Awareness Through Movement vs Exercising

Awareness Through Movement vs Exercising

There is a difference between exercising, creating reps and sets, and a Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM)® Lesson. It makes a huge difference when you focus on how you activate yourself to do something.  Eventually, you will move into repetitive movements; there’s merit here, but first, create a pathway of ease and freedom before you tune out and do a number of repetitions with multiple sets.  Science shares how we tune out when there are repetitive movements unless we begin to make comparisons from one rep to another.  This requires slowing down so you can pay attention to how you are doing what you are doing. How are you breathing?  Might you be unconsciously holding your breath?

“The lessons are designed to improve ability, that is, to expand the boundaries of the possible, to turn the impossible into the possible, the difficult into the easy, and the easy into the pleasant. For only those activities that are easy and pleasant will become part of a person’s habitual life and will serve them at all times…. The aim is a body that is organized to move with minimum effort & maximum efficiency, not through muscular strength but though increased consciousness of how it works.” Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais

A dear colleague of mine speaks of the “Red Thread” that runs through and clarifies what an ATM is all about.  Throughout the entire lesson, there is an awakening through paying gentle attention to how you are doing the requested movement.  It’s more important to slow things down so you can pay soft attention to not only what you are doing, but more importantly, how, as it is primary to learn improvements that will begin to wire into your nervous system and become another beneficial habit where you feel the difference that makes all the difference in the world.  

“For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” – Jane Wagner (Am writer & director)

For a moment, lie down on your back and rest.  Listen to your breathing.  Slowly, one foot at a time, transition one leg from resting long to soften and bend that knee so you can bring the sole of the foot to the floor, near your pelvis.  That knee will bend, and then that standing foot, while resting on your back, is vertical.  Slowly, transition the other leg to soften and bend so you can bring both feet into their standing, vertical position.  Notice if you can feel movement traveling through you, and where does the movement go?  Did it travel all the way up through you or get stuck somewhere?  This is the beginning of an ATM lesson.  Listen to how movement travels.  If it doesn’t, is that an intention not to allow movement to flow, or is this a habitual pattern of muscular holding, whether conscious or unconscious?

Slowly, listening to how you breathe, tilt both knees to one side, then return them to the vertical, then tilt them to the other side.  Are you better able to discern a movement of rotation that spreads through you?  Place your hands to rest comfortably on your chest and sense and feel, an internal way of listening to notice where movement traveled and where something above doesn’t receive movement from the knees, tilting that shifts your pelvis.

I hope I’ve piqued your interest to join me in clarifying how each of us can begin our process of improving and learning more ways to open doors and free movement that frees you, mentally, emotionally… in every way, the improvement spreads until we return to the pattern of tuning out, pushing into resistance that overtime creates heat, friction, irritation that over time will lead to deterioration of structure and creates a pathology.  We can reverse the process by learning despite any existing issues.   They may still be there but when we improve one little aspect of how we activate ourselves, exponentially, everything, incrementally gets better.

I welcome you to join me for weekly ATM lessons, and private sessions for the process of finding more optimal ways to improve what you want to make better.  It’s all about being curious and learning there are many other ways to create benefit when we look outside our known habits and patterns.

I hope I’ve earned the privilege of your time and attention and look forward to connecting with you soon.

Warmest,

Peggi