All My Bones Declare: Praying With Your Body

Every mouth will give thanks to You, and every tongue will will swear to You, every knee will bow to You, every stature will bow down to You, all hearts will be in awe of You, and all innards and kidneys will sing to Your Name, as it is written (psalm 35:10) “All my bones declare: God, who is like you?”

– Saturday morning liturgy

We are commanded to love God bechol me’odecha — with all our being. What could that mean other than a call to be present in our bodies when we pray? Singing, mumbling, ‘shuckling’, bending the knees and bowing . . . traditional Jewish prayer is full of movement.  And yet, our experience of prayer is more often one of words and thoughts, despite all the singing and bowing and references to breath and eagles’ wings. 

This workshop, course, or service draws on the unique process of Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® to develop in the participants a deep sense of mind-body connection, put in context by close reading of select passages from psalms, the siddur, and Rabbinic and Hassidic teachings. In other words — we’ll look at embodied themes as they come up in our davening tradition, and explore what it’s like to actually feel these ideas in our bodies as we pray.

• Text skills required: low. (Familiarity with siddur a plus)
• Movement ability required: none
• Available formats:
  • Element or elements in a service
  • Embodied shabbat morning service
  • 1 hour workshop
  • 2.5 hr workshop
  • Full-day workshop
  • Shabbaton
  • multi-session adult education series