Awareness Through Movement #466

Continuation until the eyes - with Megan Hopley

The audio on this recording could be a little annoying, Megan was using a different laptop and unaware of the microphone location so each time she moved the document she was reading from it got a bit noisy!

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Novelty, it’s actually being recognised as a way for people to learn and discover new paths. In the conversation after this lesson Megan and I were talking about the robotic patterns many people (ourselves included) fall in to. The grooves that get worn out every same old day, the way we get out of bed, the path to the bathroom, kitchen, the front door to leave the home. There’s a particular rut which fulfils a tiny percentage of the human’s potential as far as movement is concerned, as well as our mental, spiritual, ontological, philosophical potential.

For those who are unaware I have been lifting weights at the gym since late 2019, going 4-6 times a week, mainly due to the fast effect it had in transforming my shape and strength. I apply Feldenkrais principles to lifting - much to the amusement of many people at the gym! Sometimes I get bored so I change the program… yesterday I was listening to people who have been going to the gym for decades and they were talking about the power of novelty. (I did a little victory dance when I heard that word and started to listen more intently).

The human body responds to novelty, to doing things differently rather than working its self in to a rut - that’s where the aches and pains set in. In this particular podcast they talked about the difference they noticed when they changed from one set of 12 repetitions to 12 sets of 1, then they changed the tempo and thought of other novel ways to change their “routine” - and they noticed huge differences in their bodies and energy levels.

Moshe was a big advocate for novelty, that’s why these lessons are so vast and different - as is tonight’s movements - they seem to make no sense… until they really do, usually in the resting period. That’s when the systems settle to (re)configure or adjust to the quite dramatic changes these novel movements make to the skeletal, fascial, muscular, nervous +++ systems. They’ve all had to adjust and seek pathways for comfort, and breathing is our prime indicator to keep being aware of.

The eyes, there are few modalities that involve these little proprioceptors as much as Feldenkrais, at first, it seems non-sensical to involve them… and yet, if you really pay attention… or bring your awareness to… keeping them soft and smooth in their transition from left to right, there’s a connection with the nervous system that can be very very soothing. The movements very often also change the shape of the eye:

Tonight’s lesson is unusual and yet you might find your self feeling really refreshed afterward… *see* for your self :)