On The Edge

Hi, my name is Stash Serafin

I am a figure skater, with 40 years of skating experience. I have had the honor of sharing my interesting life with skaters from beginners to professional coaches.

I want to share some new and exciting ideas with you.

I thought of the title On the Edge as a metaphor for skating. Skating, to me represents life that has flow rather than friction. Friction to me; represents fear. On the ice, the blades when they are fearful represent friction and friction feels hard to move through; especially when I am afraid of moving.

Adults love to experience the gentleness of the blade as it learns how to glide with ease and kindness across the ice with effortless motion. Endless flow is what skaters are after, and I have a few tips and tricks that can assist you in your journey; even if you’re not a skater.

• Injury Prevention

The number one fear in my humble opinion in adult living is the fear of falling, and this fear of falling prevents many adults from benefiting from the real art of skating, which I feel is flow, gliding, easily and effortlessly on or off the ice.

• Sensing Our Feet

My adult skaters always are interested in how the feet work on the ice. They almost have an obsession about feet placement. Where should my feet go? Where should my arms go? Why is this important you ask?

Once adults get a sense of how their feet work, the rest of the body seems to somehow come along for the experience. The feet never lie. Relaxed feet allow for gentle, kind and sensitive skating.

I use a technique I developed called Braille Blade Experience. Braille is to a blind person is like seeing is for the sited. Blind people read Braille with the fingers, and I somehow got the idea to use the blades as Braille, having invisible, but very sensitive sensations to Braille my way on and off the ice.

The interesting thing that happened is the entire body somehow became aware of the Braille method which lead me to experiment with Braille Blade Exercises with my adult skaters who instantly fell in love with the method of Braille Blades.

I then got the concept of Blades and beyond which is the real theme of On The Edge.

As I incorporate the skills I use on the ice to be open minded enough to sense skating through a new dimension, this experience also transfers itself off of the ice in every aspect of my life.

Walking, running, moving in a grocery store, walking with a sighted guide, exercising easily without much effort, and more.

Folks who do not skate can learn these skills easily and without much effort. The only trick is to be open minded enough to try something that takes very little effort, but the trick is; you need to be extremely gentle and kind with yourself, and this gentle and kind awareness can be taught to anyone.

In my experience, adults and not just adult skaters seem to appreciate new and innovative experiences.

• Feeling

My experience has been that adults, whether you skate or not have a desire to feel first.

In Our Book

You Can’t Get It, Because You Already Got It,

Stash Serafin and Ruth Anne Wood

Mention Feel First, and Form Follows.

Adults seem to somehow click into this idea and once this happens, they take off with this idea and they actually integrate it into their daily living skills as they move easier, freer, and have more flow.

The Feel First, and Form Follows allows you to become attention oriented instead of merely unconsciously moving throughout your life with more ease, dignity, and diplomacy with your body.