At the Feldenkrais® Institute of New York our theme for July is Spontaneity. If you've done Awareness Through Movement® (ATM®) exercises, this may seem at least a bit incongruous. In ATM, everything seems planned. Each movement is carefully described. Often, movements are nearly identical except for a seemingly minor change in one component. Where is there any room for spontaneity in a structure like this? Even within a structure--any structure--spontaneity is there for you to find. In an ATM exercise, you are always encouraged to do only what is easy, only what feels pleasurable. If that means, to remain comfortable, you have to alter the instructions the teacher gives, well, that requires some spontaneity.
But more important is the realization that what we do in an ATM exercise is training. The human body, like all efficient systems, is nearly always capable of performing the same action in a variety of different ways. Your brain assembles or "organizes" movement—dictates which muscles will be activated and in what sequence and level of contraction, while also inhibiting other muscles from acting. Every Feldenkrais experience you encounter presents your brain with more options for how to organize movement. The specific way a movement is organized in the brain is dictated mostly by habit and, depending on how "well-organized" we are, by the circumstances under which the movement is performed. (I'm getting to the issue of spontaneity, I promise.) The training done during ATM exercises provides you with more organizational options for doing any number of different movements. And the more options you have available, the more spontaneous your movement becomes, changing and optimizing depending on what you're doing and why you're doing it. As you do more and more Feldenkrais work, your ability to be spontaneous increases.
So what does this have to do with my workshops, Summer Spine Essentials? The spine is the central core of support for over half your body mass. If you improve the movement of the spine, you improve the potential for nearly every movement you do. In addition, many common aches and pains, both the obvious ones like neck and back aches, and some less obvious like hip, knee and ankle problems, can often be helped by improving the ability of the spine to move effectively.
Summer Spine Essentials is made up of three related workshops, beginning on July 10th, when we'll explore turning and twisting. This workshop is great if you have neck problems, shoulder issues or back pain. Further, improving the ability of the spine to turn contributes directly to the ability to more easily bend forward and back, the theme we'll explore on Tuesday, July 17th. In the third workshop on July 24th, we'll look into how you can use your entire spine to move in all directions. As you improve your ability to sense all of your spine, you'll be able to better detect what parts of your spine are working too hard and what parts aren't doing the job they should be.
As you become better able to sense and utilize your spine, you can use that information to improve your posture, be more comfortable standing or walking, and sitting will become more effortless in nearly any situation. You'll also be able to better help yourself solve and prevent neck pain and backaches.
Spontaneity is usually something we believe we have or do not; something we're comfortable with or we're not. But as you do more Feldenkrais work, you may be surprised to find that you become more and more spontaneous. As your nervous system gains more tools to use in movement assembly, resulting in more spontaneous movement, you'll likely find an increase in the spontaneity of your thinking and feeling, as well. As a human organism, you're all one system. When you change and improve one part (like the way you move) the rest of the system responds in kind.
I invite you to join me for any or all three of the Summer Spine Essentials workshops. The cumulative experience of all three will be the best, but if you can only make one or two, each evening will stand on its own.
Why not try out a little spontaneity today? Use this link to find out more and register for any or all of the Summer Spine Essentials workshops. I hope to see you there.
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