – with your own body – and give both yourself and someone you love the greatest gift of all, the gift of self-care.

Among the things that only you can give yourself, a healthy lifestyle is golden, and all the green drinks in the world won’t keep you healthy if your body is in constant stress mode. So take your health in your hands – literally – and learn how to move through stress and move stress through your body so that you can experience the kind of relaxation and relief that make you want to live a long, healthy life in the first place!

[spacer height=”10px”]Give your body what it needs to let loose and find relief the natural way…

…and avoid the crash into fatigue and pain that wears you down and sends you running for cover of meds and beds.

The self-massage, release and acupressure techniques that you’ll learn in this very special evening workshop will serve you for life, and also give you immediate relief and pleasure.

This is the perfect time to pick up and sharpen your tools for feeling limber and light as you step into winter and the New Year, and to discover some potent secrets for relaxing and releasing tension from your body quickly and effortlessly.

[spacer height=”10px”]And if that’s not enough, this year there’s a special bonus – something to sing and shout about!

Use your voice to vibrate the stress out of your entire body with a special toning circle:

Katie Down, musican, music therapist and the leader of our long-running Sound Bath series will be joining us for part of the evening with her magical Sruti box to lead a toning circle where you’ll get a chance to discover how powerful using your voice can be for releasing the pent up stress and tension in your entire being.

[spacer height=”10px”]You’re already crazy busy, so don’t waste any more time being slowed down by stress

You may be overwhelmed with things to do before the end of the year, in which case this workshop is likely the most efficient, and not to mention pleasurable, two hours that you spend this December. Things never go fast or easy when we’re stressed out, and sometimes just a little bit of time taken to relieve the stress can save you an exponential amount of time and energy.

Come get what you need, with all of Ophra’s expertise and individualized guidance at your service! Don’t miss this opportunity to unwind with 2 delicious hours of mindful pleasure and relaxation for your body, mind and spirit at the gorgeous Actors Fund space on Hoyt St. in Brooklyn.

[spacer height=”10px”]Space is Limited! Register Now[spacer height=”10px”]

Who wouldn’t want to sign up for an evening as packed with pleasure as it is with useful tools and information? Save you spot quick, and one for a friend too – it’s even more affordable if you come together!

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Tuesday, December 9

7:00 – 9:30 PM

@ The Actors Fund Arts Center
160 Schermerhorn Street @ Hoyt St., Brooklyn

$75 before Dec 3
(coupon = EARLY BIRD @ checkout)
$99 After, $177 for Two
$125 at the Door

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Learn powerful and effective techniques to:

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[list_item]Release Stress Throughout the Day[/list_item]
[list_item]Relieve Pain & Stiffness from your Neck, Shoulders, Wrists, Hips, Low Back and Feet[/list_item]
[list_item]Loosen Tight Joints and Free-up the Breath[/list_item]
[list_item]Relax Your Mind & Increase Your Awareness[/list_item]
[list_item]Improve Tone & Circulation[/list_item]
[list_item]Revitalize Your Focus & Replenish Your Energy[/list_item]
[list_item]Reduce Chronic Pain & Avoid Injury[/list_item][/list]

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[spacer height=”20px”]Your Guide

Ophra Wolf is a mind-body educator, healer and mover extraordinaire. She’s bringing together an incredible array of knowledge – from the mechanics and anatomy of dance, yoga, and pilates, to the energetics of qi gong and mindfulness of meditation and movement improvisation – to deliver a workshop packed with practical and accessible information to help improve your everyday life.
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Enroll Now

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[alert color=”white” background=”#FF7E00″ border_color=”#FF7E00″]Register and pay using a credit card or paypal account:
[paupay_cart id=”14882″ trans_type=”variable_purchase” pretext=”Buy Now” text=”Buy Now”]To use the EARLY BIRD coupon code (until Nov 30), Select ‘One Spot’ and press the Edit button in the payment panel to enter your coupon code.[/alert]

[alert color=”white” background=”#7E9254″ border_color=”#7E9254″]If you have questions or concerns, use the form below to leave us a note. Your spot is not reserved until we’ve received your payment.[pauf id=”workshop_registration” text=”Workshop Registration” width=”200px”][/alert]
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[alert color=”white” background=”#3A1A45″ border_color=”#3A1A45″]POLICIES
- Your spot in the workshop is not guaranteed until we’ve received your payment.
- We will issue a full refund minus a $10 processing fee for all cancellations made within 7 days of the workshop.
- We will issue a 50% refund for all cancellations made 2-6 days prior to the workshop.
- Cancellations made 48 hours or less prior to the workshop are non-refundable.
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[alert color=”white” background=”#7E9245″ border_color=”#7E9245″]WHAT TO BRING
- Comfortable shoes and clothes to move in.
- A bottle of water.
- Optional: a notebook, drawing pad, camera… some kind of mneumonic aid.
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[alert color=”white” background=”#3A1A45″ border_color=”#3A1A45″]To pay by check or cash, submit the form above and leave a note in the message field indicating your payment option, then mail your payment to Force and Flow, 1102 Dean St. #4, Brooklyn 11216.[/alert]
December 2, 2014
Shopping For Health and Vitality?
[spacer height=”15px”]Hello High Flier, have you taken time to ground and replenish your energies recently?

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You’re invited to turn off your high speed hustle for a couple of delicious hours, and tune in to a transmission of practical information to help you slow down, release tension, and experience pleasure in your body and spirit.

The cold days have arrived but you’re still in high heat gear, spinning your wheels at top speed to finish projects and fulfill obligations.

Maybe you’ll be done in time so you can be present for the holiday merriment, but how present can you really be and how much pleasure can you really take in if your body is tight and heavy and your spirit is fatigued?

Not nearly as much as you could if you were truly relaxed, breathing the moments in deeply and feeling grounded and centered within yourself and in your constellation of friends and family.

Which is why it’s time to Breathe Deep, to invest in some quality DIY Stress Relief time, and learn how to get pleasure and relief from Partnering…

So that you can actually celebrate all that you’ve accomplished this year without feeling guilty about what you’re not doing! And so you can set your goals and intentions for the New Year from a place of renewed vitality and relaxed focus.

All this can happen very easily and organically, if you only you take a little bit of quality time to tune into your body.

And these workshops are here to help you do just that!

To offer you a sure fire sign that it’s TIME to take care of yourself, and give you a clear map to getting off the road to a winter of frustration and fatigue and on to the path of health and vitality…

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, Dec 8, 9, & 10, Force and Flow is offering three opportunities – Breathe Deep, DIY Stress Relief, and Partner Stretching – to not only relieve you’re the stress and pain you’re carrying now, but to learn the skills for staying loose and limber for months and years to come.

They’re all taught by Ophra Wolf, the spark behind Force & Flow and a five star teacher and healer – which means you get the expertise, care and attention to meet you at your most brilliant self and take you higher.

Space is extremely limited at this point, and the Early Bird Discount ends SOON, so get in on the good times NOW.

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Register ASAP to save your spot… and one for a friend who needs it as much as you!

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Breathe Deep, 12/8

Breathe Deep –

December 8
- Step into Winter with the tools to feel limber and light and start the holiday season off right with secrets for relaxing and releasing tension from your body quickly and effortlessly.
- Transform tension, pressure and rigidity into support, ease and spaciousness by experiencing your breath more fully.
- Location Shen Tao Studio, 303 Park Ave South, Suite 312 (@ 23rd Street)
- 7:00 – 8:15pm
- Register Now
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Register and pay using a credit card or paypal account:

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DIY Stress Relief, 12/9

DIY Stress Relief –

December 9
- Join us for this two-hour workshop cum holiday party for your body, and learn potent and effective techniques that you can use from day to day and year to year to help relive stress and tension.
- Location The Actors Fund Arts Center, 160 Schermerhorn Street @ Hoyt St., Brooklyn
- 7:00 – 9:30pm
- Register Now
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Register and pay using a credit card or paypal account:

(To use the EARLY BIRD coupon code (exp 11/30) – Select ‘One Spot’ and press the Edit button in the payment panel to enter your coupon code.)
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Partner Stretching, 12/10

Partner Stretching

– December 10
- Look forward to an invigorating and playful evening packed with pleasure and practical tools for releasing tension and improving strength and alignment in your partner and yourself simultaneously.
- Location A.R.T./New York – Spaces @520 — 520 Eighth Avenue, 3rd Floor, Studio B
- 7:00 – 9:00pm
- SOLD OUT – get more info & future workshop dates
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Register and pay using a credit card or paypal account:

(To use the EARLY BIRD coupon code (exp 11/30) – Select ‘One Spot’ and press the Edit button in the payment panel to enter your coupon code.)
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November 27, 2014
Coming Out of the Closet

I sent this (love) letter to my mailing list the other day and I’m sharing it with my blog readers now – I haven’t been doing much blogging lately and this will reveal a little of the “why”. The tide is turning and there are lots of blog posts coming up, but if you want to get the best of my insights and tips, make sure sure to subscribe to the newsletter – use the form above or to your left!

Coming out of the closet is much harder than I imagined…

Performing with Evan Hugh Worldwind & Kevin Nathaniel (AKA The Peace Department) at The Healing Arts Garden Event in Philly, 8/23/14

When I was a little girl living in Israel, I used to wake up early in the morning and hide in the closet and play make-believe for hours on end. In the dark closet, while my brother and parents were sleeping, I could be anyone and do anything I dreamed. I was powerful and beautiful, gracious and brilliant – all at once!

I’ve held on to so many of my dreams – my business and art are my testament. But I’ve often lived my life as if my powers and passions were safer in the closet. Fear of being seen has frequently terrorized me, which is strange considering the extraordinary lengths I’ve gone to embody my potential and uncover the brilliance within.

Strange but not unusual.

What is unusual is how much freedom and privilege I’ve had to follow my dreams and give voice to my truth. Especially unusual considering that I’m a woman. A Jewish woman. Israeli born. Of North African descent.

And a dancer, a woman dancer who’s chosen to live fully in her body in a world that still behaves as if intelligence belongs solely in the cognitive functions of the brain and treats the body as territory to be conquered. And an improviser at that, who’s chosen participation in the mysteries of the moment over the stature of recognized knowledge and forms.

A healer, too.

Believe it or not, naming that is the scariest part of coming out of the closet!

See, I grew up with a scientist for a father and scientific materialism as the reigning ideology of my times. My mother was a self-identified modern woman, who’d worked hard to distance herself from the “primitive” past of her Moroccan family, once well known and respected in Fez precisely because my great-grandmother was a powerful healer in service of the king. The gifts and talents that make me a healer weren’t always ones I knew how to appreciate.

It’s true that people – maybe even you – have increasingly referred to me as a healer for years now, but I’ve rarely called myself one for fear of…

It doesn’t matter. What I mean is, Enough With The Fear!!!

This summer took me to the Sierra Contact Festival, where I taught a workshop and spent a week in the beautiful nature of the high Sierra’s with amazing colleagues.

It’s killing us and blinding us from the immense healing powers of empathy and love. One look at the part of the world I hail from will suffice to prove my point. Which isn’t to say our fears – personal, cultural and global – are unfounded, or that our experience of them isn’t intensely real, but true courage and novel solutions are born of empathy and love.

Empathy for myself hasn’t always been easy to come by, and lack of it has kept me in the closet far longer than I intended. The love in my life – from my friends, family, clients and especially from my main man Marcel – has increasingly given me the courage to make my way out into the world.

It’s time for me to start giving and participating more fully.

And that’s what this new newsletter is all about. It’s my way of sharing my expertise, insights and offerings with you, friends.

Which is why I’d love to hear from you about what topics in the world of holistic health and embodied wellness are important to you to learn more about? Consider me a resource, at your service and gratefully so!

And make sure to check out the opportunity to get one of the last spots for the Fall RELAXED Strength & POWERFUL Alignment 90-Day Semi-Private Session – we start the week of September 15 and if you’re looking to integrate a sustainable and consistent approach to health for your body, mind and spirit, you don’t want to miss out on this.

Love,
Ophra

August 31, 2014
Announcing the Spring Semi-Private Group Session!
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Photo by Marielise Gouléne

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EXPERIENCE THE AWARD WINNING FORCE & FLOW APPROACH TO CORE STRENGTH

Connecting to Core

April 14 – July 13

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90-Day Semi-Private Group Session
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Dynamic Core Strength and Fluid Breath Connection

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Spring is here and your body wants to come out of hibernation mode and bloom into it’s full potential for pleasure and productivity – what better time to commit to your wellbeing and transform your pain and discomfort into renewed strength and energy?![spacer height=”10px”]
- Are you working hard at living a healthy, mindful life, but not seeing and feeling the results you’re spending so much energy on?
- Are you aching to get strong but find yourself tied up dealing with fatigue and aches that only get exacerbated when you try to “work out”?
- Do overcrowded and under-informed yoga, pilates and movement classes leave you feeling more tense and brittle than supple and centered?
- Are you ready for the kind of detailed information and personalized attention that can catapult you to the next level of comfort, energy, flexibility and strength?
- Do you love to learn and are you committed to opening your awareness, aligning with your highest potential and moving consciously through life?
Then this is your invitation to join a small group of brilliant, creative, and perceptive folks like yourself to experience the Force and Flow approach to holistic mind-body movement.

Our focus this session will be on finding the strength and flexibility that come from a dynamic and mindful connection to your core – there’s nothing as frustrating as watching your hard work make things even harder, but that’s often what happens when we “work out” without understanding the underlying connections of our body. CONNECTING TO CORE is about experiencing strength and alignment with ease and efficiency by learning how to connect and move from your center.

I’ve gathered a number of incredibly potent exercises from the worlds of Pilates, Yoga, Qi Gong and beyond, and cohered them in a systematic flow focused on helping you cultivate a connection to your core which will serve you in every single thing you do, from sitting in a chair to climbing personal, professional and natural mountains.

Take a moment to imagine what it would mean to you to have the energy, strength, flexibility and awareness to get the most out of the opportunities in your life? Who would you be if you could let go of held postures and tense positions and instead find ease in movement and organic strength? What kind of energy and awareness could you bring to the things you love?

Regardless of your background in movement, whether it be on a mat, in the gym, on the grass or even if it’s none at all, this upcoming session at Force and Flow is an incredible opportunity to develop the awareness and acquire potent tools for stepping into a healthier, stronger, more vibrant body. And with a maximum of five people in a group, you’re sure to get the personal attention that is so indispensable to your development and without which you’re likely spend a lot more time repeating the same mistakes and fighting off or giving into burn out.

Here are just a few of the benefits that you are sure to gain when you show up for yourself through this 90-Day CONNECTING TO CORE session:
- Learn to attune to your movement, avoid injury and cultivate pleasure and ease in your body.
- Have powerfully effective and simple tools for strengthening, centering, balancing, energizing and releasing tension.
- Have improved breath awareness and breath capacity, as well as the improved focus, presence and resiliency that follows.
- Experience dynamic alignment and tangible improvements in your posture, both in your body and in life.
- Feel more connected to your intuitive, reflexive mind and experience greater ease and confidence with others as you come to know it in your own body.
- Embody more strength, flexibility and agility as you navigate the challenges and opportunities in your life.
- And most importantly, cultivate a healthy, strong and sustainable long-term relationship with your body.
Here is what the thoughtfully crafted FALLING INTO BALANCE package includes:
- 10-weekly 75-minute semi-private sessions which encourage a steady, incremental development of your strength, flexibility and awareness.
April 14 – June 22
Choose a group
Tuesdays 6:45PM, Wednesdays 7:15PM, Sundays 11:00AM
- A private 60-minute session in which we will hone in on your specific questions and accelerate your development.
- An invitation to one of three Sound Baths, our acclaimed sonic meditation series.
- A 3-hour Walking Workshop in late June and/or early July
- PLUS: a gift for a friend to join you at the workshop for free!
- 30% discount and priority booking on additional private or bodywork sessions throughout the 90-days
- Personalized tips and assignments to keep you engaged in a sustainable, pleasurable way throughout the week
- Audio recordings of all group sessions
The cost for all this is only $840 or $280 a month! And according to my long time students, the benefits are priceless. A payment plan is available to break up the cost, and spots are extremely limited at this point – if you think you are a good fit for this program, fill out the application form below and we’ll get back to you ASAP with registration information.

[spacer height=”10px”] [divider style=”medium”] [spacer height=”15px”] Pre-Registration for CONNECTING TO CORE: [spacer height=”15px”] [contact-form-7 id=”13869″ title=”Connecting_to_Core”]
March 19, 2014