How JACK MORRASH, former CFO of PennEngineering went from suffering from debilitating hip pain for 40 years to living without pain, playing stronger tennis, and having calm self-confidence while presenting to his shareholders.
TRANSCRIPT:
Jack:
I guess it was probably three or four years ago that we met, right? Yeah, before I arrived, I was thinking about how many sessions we may have had together. And I think over that three year period, it was probably close to 200 sessions or so.
Dayana:
Wow.
Jack:
Yeah. So I think just that, in itself speaks really well for you and what you’ve been able to do for me, and I’m, you know, really glad to be able to share that experience.
Dayana:
Thank you, Jack.
Jack:
Yeah, our coming together came at a very opportune time for me. I was at the end of my 45 year career. Over the course of 45 years, I had various financial positions, always increasing in responsibility. And the last 25 years or so I served as a chief financial officer of several companies. Two of them were public companies, and one of them was a private company. So I had a fairly high stress job. But at the same time, I also loved what I did, it’s like a love-hate relationship. Right? You know, I would say that, you know, I was motivated a lot by the challenge of the work, right, and making a difference. In being able to, to add value to a situation where you have a company, or part of a company, that’s, you know, here and we want to take it there, right. And being part of a solution, and contributing to the growth is what really motivated me. And that’s not a low stress process, but the rewards are very high. And I think that’s what keeps you coming back.
Dayana:
If you don’t mind sharing with our viewers, what were you looking for when you found me? How, what made you curious about working together?
Jack:
I can remember back to actually, and then in the 80s, I was in my 20s and lying in bed with hip pain. And just wondering at the time, if that was something that I was going to have to live with, for the rest of my life. And then over the course of the 40 years, which followed that I sought help from doctors, from chiropractors, from massage therapists, acupuncturists, personal trainers, you know, whatever would, I felt there was a possibility of getting help, I looked for it. My hip pain was a result of an accident that I had at the age of 12. Actually, I ran into a moving car and hit primarily with my hip and that was the source of the pain. So I mean, over these over that period of time with all these practitioners, I you know, I did get some relief, but I was always living with some level of chronic pain.
Dayana:
What’s the pain getting in the way of anything at work, at home, your hobbies?
Jack:
Well, yeah, I mean, I’m an active tennis player. And I, I play the game pretty, I would say aggressively. I mean over the course of an hour and a half of a doubles match, I could cover maybe a mile and a half or so. So yeah, it was definitely something that was affecting me on the court for sure. And, and then just every day, you know, shoveling snow or you know, sometimes just walking? Yeah, it was fairly persistent.
Dayana:
What are the main benefits of our work together, of our collaboration, over the course of these years?
Jack:
So I would say that, with the Feldenkrais Method, the connection between student and practitioner is critical. Because it’s a mutual exploration. I’d like to call it. It’s a search for what’s possible. How can we reprogram my movement, your movement, in a way, which will reduce the pain and give me the freedom to do what I want to do? Effectively, pain free.
Dayana:
That was the main benefit, the reprogramming that we did.
Jack:
That was the reprogramming. Yes. Yeah.
Dayana:
Did you see an application of that in other areas? Perhaps mindset, behavior, at home, at work?
Jack:
It’s been a tremendous learning experience for me, and has affected really all aspects of my life. So I would say I don’t stand the same. I don’t walk the same. I play tennis a little bit different. And even my vision on the court has improved. And that’s something that we worked on, is it’s very easy to get a narrow focus in a sporting activity like that. And what you’ve allowed me to do is just open up my field of vision, which has tremendous benefits. So well, one of the responsibilities that I had in my last position was presenting our annual financial results and our plan for the next year to our shareholders, you know, which required me to stand up in front of about, you know, 150, folks, or so who are all very sophisticated investors. And, for me, those kinds of public presentations always brought anxiety. And I think it was just in passing that I mentioned that to you. And you gave me two bits of advice, which, you know, I still use today, which helped tremendously. One was to ground myself, right. To get my feet firm on the ground, and just to feel that connection with the earth. And then the second one was the power of the pause. Right. So, you know, my presentation was pretty much scripted. But I, you know, I inserted these pauses just to take a moment in time, and to breathe, and to let my body weight just connect me to the ground. And I remember, I couldn’t wait to get back to you to tell you just how much that helped. And I also remember, you know, standing at the podium, and I just took like about maybe three seconds, to feel my feet on the ground, and to just put myself in a solid position. In a non vulnerable position. Yeah, that was excellent.
Dayana:
For somebody that is on the other side of the screen, wondering if this is for them, or who to choose to work with, they know they want to work with somebody, and they don’t know if this is if they want to work with me. So what would you recommend them? What would you advise?
Jack:
Well, I have a lot of experience, I think, to draw on, to answer that question. And I would say that what I’ve learned over the course of the last 40 years is that caring goes with healing. So when you’re out there and you’re looking for help, it’s really important to keep that in mind. And my experience with you over the last three years in the 200 sessions that we’ve had is that I don’t sincerely believe you can find a more caring person than Dayana. At many levels, not only with regard to my personal health, but also broader than that. So when you combine your tremendous quality, for caring with your technical knowledge and your ability to focus, what you have is just a very effective healer. And that’s what we want.
Dayana:
Thank you so much.
Jack:
That’s what we need.
Dayana:
For someone that is looking and thinking 300, 200 sessions, two years. Do I need to stay that long to see an effect? They will see results pretty quickly that somebody needs to stay with it for three years to see a change. Like what was your experience? And be honest, really.
Jack:
Okay, yeah. So I was fortunate enough to get a benefit right from the beginning. And I just remember the end of our first session, and just feeling this energy flow through my body. Really right from my head just down to my through my legs and back again. And you know, I immediately went home and shared that with Lisa. You know, just what a wonderful experience it was and she was so thankful as well. So why have I explored or why have I continued for over 200 sessions? I would say that I’ve taken the practice beyond its original intent. So the original intent was to address my chronic pain, which I would say, you know, we addressed pretty quickly. Could, if we were to start over, could be addressed in a lot less than 200 sessions, and have now taken it to a deeper level where I’m able to benefit from the calming it brings to me . From the positive effect that it has on my nervous system. I really never would have anticipated that benefit. But that’s what keeps me coming back is just the tremendous improvement in my self and my being that I’ve experienced.
Dayana:
That is wonderful. Would you say that you have now a set of principles or a roadmap to yourself that when you are confronted with a situation in life, you may have a challenge, you open a new business, from the time that we were started working together. Would you say that you have a way to apply these principles and have your body react in a way that is more either effective or healthy? Without me there working it for you.
Jack:
Yes. Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah. So just to give you an example, like, if you’re, if you’re in a small conference room, you know, and you’re in a situation that is bringing you some anxiety, just opening up your field of vision, right? Will have a calming effect on your nervous system. When we’re in those high stress situations, we tend to be hyper focused, which just increases the intensity of the anxiety and just opening it up. Opening your field of vision will have a tremendously calming effect. Well, I mean, that’s the benefit of so many sessions is that it becomes just second nature. Yeah, so I was like, it was very early in the morning, it may have been like, maybe five or six o’clock in the morning, I was still half asleep. And I just found myself doing these very small micro movements that we’ve done in our sessions to free up the tension in my shoulder. You know, what, which just seven weeks ago, I had surgery on. Yeah, that’s the benefit of keeping it going. Yeah, it becomes second nature.
Dayana:
Very good. Anything else that I haven’t asked that you want to share?
Jack:
I would just encourage people to try. Right? I mean, a very low cost of trying. And if you’re as fortunate as I’ve been, the benefit will be obvious, I think pretty quickly.
Dayana:
Thank you so much, Jack. I appreciate it.
Jack:
Yeah, you’re welcome.