BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE
I can remember when those words were a recruitment slogan for the U.S. Army. So why am I choosing them as the title of the blog post? Moshe Feldenkrais defined health in part as “the ability to realize our avowed and unavowed dreams,” another way of saying, “be all that you can be.”
What started me on my career path in part was a fascination with “peak performers” – people like Michael Jordan and Michael Baryshnikov who were then at their peak. At least to the casual observer, these folks were at the top in professions some of us dream about, few are successful in. They got to where they did because they had learned to move in ways that are simultaneously elegant, skillful and free of unnecessary effort.
These are the same qualities that folks acquire through work in the Feldenkrais® Method –qualities that can be applied not only to high level full body movement, but also to everyday activities large and small as well as those special hobbies and passions even if they are done sitting in a chair. These are the qualities that can turn the painful into the pleasurable.
Commonly people seek help with their physical pain only when it gets to a point that it is difficult to do what they really need to do and then want/need a quick fix. There is a lot of talk these days in the health care world about “preventative care”. Although I consider what I do primarily educational, despite the frequently therapeutic results, I consider it in part “preventative” in terms of major bouts of pain or accidents created by poor movement choices. The work can also just make many of the things you do a little easier.
I invite you to use those minor aches and pains- or technical frustrations when you play be it music or sports, as catalysts to explore the Feldenkrais® Method.