What’s The Difference – Making Comparisons
What’s The Difference – Making Comparisons
Often someone not familiar with The Feldenkrais Method® will ask, what’s the difference between exercise and Awareness Through Movement (ATM)® lessons. The person starts to suggest the things that they already know, wanting to make comparisons to their familiar. So what’s the difference that makes a difference?
ATM lessons tend to invoke a more trance like state unlike typical exercises where we move into a rote pattern of doing reps and sets, often with disorganization of how we use our breath and shortening our system, striving to achieve. Now it’s not that there isn’t merit here in the reps and sets, but too often we are activating with too much muscular effort, creating more strain with wear and tear of tissue and joint structures. ATM lessons as well as hands-on Functional Integration (FI)® sessions are considered a learning-based way of enhancing your efficiency, coordination and grace in movement.
Herein lies the shifts in finding a dynamic relationship between our structure of bones, our skeleton that are the levers, and the muscles, which are the pulley system that activate to move the skeleton in a more efficient synergistic and dynamic harmony. These approaches are not only for those needing to learn how to move out of pain versus managing their pain from habitual repetitive strain injuries, neurological diseases and syndromes. It is also beneficial for high level performers and athletes who’s whole career is based on being able to perform at the highest level of efficiency.
Through the practitioners use of their voice and inflection, often compared to Ericksonian therapy, we facilitate through gentle touch to move the student in such a way that is pleasing as well as communicative. Then, by helping a student to explore this with greater ease, what isn’t so easy becomes possible and easier. This more efficient way begins to wire into your nervous system to inform your mind & body to what is possible.
The sign of an organized cortex: that never do you move one movement without the rest of the body being, doing something to help to perform the movement. That’s the object of begin an organism. It’s an organic movement and not a coercive, self-destructive movement. – Moshe Feldenkrais
I hope you’ll join me this week for my afternoon classes, as well as be curious as to either a virtual private learning for those that coming live for hands on sessions might not be possible as we are now servicing as a global community. All you need is your commitment to yourself, a little time to move out of your habitual ways of doing, and curiosity to compare while exploring in an easy, gentle approach, where you play in your pleasure zone. For those that, like me, love fitness and feeling strong and potent, I learned that finding a zone of ease, the reps and sets get simpler, easier without creating any of the havoc in your muscular-skeletal system; it’s win win!
Reach out for the weekly links if you are not already receiving them as well as call or email to schedule a private session whether virtual or live. I look forward to awaking your body that informs your mind for your greater ease, comfort and vitality!
Our April showers are bringing May flowers!
Warmest,
Peggi
