Testimonials

When I met you last Spring – just about a year ago – I was so out of touch with my body, so much that I didn’t even know what a problem that was, nor could I have imagined being able to change that relationship so profoundly. Our meeting was such a  significant moment of opening for me, one that has led to a year of much reflection and growth and, ultimately, a sense of purpose and well being in my heart and body that I did not know was possible. I want to thank you for being a point of light for me in this process of opening.

I’ve been working with Ophra for a year and a half and it has been a wonderful, eye opening experience. I started going to Ophra during a stressful period in my life – I had recently lost my father, who I was extremely close to, and was struggling with a lot of anxiety and stress. I had made a decision to focus on myself for a while and was looking to do some yoga and Pilates. I found her on the internet and showed up for a class and was surprised at how different it was from a typical yoga class. There were only four people in the class and Ophra started by asking how everyone was doing and asking what, if any, areas of our bodies we wanted to work on. Then she actually chose exercises that addressed those areas.

She is really talented and does a really great job of articulating difficult concepts. Rather than just going through a series of poses, her classes evolve and Ophra spends time with each person to make sure s/he has time to ‘get it’ and ask questions. To me, Ophra’s classes are more about learning about the mind-body connection and how it affects our everyday life than they are about doing a routine series of poses. They have helped me to grow and think on a different plane – to carry what we work on outside the studio and incorporate it into my daily life. I walk away from the classes feeling calm and open – both mentally and physically – and also like I’ve learned something.

I am becoming more and more aware of movements and how the body is connected. My admittedly poor posture has improved, and one day I might even reach the height indicated on my driver’s license. Sessions are confidence-inspiring!

When I met Ophra I had spent months in bed due to herniated discs and a pain disorder. Innumerable doctors, physical therapists and every med on the market had barely made a dent in my pain. One PT wouldn’t even touch me because I was, in her words, living inside a suit of armor. I was unable to work, or even walk more than a few blocks. No amount of massage, acupuncture, or heat stimulation seemed to weaken the iron-hard muscle spasm on my left side, which ranged from my neck down to the small of my back.

Real progress takes time, but after I began working with Ophra, what astonished me was how rapidly my pain, and my mood, began to improve. Ophra’s bodywork is not passive. She teaches you how to pay attention to the sources of pain in your body and how to think, breathe, and move in ways that will help you to heal. Her calm, empathic strength helps to root you in body and mind, and her hands are no less talented. I have never met anyone who is so fully a healer.

Ophra teaches that pain is a signal; if you do not track that signal and address the underlying causes, you will not be able to heal your pain. “Painkillers” are exactly that–they dampen the signal, but they do nothing to alleviate the physical and emotional stresses that have caused the pain in the first place.

Group classes with Ophra enabled me to take what I learned into my daily life. I breathe differently, move differently, think differently, and in ways that have made me stronger, more flexible, leaner, and more resilient. Ophra’s comfort-oriented, kinetic approach ensured that, unlike with the Pilates and yoga I had practiced, I would not stress my body and potentially re-injure myself. In Ophra’s classes, we are not static–we don’t hold postures. Instead we move, organically, in ways that our bodies aren’t accustomed to in modern life, especially after spending years sitting in cubicles.

Moving dynamically on these other planes repositioned me in the world, and much for the better. I began to improve with Ophra within the first month; five months in, it was as if someone had injected me with human growth hormone. Eight months after I began working with Ophra, my body was entirely new, and in many ways stronger than it had ever been. I now know how to manage it properly, as well as how to respond effectively to physical and emotional stress.

I carry Ophra’s business cards in my wallet, and give them to every one of my doctors and to any woman I meet with chronic pain. Ophra isn’t magic; she is something much better: the real deal. She saved my life, and whether or not yours needs saving, she can vastly improve it in ways you’ve never imagined. There is no one I would trust with my body and heart more than her.

I really feel indebted toward you. When I came to you I was so… stuck. And now, this idea of seeking balance, ease, strength and pleasure are real and meaningful starting from the work we did together. Spiritually and physically, I have been moved. So thank you.

I’m the kind of person who tries to do the right thing all the time – eat local and organic and exercise and work long work weeks and be there for friends and relationships, etc, etc, etc. Lately, I’ve been trying to do those same things, but with more ease and gentleness. Your work helped me do that more physically. Helped me to breathe into life, to trust myself and my body – instead of someone telling me what was ‘correct’ or not, allowing myself the space to get there.

I really count on your sessions to maintain and expand my body awareness and consciousness about everyday movements such as walking and lifting, and your coaching also provides a fantastic foundation for other exercise that I engage in whether it be yoga, swimming, cardio or strength training – – not to mention the mental discipline brought on by the focused tone of your classes, which is a wonderful antidote to the crowding of my brain by my normal day of problem solving and dozens of challenging if interesting human interactions.

Your work has helped keep me grounded, literally and figuratively, and reminded me that a better way toward whole body health and “fitness” is from the inside out rather than starting with what the outside of the body should be doing or looking like.

I feel confident adding on the years knowing I have the type of work you are teaching me to keep me moving, confident, healthy and vibrant!

I’m very pleased to report that I have not tripped, slipped, lost my balance or fallen at all since the horrible weather arrived, and I believe that much of my stability is due to the Falling into Balance sessions… I’m always aware of my alignment and following my movement with my eyes, and in general, feel like I can keep on going no matter what’s going on outside. I’ve experienced a significant reduction in pain and discomfort, I no longer need to brace myself when I get out of a chair, and can rise from sitting in a relatively fluid motion.  For me, that’s nothing short of miraculous!

My pain has all but disappeared since I acknowledged that it was due to repressed anger (mostly job related) and that stressing out over it was only making it worse.  It disappeared overnight, essentially.  I couldn’t have done it without your contribution to my ongoing understanding of my own psychosomatic stresses – particularly, how much of a difference in tension there is between the two sides of my body. Thanks again.

I feel very lucky to have been working with you these past couple of years. You are, as I’m sure you’ve been told many times before, an excellent teacher: intelligent, creative, and most of all, perceptive. I’ve learned an extraordinary amount.