About My Blog
Feldenkrais® is not for you, maybe.
One of the trainers in the Feldenkrais community proposed this once. Odd? Not really. It's true. I would also say, this blog is not for you, maybe. I had originally titled it, “Betting the farm you can reduce delusion.” Most people really like their delusions. It takes a strong realization of what those delusions lead to to want to reduce them.
Because Feldenkrais is about noticing, discovering, and then refining your awareness of what you discover, it forces honesty. It is akin to a spiritual path where one gives up control yet increases power. There is that quote by W. E. B. Du Bois: The most important thing to remember is this: To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become.
Releasing old ideas and old ways of moving are like releasing an old self and stepping into the void, which appears empty, but is, in fact, full.
Someone said the other day, what is love? And I immediately said, “vulnerability.” Not the weak kind, the powerful kind. Even self-love requires vulnerability: to embrace the places in yourself you wish would go away, to yield with compassion rather than struggle with force. Vulnerability is not submitting to or even accepting. It's being willing to release the old sense of self so that you wibble-wobble for a while and then find solid ground again.
And Feldenkrais is nothing if not falling in love with life.
Feldenkrais is about taking time to notice what you're doing, savoring, listening, and reflecting. Not unlike cooking a good meal. Neither activity has to be slow and precious as speed is not the issue. Dr. Feldenkrais (herein referred to as Moshe) always proposed going fast without hurrying. Moving at various speeds does not imply feeling rushed. It means moving through space and changing one's velocity, not one's anxiety levels.
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So this blog is not about marketing or moving your arm. This is about living life. It's a narrative of what that means and how it can happen without cross-patterns or cross-motivations or whatever else we do that creates strain, tension and suffering.
Interestingly, this is not something I feel I should do. It's what I want do to. I'm practicing what I preach in terms of motivation and direction. It's everything I always wanted to say about Feldenkrais but didn't because I was "marketing."
It's about Feldenkrais, Buddhism, science, anthropology, neurology, physics, mindfulness, Schrodinger, Lorenz, Helen Keller, Sapolsky, and Siegel.
It's about breathing (why?), walking (where?), and reaching (what?). It's about creativity, focus, values, and action. (Moshe Feldenkrais never advocated lying in a pit of self-indulgence and easy relaxation. He taught being vital and potent.)
It will be suggestive (of good books), thought-provoking (about life's direction), and questioning (of course). My blog will be parsimonious, pedantic, playful, and panoptic.