The Easy Way to Better Posture (Did you know May is "Correct Posture Month"?)

As far as I can tell, May was declared Correct Posture Month by The American Chiropractic Association (“ACA”). Where I practice, at The Feldenkrais^® Institute, although we're not so fond of the term, "posture," we know everybody uses it, so for the month of May we’re offering our own version of Posture Month. (We're leaving off the "correct." For more on that, read on.) Regarding the ACA’s standpoint on posture, there’s a lot that makes sense, but some of what they advocate is, frankly, a little closer to nonsense. Even to begin the discussion with the idea that there is such a thing as “correct” posture implies that there’s a stance or a way of holding oneself that is universally right for every human being. We who practice the Feldenkrais Method believe that little can be applied universally to all people. We see each of you as an individual and, while there may be some aspects of posture that apply to several or even many people, to advocate one set of postural “rules” without taking into account the huge physical variance to be found throughout humanity cannot be truly "correct."

Here’s a link to what looks like the "official" ACA post on Correct Posture Month. In it, there are a lot of commonly accepted ideas about posture, both good and bad, and as such, it makes for a good starting place for some additional thoughts on posture. To fully understand what I’m talking about below, I urge you to follow the link and read the Correct Posture Month post first. Again, you can access the post by clicking here.

I agree with much of the information in the post. On the other hand, as one who looks at physicality through the lens of the Feldenkrais Method, I would deem some of what's recommended not particularly useful. For example, let's look at this brief excerpt that seems like commonly accepted postural advice, "...keep your head held up, shoulders back and stomach tucked in." Like so many instructions that involve "how to be" physically, this seemingly simple advice is much easier said than done. I can't argue with the advantages of keeping one's head up. But how much of your attention are you willing to devote to doing it? What happens when you stop thinking, “keep my head up”? In other words, good advice is only as good as the tools provided to put the advice into practice. That’s what the Feldenkrais Method is all about, providing you with tools.

The rest of those recommendations are questionable on several levels. Shoulders back? How far back? What else happens when you bring your shoulders back? Do you tense your neck or clench your jaw or overarch your lower back? And do those actions, or whatever you do unconsciously in concert with pulling your shoulders back, contribute to "better" posture or detract from it? There is no single answer that fits everyone.

Keep your stomach tucked in. Why? Does it help preserve the natural curves of your spine? That’s doubtful. On the contrary, tucking in your stomach makes it more difficult to maintain a healthy lumbar curve. So, why the advice? Is it simply to satisfy the desire to look better and does that imply that thinner is better? Does tucking one's stomach in make any functional sense when thinking of posture? Depending on where one begins her individual exploration in search of "better" posture, reducing the lower back curve a little, which would result in moving the stomach back (not tucking it in), might be beneficial. But for some of us, tucking the stomach might bring on increased strain and even contribute to back pain.

The point is that people are different and so is each individual's pathway to better posture. This is the crux of the approach we take through the Feldenkrais Method. Each of you can learn to better sense yourself to the point where you will become your own coach in search of your particular version of correct posture. Using Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement^® exercises, you can learn to not only sense what is great posture for you, but as your nervous system begins to experience more equilibrium with less effort, you won't have to think so much about keeping your shoulders back or your head up or anything else, because your system will seek, not those external consciously-driven ideals, but rather, the vertical organization that feels the most effortless and natural for you. And when you do think about those particular aspects of your physicality, you'll be able to ease your shoulders into a more comfortable place, allow your head to move back to find balance over your pelvis and, most importantly, you'll be able to sense just what your own version of "correct" posture feels like and find it quickly and simply.

If you’d like to begin this exploratory process of finding your own “correct” posture, you might try my upcoming workshop at the Feldenkrais Institute, The Easy Way to Better Posture. All the details can be found by clicking here.

Also, the Feldenkrais Institute offers fifteen weekly Awareness Through Movement classes on a drop-in basis and throughout the month of May all of us who teach there have been encouraged to put the focus of our class choices on improving posture. A roster of classes offered at the Feldenkrais Institute can be found on the right side of the page that opens when you click here. So, whether or not you can make my evening workshop next Thursday, come join us anytime during May (or any other time) and find out how you can make being upright simpler and more pleasurable while you help yourself to just plain feel better.

Dynamic Sitting (and everything else...)

"dy-nam-ics n. a branch of mechanics that deals with forces and their relation primarily to the motion but sometimes also to the equilibrium of bodies."

That's from an old Webster's dictionary and I found it illuminating, particularly the juxtaposition of "motion" and "equilibrium."

A couple of weeks ago I was seeing a client for the first time. I was sitting on a stool and we'd been talking for a few minutes when she said, "I notice you frequently move while you sit."

I'd known that was true, particularly when I sit on something without back support, but I hadn't realized I did it often enough to warrant notice. After that, I started paying closer attention and I realize when I'm sitting I move, not quite constantly, but a lot. Further reflection led me to understand that what I'm looking for in my moving exploration (because that's what I'm doing, exploring) is a finer sense of both comfort and equilibrium. Don't get me wrong, I'm not usually uncomfortable sitting (although there was a time when I was), I'm looking to improve what's already working and, through those little adjustments, head off discomfort before it begins. I can now sit comfortably, with or without back support, usually for hours at a time, if need be and the whole process of fine tuning my sitting position has become mostly unconscious.

But it didn't start out that way. It started from doing Awareness Through Movement^® lessons that helped me to become more self-aware and gave me a context within which I could more effectively build skill, both consciously and unconsciously. I find great benefit from doing this type of ATM and so will you. Regardless of age or experience, exploring your movement dynamics will pay you great dividends. If you haven't yet done it, give the Feldenkrais Method a try and see how much better you feel, not only while sitting but during all of your activities. If you're in New York City, you can visit me and my colleagues at The Feldenkrais Institute. You'll find lots more information if you click here. 

Improving Performance with the Feldenkrais Method (Skiing)

If you know “what” you are doing and even more important “how” you use yourself to act, you will be able to do things the way you want.
--Moshe Feldenkrais, The Elusive Obvious

In a previous post, entitled Feldenkrais^® Is Not Therapy, I introduced the idea that learning to use the Feldenkrais Method could open the door to the process of self-healing. Inextricably tied up with that idea is the concept of self-improvement and, today, I'd like to give a personal example of how I use the Feldenkrais Method to improve my physical performance, something that has nothing to do with healing.

A little over a week ago I returned from five days of skiing in Colorado. It was the first skiing I'd done in two years and I skied better than I ever have in my life. Since becoming a devoted and consistent practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method, this phenomenon of improving my skiing, even when I don't ski, no longer strikes me as miraculous, but rather, as something that I now expect.

I was first introduced to Feldenkrais work when I was just over forty years old. I'm now fifty-six and my skiing has improved more over the past ten years than it had for the thirty-five years previous, despite the fact that I'm what most would consider far past my physical "prime," I'm not in the best "shape" of my life, and I ski fewer days per season than I did during my twenties and thirties.

What accounts for my improvement? My ever increasing ability to sense myself and to translate that sensation into concrete and immediately available physical knowledge of how I do what I'm doing. When I was younger and taking ski lessons, I recall being frustrated when instructors would give me directions like, "Keep your shoulders facing downhill and let your legs do the turning." Sure, that made sense to me, but I had no idea how to do it. Partly because the instructors' language wasn't particularly clear. "…let your legs and pelvis do the turning," would have been much more accurate although, at the time, I doubt I would have found those words any more useful.

(Here's a link to a VERY short video of me skiing. 5 secs in, a couple skis into view; I'm the one behind in the yellow jacket.)

I began to sense what was involved in twisting myself, differentiating the movement of my pelvis from that of my shoulders. My improving sensory ability told me which of my ribs and vertebrae participate more or less easily in the twist, how each of my hip joints responds differently, how the musculature of my lower back and abdomen work better in concert with one another on my right side than on my left. I began to build a useful kinesthetic "toolbox" to improve my technique. I can now consciously (even as my nervous system does the same unconsciously) use my musculature and skeleton to find better harmony with the forces of gravity, the changing terrain and my ski equipment. Instead of thinking about my place in the sport as a fight to be won, it has become more of a synergistic give and take between me, the mountain and the snow. For example, I became better aware of how to allow my weight to settle just forward of the center or my foot over the downhill ski as I eased my knees into the hill (utilizing the aforementioned twist, along with some side-bending), thereby directing the downward gravitational pull on my body mass to find a near perfect balance with the upward force of the camber of the skis to make the ski do exactly what it was designed to do: carve a perfect turn.

This sense of dancing with gravity and terrain, not conquering, but using my skill to find harmony with a well-designed piece of equipment, creates a feeling of euphoria that I have found unmatched in any other physical activity in which I've ever engaged. And the big bonus? I keep getting better. Each time I go, my skill improves and it's more fun.

But that's just me—I love to ski. The real point is that the skills that are improved and refined through your work with the Feldenkrais Method will improve any and every physical activity in which you chose to participate. Or even those you might like to try but, heretofore, have not. Golf? Tennis? Volleyball? Squash? Handball? Swimming? Body Surfing? You'll find you have greater skill at anything and everything as you increase your facility to sense what you do, improve your ability to activate your musculature in very specific ways, find greater physical efficiency through a heightened awareness of how to sense and inhibit unnecessary actions and become more adept at detecting how force is most effectively transmitted through your skeleton.

Don't worry if that last sentence leaves you thinking, "How can I learn to do all that?" Nothing more is required than patience and a willingness to show up, be present, and allow yourself the luxury of engaging in the process that is inherent in the Feldenkrais Method.

As a society we have become over-reliant on our brains, to the detriment of our bodies. Some of us, consciously or unconsciously, look at our bodies as having no more use than a bag of bones that carries our brain from one place to another and processes fuel to keep that brain alive. Our body can provide us with so much more joy than that. It's never too late; you're never too old. Use your body and learn to use it better and better with the Feldenkrais Method. The rewards will be gigantic.

See you in class.

Feldenkrais® Is Not Therapy

Most people come to see a Feldenkrais Practitioner^® for the same reasons they might go to a doctor or a physical therapist or an acupuncturist or any number of other people who are expected to evaluate and administer or prescribe “treatment” for whatever problem or issue is causing trouble (i.e. back pain, neck pain, problems with a joint—whether caused by injury, surgery, mis-use or any other reason—difficulties with balance, help in recovering from a stroke or other neurological “damage,” etc.). Further, most of the people we see have already sought help through least a couple of other modalities. Perhaps they’ve been to a doctor who has prescribed physical therapy. Or they may have seen an acupuncturist or tried to have their problem massaged away. Some people have tried many other avenues looking for possible solutions to their problem before they come to see me at FeldenkraisWorks (www.feldenkraisworks.com).

And because so many of my clients come to me having been through the medical (both mainstream and alternative) mill, they are used to being told what to do to solve their problem. "Do these exercises three times a day." "Take one a day until the prescription is used up." "You need to strengthen your hamstrings and all will be well." "All you need to do is stretch your hamstrings—that'll do the trick." "Back surgery will solve the problem." "Knee surgery will solve the problem." "Hip surgery…." And on and on and on.

Our modern culture has led us to believe that where our bodies are concerned, doctors and therapists and practitioners all know (or are supposed to know) how to solve nearly any problem. And when folks come to see me, even though it's often because all of the things that those other professionals have prescribed have not worked, still they are looking for one more person to tell them what to do to solve their problem.

As a Feldenkrais Practitioner, I've seen a lot of people with a lot of different difficulties. Through experience, I've learned that for some people there are some things that I can tell them to do that will help alleviate their problem. And sometimes I do that.

And I always have second thoughts about doing it. Because what we who practice the Feldenkrais Method^® want to do is to help people to discover for themselves how best to solve their own problems. That sounds like a circuitous, even officious stance. After all, if I know what to do, why don't I just tell my clients and be done with it? In the simplest terms, it's like the old adage, "Give a man a fish and you feed him today, but teach him how to use a fishing pole and you feed him for life." I'd much rather my clients engage in the process of healing themselves, rather than leaving it to me to do it for them. And for that, they don't need to learn "what to do." Instead, they need to learn the Feldenkrais Method so they can begin the process of self-improvement that heals all—a process that, once begun, never needs to end.

To be continued in future posts….

A Very Special ATM Class -- Thursday, 8/4/11 @ The Feldenkrais Institute

A few months back I was taking an ATM taught by a Feldenkrais^® practitioner I'd never met before. During the lesson, we were walking at one point and she mentioned sensing the "strong connection" between the heel and C-7 (the seventh cervical vertebrae). That sounded familiar to me but at that moment, I couldn't sense much more than a vague connection between either of my heels and the base of my neck. A few years ago I took a couple of advanced trainings with a terrific Feldenkrais trainer who asked us to sense (we were walking again) how the force in walking could move "up and through" the skeleton. During the five or six days I spent in these workshops I learned a lot about myself but my ability to manifest and sense a movement upward and through my skeleton while I walked remained somewhat murky.

I pulled out a lesson last week that I'd not looked at for several years. It's called "Walking Backward" and to my surprise, both of those concepts are directly addressed by Dr. Feldenkrais in the lesson (there are two very similar versions that he recorded). Here are a couple of quotes:

There are two movements in the hip joint, two unusual movements. The foot goes to press the floor, but the body and the head do not go down. They go higher up...It is built in the hip joint such that there is a point that moves so the leg goes down, pushes down, and the rest of the body goes up, forward a bit and higher in relation to the hip joint.¹

This is because the hip joint shifts so as to make a special line that joins the back of the neck, the base of the skull, with the heel.²

Preparing the lesson was the first time I put it all together--Dr. Feldenkrais is saying that the hip joint is actually structured so that it can transmit force in two directions, down through the leg while, at the same time (when properly organized), moving the pelvis such that force is directed upward through the spine. That concept, as I continued doing the lesson, brought the sensation of my spine--from its base to my neck--chest and head moving "up and through" during walking like never before and, at the same time, the connection between my heel, hip joint and the base of the skull was made crystal clear. Walking became lighter, freer, simpler, in a way I'd not experienced before.

I'd like to share that experience with you on Thursday night. The open class at 5:30 will be a lovely, simple lesson that is designed to systematically release muscular holding throughout the body to better enable lengthening along the entire spine. At 6:30, we'll do Walking Backward. I invite you to come join me and experience these fundamental but oftentimes elusive sensory experiences that will change, in remarkable ways, how you experience and think about walking.

This Advanced ATM class (like all of them) is for people who are relatively pain-free and physically able. While it's not physically challenging, it's a standing lesson and pain will get in the way of the delicate sensory work needed to experience the lesson fully. If you've been wondering about the advanced class, but are not sure if you're "up to it," this is one to try.

Please join me this Thursday, August 4th at 6:30pm at The Feldenkrais Institute of New York, 134 West 26th Street, 2nd Floor, New York NY 10001; for more information, call 212-727-1014 or register for class online here.

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¹Alexander Yanai lessons, Volume 9, Part B, pg. 3013

²Alexander Yanai lessons, Volume 8, Part A, pg. 2434

Advanced ATM Class: After you "get better" why not keep getting better?

On Thursday, June 16th, I'm going to begin teaching an ongoing advanced ATM class at The Feldenkrais Institute of New York. Here's why:

Most of the people I see in my Feldenkrais^® practice come to me with some sort of difficulty—they're recovering from an injury, they're in pain, they're trying to find an alternative to surgery, they want to restore some functional ability they've lost, they want to improve their balance—there are any number of reasons. And, after a time, most of those folks feel that they've come to terms with that initial difficulty. Often the injured part once again regains its rightful place in their self-image, the lost function returns and/or the pain goes away. Sometimes, the difficulty is only diminished but not erased but my client comes to terms with that. They feel better at having found improvement and a way to manage their lives in a way that's more comfortable and fulfilling.

And, then, having gotten what they came for… many (maybe most) people stop. I don't see them again.

Or sometimes I don't see them again until some new difficulty crops up. Or they do something that aggravates the old injury and they come back to "get fixed" again. I'm quite happy to provide people with that for which they've come to see me: usually, relief and a greater facility to live their lives in a manner more like they want.

But what this means is that, when we who practice at The Feldenkrais Institute take all of our clients together, we are seeing—both individually and in class—relatively few people who feel they are physically "well." There are exceptions to this, of course. From time to time, I get a Feldenkrais practitioner on my table—they are usually feeling good. They come to me looking to improve. We seem to see more than our fair share of dancers, when you balance dance against all the other professions in which our clients engage. And while I think it's fair to say that most dancers are usually injured in some way, even if it's minor ;-), most often they come to us functioning at a level that still allows them to dance. They, too, come simply looking to improve. Once in a great while, I'll see an athlete who performs at a high level who is trying to find a way to eke out even more efficiency from him or herself. They are looking to improve.

This all brings to mind for me something that's easy to forget when we're working with people every day who are trying to solve problems: Feldenkrais is not therapy. (I'll delve into that idea more deeply in another post.)

When teaching Awareness Through Movement^® at The Institute (and the same holds true for most other places I've taught), there is always a mix of people in class. Some people feel pretty good; some might be in a great deal of pain; some people cannot use one or another part of their body at all. This means that, in an effort to make everyone in class as "comfortable" as possible, we're often teaching classes that are fairly simple. In an attempt to give everyone the best experience possible, we usually try to take away the temptation to "do" something that's difficult or might cause certain people discomfort were they to "push" themselves to accomplish a more complex or physically challenging lesson. This idea of keeping classes on the simple side works for everyone because in even the simplest class there is always new information to be mined about your organization, even if you've done that class or ones like it, many times before.

But what that means is there is a whole side of Feldenkrais that is rarely explored, and when it is, it is most often within a gathering of other Feldenkrais practitioners or students in a Feldenkrais teacher training program. Dr. Feldenkrais was an athlete. He was awarded the first Black Belt in Judo in Europe (I believe sometime during the 1930s). Before suffering the knee injury that began his inquiry that led to the development of the Feldenkrais Method^®, he was an accomplished soccer player.

We have transcripts of about 1,000 lessons that Dr. Feldenkrais taught in Israel. Some of them are quite difficult and are rarely taught in public classes. Some of them involve highly complex movements. Some of them ask for muscular strength in areas some of our students simply do not have. Others involve very little movement but require a somewhat advanced level of awareness to get the maximum intended benefit.

I'm looking to provide clients of The Institute with a challenge, with a way to continue their relationship with the Feldenkrais Method after they "get better." Feldenkrais can be a life-long learning tool that will keep you supple, flexible, physically efficient, and better able to sense yourself and use yourself more sensibly. In short, continuing your relationship with Feldenkrais after you "get better" will keep you feeling young(er).

So, once you "get well" come join us on Thursday evenings at 6:30 and see where else Feldenkrais can take you. There will be an open class taught every Thursday at 5:30 that will provide a simpler lesson based on the same theme as the lesson to be taught in the advanced class. You are welcome (even encouraged) to take both, as the 5:30 class will be a great "prep" for the advanced class. You'll be happier in the advanced class if you hold off on attending until you are feeling well and are free of pain (or at least, nearly so). If you have any questions about that, just ask me.

See you on Thursday evenings at The Feldenkrais Institute of New York.