“It takes a whole weekend to learn how to sit?”

Yes! It take a lifetime in fact!

It has been awhile since I’ve blogged, but when a client who is a massage therapist recommended a workshop I am teaching – Finding Your Seat, and she said the fellow replied with the above question, I had to laugh! It does sound funny, doesn’t it!

If you have never experienced the Feldenkrais Method® before, it can be difficult to appreciate what one would be doing during a two day workshop on the topic of sitting more comfortably. Most people think of sitting as something they do everyday and have done for many years…so what could be the big deal?

Well if you have ever experienced pain, stiffness and fatigue from sitting for long periods, or if the thought of sitting unsupported sounds terrible to you, then you do have an idea as why it is a big deal. In fact, CBC had an article about a research project that showed that the more time people sat sitting, the shorter their life span! Check it out: Time Spent Sitting Increases Risk of Premature Death!

So what it is that happens in a Feldenkrais workshop that can make a “sitting” workshop take so much time? Well, first let’s review what Feldenkrais is NOT…

The Feldenkrais Method does not offer a quick fix presciptive exercise for a physical problem. It is not about strengthening or stretching or any other sort of exercise program for that matter. Nor is about ergonomics or kinesiology as most people think of these things. You are not going to be giving the “this is the correct way to sit” lecture, nor are you going to get any diagrams showing someone in perfect sitting posutre…and so on and so forth….

What you are going to get is an understanding of YOURSELF first. You are going to get a feeling — a deeply felt, concrete experience of youself and your self limiting habits. You will also be offered a means and a context and an environment and conditions in which you will learn how to move and be with more comfort, more ease, more power and grace, and more adaptibility. And, in a workshop about sitting, you will do all this within the framework of the function of sitting.

To learn to know yourself better, your self-limiting habits, and your capacity to learn new ways of doing what you do takes time, awareness, repetition and did I say it already – time. So in this particular workshop I’ll be teaching this weekend, participants will be engaging in 6 lessons over the two days, that will run anywhere between 45 – 60 minutes. In between these lessons I will give demonstrations and we will have discussions to flesh out the process and clarify misconceptions about sitting.

Again, the Feldnekrais Method is about learning – deep, organic learning. And learning takes time.

Confusion in Learning

How do you experience confusion? Is it something that you avoid, or find uncomfortable? Do you enjoy confusion? What do you do when you experience confusion?

This topic is one I’ve been very interested in for some time. Here is an excerpt from the article: Developing the Whole Child ,written by a colleague in the Feldenkrais® community. She quotes Sheryl Field, a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Trainer and co-founder of the non-profit Field Center for Children in New Jersey:

“Such evolution is not surprising to Sheryl, who elaborates: “Every time children grow, they have to deal with their complexities all over again – and you want this to happen. The difficulties necessarily come into the foreground, not because the child has difficulties, but because this is the way we all learn. Even children who develop in a typical pattern, including toddlers, learn many skills through a ‘two steps forward and one step backward’ process. However, it seems horrific for the family of a child who struggles, because they don’t want the child to be confused again. Sitting, rolling, standing, walking, are what a parent looks for because uncertainty is uncomfortable. We would like to think that learning shouldn’t have any troubles!” says Sheryl, smiling.” [bolded section is my emphasis]

Perhaps the article could have been called: Developing the Whole Person… It seems that the two initial activities in learning are “opening” and “being confused” or “not knowing”. When we develop greater capacity to open to what is, and then to tolerate/accept confusion as it arises, and even rest in the confusion or not-knowing, we allow for the unfolding of insight. The ability to know what to do when we don’t know what to do, and when and how to do it is an invaluable asset in life. Great creativity, innovation, discovery, problem solving, adaptability, learning grow out of this process of entering into, staying with and allowing our emergence from confusion to unfold in a natural way.

If you would like to read the complete article, click: Developing The Whole Child.

Developing Core Stability

In my last post, I suggested that the understanding many have as to how to go about developing core stability is somewhat misguided, as often it is thought that will power and conventional notions of strengthening are the means to developing core stability. I also suggested that developing core stability was not so much about “strength” and using our force of will to activate specific muscle groups.

So if it isn’t as simple as strengthening particular muscle groups, then how do we go about this task of developing core stability? In a nutshell, it is about refining our motor patterns. Put another way, it is about neuro-muscular co-ordination. Put another way, it is about re-learning/re-patterning our ways of moving/acting…

In the Feldenkrais Method® there are many lessons that lend themselves to “firing up” ones core. In the Feldenkrais Method the quality of movement is of utmost importance. When engaging in the movement lessons (Awareness Through Movement®)of the Feldenkrais Method we look for qualities of effortlessness in all our movements. By doing so we inevitably begin to re-organize our ways of moving. You cannot do the thing you are doing with less effort without improving the quality of your organization — it doesn’t matter what it is you are doing. So this principle can be applied to any and all activities: lifting groceries out of your car, doing a Pilates workout, walking up stairs, rolling over in bed, bench pressing 100lbs in the gym….Do whatever you are doing with less effort! Most especially, those activities that are challenging. Look for an aesthetically pleasing quality in all your movements/actions. However, it is of utmost importance that you attend deeply to what you are doing, how you are doing it, and what sensations arise as you do so that you can make finer and finer distinctions between differing sensations within yourself. Mindlessly doing something and haphazardly looking for an easy way is not what I am suggesting. And if you do not know how to go about attending well to yourself in your moving/acting/being, then you may indeed want to find yourself a Feldenkrais practitioner and do a few Feldenkrais lessons.

When I say that some Feldenkrais lessons tend to lend themselves particularly well to “firing up” our core, what I have noticed is that during such lessons (which are often extremely challenging for those of us who tend to lack this core stability) it is next to impossible to do the movements suggested in the lesson without discovering the very enlivened background tone/vitality that is our core stability. When this is discovered, the movements are not so challenging, and we seem to find a source of power within us that seems to have nothing to do with muscle strength. It is truly a wonderful feeling. And for some who have for a long time found this way of being and moving elusive, I’ve seen them come to tears when they re-discover this possibility within themselves.

Do whatever you do with less effort, especially the challenging activities, and look for aesthetically pleasing sensations within yourself. These simple ideas will go a long way to re-organizing and refining your movements. But don’t believe me! Try it out for yourself for a couple weeks, and see how it feels.

The BRAIN as the Core of Stability?

So in my previous post I suggested that it is the brain that is the core of core stability and gave a few hints about core stability – what it is, and what it is not.

I often feel that this can be a difficult message to convey, as it seems to go against so much conventional wisdom. So, firstly, let me say that these ideas do not so much go against conventional wisdom, but in how this ‘conventional wisdom’ is interpreted and in how it is acted upon.

The science behind the notion that the brain is the core of core stability is really very interesting. For me, the most fascinating revelations were to do with the following: the difference between tonic (core stabilizers), and phasic (prime movers) muscle fibers.

Tonic fibers, unlike phasic fibers, do not have neuroreceptors that inform you of how much they are contracting. In other words, when they are engaged, you don’t feel the “tight/toned” feeling the way you feel when your prime movers are engaged. So you cannot go by the sensation of the core muscle contracting in and of itself. You have to be tuned to the all the sensations that arise as a result of the these muscles being engaged. In other words, you can only sense the engagement of these muscle fibers indirectly.

Sensations to listen for include: increased ease of breathing, increased sense of lightness, an increased sense of effortlessness when moving or generating power (which often feels like an increased sense of gracefulness even when doing something demanding), increased sense of readiness to move, and for some an increased sense of space or length within oneself…

The other fascinating thing about tonic fibers has to do with what part of the brain tells them to contract. More recent studies seem to show that this part of our muscular system is not innervated (activated) from the voluntary motor cortex of your brain. The voluntary motor cortex is that part of your brain that sends the signals to muscles to work when you “voluntarily” decide to do so. There are many other muscular contractions that happen without any voluntary direction necessary, such as: heart muscle contracting to pump you blood, smooth muscle of your stomach and digestive system to move along and digest food, even the movement of your respiratory diaphragm (breathing muscle) is not fully under “voluntary” control, although you can choose to interfere with your breathing to varying degrees. Tonic muscles also seem to be activated outside of the voluntary mechanism that engages your prime mover muscles.

What does this mean? Well, that although attempting to find and control your core stabilizers with voluntary control can be a useful way to make initial approximations towards the proper co-ordination of these muscular contractions, to assume that this is the primary, or only, or necessary way is an example of incomplete if not incorrect understanding.

So how then does one go about engaging and developing more refined co-ordination of their core stabilizers?

We will investigate this question in further detail in future posts.

As a reminder to all my blog readers, questions and comments are welcome.

Core Stability, Do You Have It?

“Core Stability” seems to be the en vogue phrase these last few years. Pilates (a particular form of strenghtening exercise) studios have sprung up all over the world, and it is one of the hottest new exercise programs going. It’s main theme: core stability.

What would you say if I suggested to you that core stability doesn’t come primarily from the strength of your core muscles/abdominals? Would would you think if I suggested is doesn’t come primarliy from muscles? You may be thinking I’m just plain nuts and stop reading. You may be one who is becoming curious because you have experienced for yourself that no matter how hard you work, you just cannot seem to find that elusive core stability everyone is talking about…

If you are one of the latter, or perhaps someone who hasn’t worked so hard at it, but have a feeling that you might benefit from developing some core stability, then it might interest you to know, that your brain is the core of “core stability”! That’s right — your brain!

Strength is easy to come by once you have your co-ordination down. That is to say, once your brain fires your muscles with apporpiate timing and co-ordination, you will develop your core strength with relative ease. If you are not co-ordinating your muscular contractions with this timing and organization, exercise until the cows come home, and you’ll find “core stability” constantly evading you.

Here are some hints about core stabilization muscles:

They do not tend to create compression or shortening or your spine – so if you find yourself engaging your abdominals in such a way that you feel even the most subtle of shortening or compression in yourself, that’s not it…

When they are contracted, you cannot feel them the way you feel the “moving” (vs. stabilizing) muscles — so if you’re contracting your abdominals, and you do it and feel it very similarly to how you contract, say, your quads (front of your thigh muscles) or any other prime mover, that’s not it… Why is this? Because the muscle fibers of stabilizing muscles do not have the same neuroreceptors as “moving” muscles do. That is, your brain does not receive the same types of signals from stabilizers as from movers.

Your stabilizers are deep – so if you’re contracting superficial muscles, that is, muscles close to the surface of your skin, that’s not it… For example, your rectus abdominus is the most superficial abdonminal muscle (this is the one that gives you a “six pack” when it is well developed), and so it is not a core stabilizer. If this is what you are using to develop core stability and strength, that’s not it…

I’ll be writing a series of blogs on this topic over the next several weeks in anticipation of a workshop I’ll be giving at the end of Januray: Awakening Your Core. So stay tuned for more information…

The Pleasure of Challenge

In Feldenkrais classes you may often hear phrases like “move gently; be respectful of yourself; rest when you need; do less; you are perfect as you are…” You are given permission and reminders to ease up on any habits of using will-power, of striving, of ambition. For most, it is a very nice, pleasant, comforting way to be, and rather novel. All too often, however, students begin to think that the Feldenkrais Method is about relaxation. Well, it may interest you to know that this is NOT what the Feldenkrais Method is about.

Certainly, some Feldenkrais lessons can give us a greater sense of calm and ease, and this is only a tiny bit of what is happening in this work. Initially, it is very important to allow ourselves the opportunity to discover what it means to create a safe and helpful learning environment for ourselves. And once this becomes familiar, then we can begin to deeply engage ourselves in the challenges that come with learning.

One of the greatest challenges is discovering how to come to a state of being that is conducive to the process of learning–that is allowing the innate intelligence of our nervous system to come to a higher order of organization and/or discover alternative ways of organization. In other words, how do we develop the deep presence and awareness that simultaneously allows us to get out of our own way! This takes discipline and practice to develop to the point where we can access this state at any time, in any situation we choose. In other words, this requires a bit of work.

This work is the work of developing our capacity for learning. And, our brains thrive on learning. Learning is exhilarating! And here we can discover the pleasure of challenge! In the Feldenkrais Method, what we are inviting of ourselves is to deeply investigate our habitual ways of being, and challenge ourselves to find new ways of being. This is no small task! What we are asking of ourselves is to see ourselves as we truly are, and to open to the possibility of being something/someone other than who we thought we were.

How does this sit with you? Are you exhilarated at the prospect of opening to the possibility of deep change, or frightened? Do you attempt to hold on to what you’ve known, or do you open to what you can discover?

In so many ways throughout my day, I experience the grasping to hold on to what I think I know, and who I think I am. And, I also know the wonderful feeling of opening to possibilities, and letting go of what I think I know, and this enables me to more often and more easily interrupt my habits of holding on to ways of being that simply are not bringing me that which I intend. Often, the exhilaration is accompanied by feelings of fear, and little by little I am becoming… Little by little, I am learning the pleasure of challenge.

Courage to Construct a New Personal Identity

Here is a quote from an article I found while doing research on the internet:

From: Non Linear Behaviour In Learning Processes by Manfredi and Manfredi

“…learning is no longer seen as solely a cognitive process, but as a social practice in which the focus shifts “from the individual as learner to learning as participation in the social world”: Learning then involves not simply the “acquisition of propositional knowledge”, but more significantly, the construction of a new personal identity.”

My favourite part is: Learning then involves not simply the acquisition of propositional knowledge, but more significantly, the construction of a new personal identity.

After all the years of practicing the Feldenkrais Method®, and giving and receiving as many lessons as I have, I know that personality is indeed a construct, and it is flexible. That is to say, our personality is changable, malleable, fluid. We recreate ourself* every moment. It is this remarkable capacity that we humans in particular seem to have amazing potential in.

Some choose, consciously or unconsciously, to recreate as much as possible the same image of themself* again and again, holding onto habits, even those that do not necessarily serve them or offer them greater freedom to be what they are capable of being. What distinguishes remarkable individuals from less remarkable individuals is the choice to create themself* afresh- to go beyond what they were to more of what they could be. This requires the willingness to unlearn those habits that are self-limiting, and learn not only one, but multiple alternative ways of being in the world. This is what enhances your sense of freedom and adaptability to meet the ever-changing environment you find yourself in.

Imagine the courage it would take you to construct a new personal identity. Of course, often the changes happen gradually, and can be in subtle steps. But still, you would be challenging all your present relationships. How able is your life partner (if you have one) able to accommodate you changing your identity? How able are you to accommodate his or her changing identity? What about your colleagues at work or your boss/supervisor? How about your friends and peers? Do you have the courage to create enough space for yourself and those around you to “show up”, not as you or they have always been, as you and they can grow to become?

When we surround ourselfs* with understanding, mature people who are also likely to involve themselfs* consciously in their own development, it can be a wonderful way to develop profoundly mature, compassionate, innovative, freeing, creative, vital, alive learning communities.

What we could do with a little courage and love…

You ARE the breathing!

“I don’t know what to do!” Occasionally, I hear this phrase from my students. Even long time students. There is a sense of frustration in their voice and a great desire to “figure it out”. Figure what out? Well, to “figure out” how to be comfortable, why the Feldenkrais Method® works and the like.

We all go through this in different ways, at different times in our life. If only _________, then I would be happy or satisfied or understand or complete. If I could just figure out how to surrender and be centred, I will never have to experience this pain again, whether it be mental, emotional or physical pain doesn’t really matter.

So, I sat before my client, hearing her, and feeling her frustration, and desire. I knew somehow that the problem did not lay in knowing what to do, but rather in the whole notion that there is something to be done in the first place. The challenge for me was to find a way to convey this message as a felt experience rather than spew some plattitude. At the same time, I realized that in that moment, I didn’t have the words to articulate the knowing I felt. So, we explored together what it would be like for her to simply stay with what was actually present rather than “do a lesson”.

This morning it seemed my reflection of the experiences with clients this week as well as a zen teaching I came across earlier in the day have allowed me to more clearly articulate the difficulty so many of us have. Our tendency, as human beings, is to DO. We do the dishes; we do the laundry; we do the yard work; we do the house work… If we really looked deeper, we would see our tendency to do walking; and do conversation; and do child care. Even our language can be quite revealing. Have you ever heard someone speak of doing another person, as in, having sex with them. I for one have been offended by such language, and yet in reality, it isn’t so uncommon, even if we don’t use such phrases. We can even do oureslef! What I mean to say is that instead of being ourself, we portray ourself.

What would it be like if instead of doing reading this blog post, you be reading. The shift may seem so subtle, and yet it is so profound. As soon as we do a thing, rather than be, we create a separation between ourself and the world. We enter into the realm of subject and object. I, this subject am doing this thing, reading/walking/dishes/movement lesson. The experience is entirely different when we allow what is actually present to unfold. Then there is no longer a separation between self and action (Moshe Feldenkrais said that for a mature person, there is no gap between intention and action), self and other. Could it be that it is in this state we are aware.

As you read this blog, perhaps you can be sitting…You are not a subject breathing, you are the breathing…

So with my client, I guided her in experiencing whatever was present sensorially at that moment. She noted a particular discomfort, and that her shoulders felt hunched, and that she seemed twisted to the right. After just noticing this for awhile, I invited her to exaggerate it. She did this several times staying present to the sensations that arose as she exaggerated hunching and twisting to the right, and as she stopped the exaggeration. Sometimes she noted her discomfort intensify. Sometimes it stayed the same, and sometimes it changed location. We continued like this, being sure that each time, what was exaggerated was what was actually present in that moment, as the hunching and the twisted sensations were no longer what stood out. I then guided her to spread the pattern that emerged from exaggerating the particular sensations she felt, throughout her whole self, following the path of least resistance, and then going back to resting. Lastly, I guided her to exaggerate the direction of the returning from the exaggerated state, going beyond her so called resting or starting position. Always, being sure not to make up anything. By this I mean staying true only to what was present to her in the moment of the acting. By the end of the lesson, she felt her discomfort was significantly reduced, and she noted she felt more upright and centred.

I’d like to say we did not do a lesson, but we rather were the lesson.

As you get up and leave your computer, perhaps consider an experiment: Do not do the walking away from your computer, rather be the walking…

Is there a right or wrong way to move?

The short answer is no. Less simplistically, and more importantly is to answer with the question: Does it serve your intention?

Life can be lived on automatic pilot, where we can lose track of our deepest desires, dreams and intentions. When we lose sight of our intentions, when we become unable to hear the quiet inner promptings, our life becomes flat, dull, and repetitive. To live an intentional life is to live with awareness of ourself and our surroundings, to respond to each moment with what is most needed just then. In order to live in this way, we need to be able to ask ourself: Is this serving my intention? When you find yourself in an argument with a loved one, is engaging in the argument as you are (the tone and volume of your voice, your body language, your choice of words…) in service of your intentions? When you are working at your computer and find your back aching, is your way of organizing yourself (holding your breath, protruding your chin, sinking your chest, holding your belly, clenching your jaw, furrowing your brow..) serving you?

As we become aware of “ourself”* throughout the day, we begin to see where we get pulled into habitually ways of acting that are so ingrained, so automatic that we have no choice for an alternative. Here the habit has become compulsive. Compulsive actions are like addictions – we can’t help ourself. But this isn’t the end of the storey. Human beings have profound capacities for adaptation, and learning. There is a way out of these patterns that limit us from being our truest, most natural, free self.

In Feldenkrais® work we use movement as a tool for learning how to unlearn what does not serve us, and for learning how to learn new ways of being. Most of our responses to life are learned behaviours, and as learned behaviours (vs. relexive), they can be unlearned. One of the most significant areas of ourself that needs to be developed to take advantage of this wonderful adaptability is to develop our attentional capacities and open to our capacity for limitless awareness.

In Feldenkrais lessons, the outward movements of our limbs, trunk, eyes…are significant, and in and of themselves, are not the method. I often to say to my students that the movement of their attention is at least as important as the outward movements. Certainly, as we reorganize our outward movements to be more in harmony with our nature, we become more comfortable and are able to be more responsive to life rather than reactive. And, when we discover the value and learn how to use our attention and expanded awareness, we find ourself* more and more able to adapt our outward movements with greater and greater efficiency and ease. We no longer need to do hours of lessons to learn how better to serve our intentions, and all of life becomes a lesson, and we begin to find ourself thinking and feeling and moving better. Better in that our actions are serving our intentions more and more spontaneously.

The movements in Feldenkrais lessons are concrete AND metaphor for life. Tapping into this when doing lessons makes the experience deeply interesting and meaningful, and nurtures the process of consolidating whatever learning we have from the lessons.

*The use of the word ourself is intentional. Language falls short in so many ways, and here is one example. How many selfs are you? Consider that you are one, whole and complete self. So, when speaking about you and me, perhaps the word ourselfs would be even better…

How can I pay attention to these things while playing hockey (or any regular fast paced activity)?

When you’re playing for an NHL rookie training camp, and you’re new to this work of the Feldenkrais Method®, it can seem rather difficult to know how to make the transfer from what you learn on the table or floor during lessons to real life, high intensity activities. And, it’s like learning anything else in life. Learning something new requires slowing down. Think of a concert pianist learning a new piece of music. She must slow down initially to develop the new neural pathways that will eventually become spontaneous actions. Learning, training, and practice are not the same as performing.

Just as strength training is done separate from game play, so developing new neural connections is separate from game play. That doesn’t mean you don’t get stronger or develop new brain connection when you play, but you take time out to develop these areas specifically. Strength training develops muscles and their responses to game play. Feldenkrais® work develops your brain and your brains responses to game play. Bench press is not specific to hockey, and yet doing this exercise and many others have a positive effect on your game play (hopefully). Doing Feldenkrais® lessons are not obviously specific to hockey, and they too can have a profound effect on game play.

The time to engage yourself in learning is not necessarily when you are performing. Do the lessons often when you are not on the ice, and if you can’t find the time to do the lessons, then revisit the effects of the lessons/the new ways of walking or bending or turning or reaching that arose from doing the lessons very, very often in your everyday life, off the ice–when you are walking to your car, the theater, gym, bar…when you are bending to pick up the bar of soap in the shower, to sit on the side of your bed, or getting in your car…when you are at the gym doing squats, or running to catch a plane…

What you want to do is free the nervous system to develop new, helpful patterns when the pressure is low/off, and you need to repeat, feel, revisit again and again the new ways of organizing yourself for movement and the new ways of using your attention. Then, when you are performing/playing just play – play with your whole self. Whatever you have integrated (made spontaneous) from all the previous lessons and deep attention will show up on the ice (or whatever stage you perform on). Whatever you haven’t integrated, you don’t want to impose on yourself at the time of play. (I don’t see hockey players doing any squats or bench press on the bench between shifts — that’s not the time…)

If this topic interests you, go to and look up the interviews with Norman Doidge, the author of the book The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science.

It takes no time to become aware. It only takes the choice to be so.