How The Feldenkrais Method helps you change and improve your life:
1. Movement
with attention.
Our
brains are organized through movement, movements we already know and do, and
movements we have yet to learn. The more habitual our everyday movements, the less we are able to satisfy the brain’s need
for growth. When we introduce new patterns of movement, combined with attention,
our brains begin making thousands, millions and even billions of new
connections. This means clearer thinking, easier movement, pain that is
reduced or eliminated, and actions that are more successful.
2. Turn
on your learning switch.
Learning
occurs in the brain. During childhood, the learning switch is turned on a lot.
As we grow and take on the responsibilities of adulthood, we tend to develop
habitual patterns, a set way of doing things, rigidity and resistance to
change. Our learning switch turns off
and learning slows down drastically. We
can learn to turn the switch back on; regardless of age, we can wake up our
brains.
3.
Subtlety. Your brain thrives on subtlety, on gentle,
less-forceful, more refined input. [In Feldenkrais] we discover that subtlety
generates incredible new possibilities that will even change how you speak to
your loved ones, how you present an idea, how you cook and taste, how you move,
and how you remain vital. Attending to subtlety will reveal to you
what turns your brain on AND what makes it check out (going back to autopilot),
instilling your life with new excitement, zest for life, creativity and fun.
4.
Variation. A life
filled with possibility must include the miraculous. By exploring different ways of moving,
thinking, feeling, and acting, you will become more resilient and healthy. Experiment,
play, make room for new elements in all areas of your life.
5.
Slow. Slow gets
the brain’s attention and gives it time to distinguish and perceive small
changes and form new connections. With fast
(when you are on auto-pilot), you can only do what you already know, so nothing
new is happening. Slow is learning at
the level of the nervous system.
6.
Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm can boost the energy of everything
you do, think or feel. We often think of
enthusiasm as caused by an external event. However, it can be generated from
within, becoming an intentional action for transforming virtually anything in
our lives. Enthusiasm can take the seemingly small, dull, boring or unimportant
and turn it into something new and magnificent.
Learn to strengthen the muscle of
your enthusiasm and reclaim your energy and passion.
7.
Flexible goals. Goal setting
is important for getting what we want from life. But how we go about achieving our goals can create
impediments, resistance to change, shutting us down, and even resulting in
failure. Loss of vitality, being stuck or aging can often be traced to the way
we approach our goals. By learning to
hold goals loosely, you will accomplish more, with less suffering, and open up
to new possibilities. Vitality and health are fostered by a free, flexible,
playful attitude toward goals; embrace mistakes, make room for miracles!
8.
Imagination and dreams. Positive imagining
and dreaming can transform your life. Dreams can guide you to create what has
never been. While our capacity to be positive may be dampened from trauma,
disappointment, or aging, you can reclaim and revive this rich and vital
resource any time you choose. Imagining
a sequence and outcome makes things clearer in reality. Elite athletes and
performers know this.
9.
Awareness. Awareness – Sensing, knowing, and knowing
that you know – is the opposite of automaticity and compulsion. Awareness means that you are living in the present. Awareness is a skill that we need to hone
throughout life to enjoy freedom and choice.
With awareness, working toward presence, we can create a joyful and
alert life. Self-awareness as you work
with attention in movement is life changing.
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Excerpted
from: The nine essentials for greater health, vitality, sensuality,
flexibility, strength and creativity, throughout the full span of your life.
Anat Baniel was a primary student of Dr. Feldenkrais, whose work came to be
called the Anat Baniel Method. It is based fundamentally on Dr. Feldenkrais’
teachings.
The first lesson of the new year is called "Tossing the Limbs" which explores the subtle and important ways that we move, lift and lower various parts of our bodies, and the effect of this on the rest of our body. It will be as subtle as or jarring as the state of your nervous system, meaning that slowing down and truly sensing bodily response can be a whole new journey in itself. It is a new lesson from the Alexander Yanai material that I have been studying each day with other Feldenkrais practitioners around the world at 8 am. 
The chance to observe and feel/sense the effects of moving in different ways is a perfect way to begin the new year -- with self-awareness and a truly new perspective on our habits. If we don't know what we do with ourselves habitually, how can we possibly work effectively in a new direction? We cannot. We simply get caught in an aggravating, endless circle of dissatisfaction and discomfort; no amount of physical effort produces any change. Only by accessing ourselves through our awareness and sensation, learning about our habits -- physically, mentally and emotionally, will we find real growth and lasting change. 
If you have any questions about classes or individual Functional Integration lessons, please contact me using the blogger contact form to the right of this post.
