How to reinforce what we do in movement classes
Do small portions of the lessons from class throughout the week!
Integrate Feldenkraisian Principles into your daily life!
KEEP CHECKING BACK AS WE MAY HAVE A NEW IDEA!
Make a mental note of the initial movements of the lesson and do just that daily . . . perhaps a little in the morning, before you start your day . . . perhaps during the day . . . if you are experiencing a tension buildup . . . or perhaps in the evening before bedtime. It would take only 5 minutes or so to do!
These initial movements, are generally quite simple. For example, moving the shoulder a little bit forward and a little bit back. These are easy enough to remember, and quite valuable! You can do just that and benefit immensely, because you can bring your awareness to different parts of yourself. Your chest . . . one side of your sternum . . . your hip . . . your ribcage, etc. These may all be areas of “over-efforting” – all areas of tensing muscles unnecessarily.
Take note of any individual movements, during the lesson, that feel particularly pleasurable to you . . . particularly helpful in some way, particularly relieving in some way . . . particularly interesting to you in some way, and explore that single simple movement during the week. Ask yourself: where can I reduce the effort? What part of me is not involved in this movement?
Take the principles or concepts of the Feldenkrais Method and apply them in your daily life! Examples:
- SLOWING DOWN: As you move through your day, observe yourself starting to “speed up.” You start to feel sort of “revved” on the inside. You may find yourself walking faster, talking faster, breathing faster, etc. Take a deep breath and slow down your movements. Walk slower for example. Slow down your speech.
- OVER-EFFORTING: Ask yourself, now and then, throughout the day: Where can I reduce the effort [in what I am doing]? You can even ask this question when you lay down at night to go to sleep. Just lying there . . .ask: Where can I reduce the effort? Where am I tensing muscles unnecessarily?
- HOW DO I DO WHAT I DO? This just means to pay more attention than you typically would — to how you are doing any particular task. How do I sit at the computer? How do I get up from my chair? How do I reach for something off the shelf? How do I get in and out of my car? How much of myself is involved in the task? Is it involved in a way that helps me? Or hinders me? Am I stopping my breath while I concentrate on “getting the task done?”