A Curious Mind

A Curious Mind

When teaching the Feldenkrais Method®, the number one thing I need you to bring to the table is, curiosity. It’s your body, one of the most complex living organisms on the planet. You should be in wonderment about how it works. The skeleton, muscles, nerves, internal organs, how do they all work together to keep you going everyday? And if they aren’t working – why? and what can you do to make it better?

The beginning of learning is just to recognize fundamental aspects of your own functionality. How will movement affect your mental state? If your movement improves, that outcome could change how you look at your life and your surroundings. An open mind is crucial to learning especially when what you are learning can be so important.

We live in a period of history that I call “the big tune out.” There are so many ways to put your mind in a trance and tune out to all the noise. With Feldenkrais, we do the opposite. You raise your focus and attention to the subtleties of a body that in many cases has been ignored for a very long time. We have to wake the body and mind up to teach it new ways to move and think.

“It’s a funny thing… It’s all the time improvisation but it has a method in it, therefore it’s jazz… It’s real learning. It’s a lived thing.” Moshe Feldenkrais, 1972

I’m traveling (masked) to Clearwater at the end of this week to share this body of knowledge in how we learn. Moshe Feldenkrais decided it was easier to start with movements we all did as infants because when we move better, we feel better. When we feel better everything improves.

It’s all jazz, just begin a bit of your own improvisations and play until you find the right tune, the melody and harmony that speak to you. Remember in music there is also the silence between the notes. Maybe this silence is the pauses and rests just like we take as we explore Feldenkrais lessons whether Awareness Through Movement (ATM)® as well as the hands on, Functional Integration (FI)® and now the virtual hybrid approach as learning happens no matter what. It will dawn on you, as your curiosity grows, just do what you can do and notice what unfolds

I will offer 2 ATM lessons this week before I’m on the road making music with my friends. Hope you can join me this week or any week when the timing is right. If you are not already receiving the weekly links for ATM and would like to have them for when the timing is right, simply reach out let me know and I will add you to the weekly mailing.

Warmest to you all as we continue into the holiday season!

Peggi