I just received an email telling me about this video on Feldenkrais method.
http://thewgbhlab.org/nova_video/nova-becoming-true-human-being
I watched it, and it got me thinking about things. As there was space for comments underneath, I ended up adding my own, which I offer you here as well…
“After the first year of my Feldenkrais training (1988) I remember feeling, ‘Now I am mySELF; I wasn’t before, but I didn’t know it.’ I was significantly more human and have continued to become so through my years of working with Feldenkrais. This means that I run less on automatic. I am more aware of what I do and how I do it. I am more in control (but not more ‘controlled’ in the negative sense). Chronic patterns of anxiety and physical tension (Moshe called them ‘parasitic contractions’) have melted away, leaving me more capable to ACT in life instead simply manifest the end result of a bunch of habits – of thought, movement and feeling. I am more aware of those around me.
‘The human body has an incredibly sophisticated design which allows us to stand fully erect on only two legs, the only mammals that do so. When we do this well, we are in ‘unstable equilibrium,’ balanced and fluid rather than held stiffly upright. The skeleton does most of the work, leaving the muscles free for movement and fine adjustment. Unstable equilibrium also evokes a particular state in our brain – the vast contrast between points of excitation and inhibition is reduced, and we are more harmonious neurologically. Most of us unfortunately live far removed from this ideal state, and Moshe Feldenkrais devised his method to help humanity return to its birthright, to become fully human through a process I call ‘primordial learning.’
‘The sense of being fully human has a physiological basis, and I know of no other method that cultivates this so overtly or effectively as the Feldenkrais method. Yes, Feldenkrais has many practical applications, improving the work of dancers, actors, athletes, stroke victims and many others – and helping me personally to develop a whole new approach to piano technique. But it is this basic capacity to make us more fully human that I see as the Method’s greatest benefit.”
Alan Fraser
Tags: Feldenkrais & Piano