Awareness Through Movement #91

Getting up from the knees while rolling the head - maybe not Vita friendly!

In Hebrew the word, "stretch" implies a tension in terms of physics. Dr. Feldenkrais is referring to stretched in a mechanical sense rather than stretching in terms of exercise. When you pull on something from both ends, tension is introduced into the matter.

These are notes in the lesson, the people who translated or transcribed the recordings added little gems along the way (which I read out). This was a note from yesterday’s lesson.

Another that’s stuck with me is… in Hebrew “to listen” means to listen with your whole heart.

listen with your whole heart, beating, human, Feldenkrais

In this lesson Moshe gives more hint as to how his Method differs from the rest:

It gives you the ability to discern “on this side... my head does not move the same way as on the other — either better or worse." Pay attention to where you place the leg... so it saves you from falling or do you place it in a round about way? The movement becomes reversible if there aren't any contractions along the spine. Then, you can choose "Yes, put the foot here, there" Notice that you lose balance the moment you contract muscles somewhere between the pelvis and head out of habit. Muscles which are not necessary for what you are doing. It is necessary to listen, especially in the beginning of the movement and during the transitions. The moment you decide to take the leg back, or when it is touching the floor... there isn't any control of that part once the movement is started. You can notice, change, and correct at the moment of transition before you slide. It is above a person's ability to correct once a movement starts. The final goal is to be able to correct a mistake while acting. That is the highest level a person can achieve.

You can probably tell by the title, this is part of a series which we’ve been doing the last 3 days… and for some (looking at you Nick), the final product of this movement sequence seems to be getting easier and more graceful. If you’re interested in lovely ways to come up to standing from the floor, this is a nice way to learn a different option… and learn more about the connection between the neck and… stress, tension, holding patterns. Learning how to soften this area is a game changer for many - me included.

Audio and visual for the lesson are below: