Awareness Through Movement #385

Increasing the spreading on the knees – THE WHOLE BODY

Today I asked Grok about the Ontological Benefits, (ontology, the study of BEing - which is what I studied intensively with Landmark Education) it returned with this:

Ontologically, this lesson touches on questions of existence, being, and how we understand ourselves as embodied entities. These benefits are more abstract but emerge from the Feldenkrais Method’s philosophy.

1. Redefining Self Through Action

   • By exploring new movement patterns you challenge fixed notions of what your body is or can do. This aligns with an ontology where being is dynamic, not static—your identity as a physical self evolves with each variation.

2. Awareness as Being

   • The repeated call to "bring your awareness" and notice subtle shifts suggests that existence is tied to awareness. In this view, you are most fully when you’re consciously inhabiting your body, resonating with phenomenological ideas (e.g., Merleau-Ponty’s focus on lived experience).

3. Agency and Possibility

   • Increasing the spread of the knees or softening the spine expands your range of possible actions. Ontologically, this implies that being isn’t just a state but a field of potential—you become more by doing more, or doing differently.

4. Interconnectedness of Parts and Whole

   • The lesson’s integration of head, spine, and limbs mirrors an ontology where no part exists in isolation. Your "being" emerges from the interplay of these elements, suggesting a holistic rather than reductionist self-understanding.

Ontological Insight: This lesson posits that existence is fluid, relational, and expanded through mindful movement—shifting you from a rigid "I am this" to a curious "I am becoming."

Me thinks, ontological shifts are one of Feldenkrais’s most interesting offerings.