The Balance Challenge! Circuit Training Course

Posted on September 21, 2015 by SpaceToMove

Balance Challenge ~ Circuit Training Course

Improve your balance, safely and enjoyably, by practicing the balance challenges in this indoor circuit training course. The exercises are varied and fun. Exercises are scalable so you can practice at the level of challenge appropriate for you. Regardless of your skill level, you can improve your balance and have fun doing it!

Second Saturdays: Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12, 2015

First time? Initial orientation session, $20. Personal training and orientation to the course presented by Suzane Van Amburgh

Balance Challenge Alum? Alumni of the orientation session can return for self-directed training. Suzane Van Amburgh on site and available to offer help and clarification as needed.

Cost for alumni? Once you’ve completed the initial orientation session, you are eligible to return on subsequent Saturdays for self-directed training (DIY) at a reduced rate of $10.

Multnomah Aikikai members who attend an initial orientation session for $20, are eligible to return on future dates for self-directed training (DIY) at no charge.

Not a member yet? Become a Multnomah Aikikai Community Member for $20 per month.

Your Instructor and balance coach:

Suzane Van Amburgh developed the balance challenge circuit training course and continually improves the stations of the course. Suzane is a martial arts instructor (aikido and iaido), a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Teacher and a balance trainer. She conducted balance testing and balance training protocols at a physician’s office. She is the founder of the balance lab. Suzane brings fun balance challenges, benchmarks to self-assess progress, and an array of resources to help you explore and improve your own sense of balance.

The exercises:

The training course includes a variety of challenges to improve coordination, proprioception, leg and core strength, how we use our eyes, eye/ hand coordination, somatosensory functioning, use of hip joints and spine.

Our balance is influenced and maintained by the eyes, inner ear, and brain working together. The brain receives signals from the somatosensory system and processes that information along with input from the structures of inner ear and the eyes. Proprioceptors in the ankles and ribs are key to one’s sense of balance and the ability to restore balance. Leg strength and joint functioning are essential factors in balance as well.

When you improve your balance you invest in an improved quality of life. What do you feel safe doing? Even a slight erosion of confidence in you balance over time, will subtly narrow the range of activities you choose to engage in. As confidence in your balance grows, you will broaden your options, move freely and enjoy a more active life.

Whether you are rehabilitating from an injury, training for top performance, or anywhere in between, you will find the right level of challenge for you. If are interested in graceful aging, neuroplasticity, fall prevention or improved decision-making, you will find the Balance Challenge Training Circuit Course fascinating and engaging.

Questions?

Contact Suzane Van Amburgh by email: spacetomoveinfo(at)gmail.com

Find your Space To Move at Multnomah Aikikai

6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239

Tuesdays: drop in and center yourself.

Posted on March 23, 2015 by SpaceToMove

Center Yourself

Tuesdays at 5:30pm drop in, take off your shoes, move, center yourself…

Transition from your day, clear your head and be present for the evening. So often we don’t take the time to attend to our transitions. Just a half hour of moving your body with attention does a world of good.

Come to the dojo Tuesdays 5:30pm. Give yourself time and space to center yourself and orient to practice.

Practice is a mind set and an activity where you repeat an operation or movement, assessing and attending to how you do it. You introduce new variables, try something, make mistakes, form questions, change strategy and try again.

Learning to practice you will :

Make good use of the ground so that gravity becomes a friendly force • enable the bones to transmit power cleanly so that your muscles can relax • engage the left hand so that it knows what the right hand is doing • educate the left and right half of the body to coordinate around a central axis • allow the ribs to expand and contract in sync with the rise and fall of the breath • train the eyes to settle and align with your intention • improve your balance so that dynamic stability is realized

“Being centered” and “moving from center” will shift from abstract concepts to tangible experiences.

A dojo is a place where we “practice the way.” At Multnomah Aikikai our primary practice is the martial art of Aikido. In this class, utilizing basic movements of Aikido, you will orient to the joy of practice. Whether you continue with Aikido practice or take up another practice, you will have cultivated the inner tools to direct your own learning with compassion, a sense of humor and the joy of movement.

Drop by any Tuesday. No experience required. Public welcome, fee is just $10. Members participate free. Class is 5:30- 6:00pm. Instructor: Suzane Van Amburgh.

Location: Multnomah Aikikai, 6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239

Center Yourself Tuesdays.

Train your brain, Move your body, Center yourself.

Explore the Lines of Engagement

Posted on August 21, 2014 by SpaceToMove

Join us for practice…

This program is on hiatus until further notice. Please check the home page for info on our current Saturday program.

The Lines of Engagement

Center, Engage, Connect

Come and play Saturday at the dojo in a safe, light-hearted atmosphere of lively, sensory learning. Based on the movements of Aikido, explore the lines of engagement:

Investigate the moment when you encounter your partner.
Sense your center.
Experiment with where and when you make initial contact.
Discover how you change the angle of encounter.
Sense your balance.
Follow the trajectory of your partner’s motion.
Notice when you naturally take a step to restore balance.

No experience required. You do not have to fall down if you don’t want to. This class is taught by Suzane Van Amburgh, GCFP and shidoin aikido instructor Free to Multnomah Aikikai Members (Regular and Community members). Open to the public for drop in fee of $10. Send us a quick email to let us know if you’d like to attend: spacetomoveinfo@gmail.com

Contact us to be informed of class schedule changes and additions

Location: Aikido Multnomah Aikikai, 6415 SW Macadam Ave, Portland OR 97239 503-246-8120 | dojo@multnomahaikikai.com

Every Tuesday: drop in, practice, center yourself.

Posted on January 21, 2014 by SpaceToMove

Note: Center Yourself Tuesdays is on hiatus for the summer.

Tuesdays at 5:30pm drop in, take off your shoes, relax, move, center yourself…

Whenever you start something new there’s a transition; an adjustment is required. So often we are thrust into a situation where we must perform before we’ve even had a chance to get our bearings.

Whatever your practice, give yourself time and space to orient. Come to the dojo Tuesdays 5:30pm. Center yourself and orient yourself to practice.

This can happen at a very mental/analytical level or it can happen with a more diffuse mindset. We can explore, play, fall, get up, try again. Sometimes we engage in practice with knitted brow and self judgement, but learning often slows down under such circumstances. Practice can be approached with an open curious mindset, a sense of humor and compassion for self.