The Right Combination

Recently I had the opportunity to revisit an interview of Moshe Feldenkrais on the subject of actor training and the benefits for actors in the Feldenkrais Method. And it got me to thinking -- how people of wide varieties of interests can benefit from these insights directed at actors. With the supremacy of specialization, we are highly likely to become trapped in the echo chamber of ideas that are virtually identical to our own. When I find something useful from another field, it brings a breath of fresh air to my own. (A link to the interview appears at the end of this post.)

And so -- one aspect that Dr. Feldenkrais and the interviewers discussed was the idea of relaxation. You may be familiar with the notion from athletics, acting, or music that the performer must "stay loose" or relaxed. We all know that we probably need to stress less, and well-meaning advice comes from all quarters to "relax." Yet, we know less and less how to do that!

We also view relaxation and stress as a binary, all-or-nothing function. We picture the caffeine-crazed, hair-standing-on-end, wide-eyed, wound-up, in-pain version of ourselves. The only alternative we can imagine is the semi-conscious puddle of goo, the wet noodle, the about-to-fall-asleep self. Feldenkrais draws some useful distinctions.

As Feldenkrais observes in the interview, the state of total relaxation is not very useful -- unless you are trying to fall asleep! If you were "totally relaxed," you wouldn't have enough get-up-and-go to accomplish anything. The Feldenkrais Method helps people to discover something he called "eutony:" the capacity to sense, with comfortable precision, the appropriate amount of muscular effort needed to accomplish a desired action. The undesirable choice between "Burn Out" or "Rust Out" is expanded into a much more practical and diverse spectrum of virtually limitless options.

Eutony, then, is something you recognize when you experience it. It actually feels -- GOOD. You might need some practice to find new choices for yourself, other than StressGirl or NoodleBoy. That's what our classes and lessons in the Feldenkrais Method are for. You'll find your own right combination of action, attention, and ease that makes all aspects of your life more enjoyable and sustainable.

Read the article, "Image, Movement and Actor: Restoration of Potentiality," a discussion of the Feldenkrais Method and Acting, Self-Expression and the Theater here.

The 100-Degree Rule

Image via Wikipedia

(Translation for our international readers: The 38-Degree Rule. Celsius. Right.)

We can't help ourselves, talking about the weather. The 100-degree Rule is: if it's 100 degrees outside (or more), stay inside!

Houston has endured weeks of record-breaking temperatures. And it's a damp heat, mostly. Day after day with the thermometer reading in triple digits begins to wear. People feel cranky. We have the summer version of "cabin fever."

Amid lots of great entertainment options last week, leading up to the Independence Day holiday, we passed on all of them. Ordinarily, an evening out at Discovery Green would be delightful. Dining al fresco at our favorite spot in Midtown is usually a treat. However, we invoked the "100-degree rule" and watched the celebratory fireworks on television, in air-conditioned comfort. It's a matter of self-preservation. At its root, this is an issue of respect. You have to respect the heat. And, you have to respect yourself.

Luckily, most people do take care of themselves under these extreme conditions. The heat assaults you as you open the front door, nagging and nagging you to pay attention. Stay cool, dress lightly, protect from the sun's rays, keep well hydrated. However, most people won't take care of themselves on a daily basis, or in the absence of emergency conditions. We don't view self-care in terms of sustainability.

If only we had more personal "100-degree rules," individual barometers to gauge when "enough is enough." More respect for self might lead to more respect for the messages of pain, of satiety, of anxiety. The heat is like a 2x4 upside the head. You have to be listening and all senses "tuned up" to appreciate more subtle and habitual sensations. The 100-degree rule is simply an invitation to pay attention.

The Feldenkrais Method is remarkable for its respect of individuals and the circumstances in which they find themselves. The work leads inevitably to deeper explorations of self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and independence. You could even say that people find freedom here. However, these are not empty platitudes or tenets of an ideology. They are the building blocks for intelligent, cooperative action, within oneself and within society. The Method values your senses and sensations as first-line sources of information about your body, your safety, and your environment. Any action is only as effective as the sensitivity to initial conditions.

Pop-up thundershowers throughout the coming week will bring some relief. A visit to a Feldenkrais class (all air-conditioned!) brings a similar refreshment. Have your own personal independence day. New ideas, actions, and possibilities abound. Let freedom ring!

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Rome Built in a Day?

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

I grew up on that proverb. My mother would say it any time progress toward a desired goal met an obstacle. I learned to have patience and a philosophical attitude toward life, and to value processes as much as achievements.

And now, someone HAS built Rome in a day. Read the story here.

How did she do it?

• She got a friend to help her. Projects are much less daunting when you're not alone.
  
• She scaled down "the ideal." It looks like her Rome fits on a table top, and she used paper and wood.
• She approached it as play, with curiosity. She didn't know how it would turn out.
• She lowered her standards. She created something that pleased herself. She's apparently not too worried about what anyone else thinks of it.
  

This story appeals to me because it resonates with the Feldenkrais Method. Although the work has many benefits for people who desire pain and stress reduction, and improvements in posture, coordination, and well-being, I also value this work as a method of learning and problem-solving. The Feldenkrais Method is useful for anyone who is dealing with overwhelm, or even with just "whelm." We have so much on our individual plates -- work, family, relationships, deadlines, projects, goals, physical issues -- that easy proverbs and platitudes lose their ability to encourage us. The Feldenkrais Method teaches a comprehensive approach for thought combined with intelligent action.

• The teacher or practitioner is not in the role of "therapist," but rather more like a tour guide. I'm there to help, to witness, and to acknowledge. I've got a map, and I know the landmarks of your experience. There's much you can do for yourself with this type of assistance.
• By "scaling down the ideal," the task, whatever it is, becomes more manageable. Remove your pre-conditions and pre-judgments, and see what happens. Many small steps lead surely to your goal. Celebrate each one. For example: you don't have to redesign your entire filing system TODAY. Spend 5 minutes trashing the junk mail. Want to keep something? Find, or make a file folder and file it. You've made progress.
  
• Get curious and "muck about." Experiment and explore. You will find unexpected resources as you go. You'll discover how creative you are.
• By "lowering your standards," you make space for change to begin. If everything has to be perfect, or nothing -- frequently you are left with nothing. Action stalls out under the judgement of perfection, and always comes up short. Anything worth doing is worth doing badly. After you have begun, you have surmounted the biggest obstacle. Improvement is inevitable.

Whether you are a skilled high-achiever at the top of your form, or a person with serious challenges, you can benefit from working with the Feldenkrais Method. As you become more aware of what you are doing, you become more adept, more adaptable, more effective. You can "build your own Rome," whatever that looks like. Let's get started!

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More than the sum of the parts

Fun fact: did you know that Amazon.com lists 746,365 books with the keyword "food;" and 600,696 with the keyword "exercise?" That's a pretty good indicator that people are interested in those two topics. Leave it to our modern age to take two basic, foundational aspects of life and health, and complicate them to the point of confusion and controversy.

Image by flickr

Food is a sensitive subject, and with good reason, since our national statistics for obesity and the health problems related to it are alarming. Michael Pollan has identified the "American paradox:" it seems that the more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we become. In our Western diet, food has been replaced by "nutrients," edible food-like substances, some touting a health benefit on the pretty package. Sometime during the mid-20th century, food left our grandmother's kitchens and found its way, in the name of progress, to the lab. Healthy, wholesome, nutritious foods were analyzed and broken down into their chemical components, then processed and packaged. This reductionist approach (to reduce something to its individual constituents, the sum of the parts) has made us fat and completely irrational about food.

A similar irrationality persists around the topic of our bodies, specifically our anatomy and how to move it and use it. Since most people no longer do physical labor or farm chores, we now “work out,” something that wasn’t necessary 50 years ago. If you are tossing hay bales, or hanging laundry, or painting the front porch, you’re thinking about how to get the job done, not whether your hamstrings are tight or your subscapularis is impinged. Children and adults used to play outside. A game of catch before dinner, riding bikes after school because it was fun and transportation, and the leisurely walk after dinner to see the neighbors, have all been replaced by simulated activities performed on equipment. Just like eating food-like substances with nutrients but no nutritional value, we perform movement-like actions that have no functional relevance. Who has to walk up stairs for 45 minutes in the real world, or dead-lift weight equivalent to a refrigerator?

The experts, to whom we have entrusted our bodies, have taught us not to trust our sensations. A feeling of pleasure means you’re not working hard enough. “No pain, no gain” rules. We dissect ourselves and each movement, being careful to execute perfect form while maintaining the illusion that we control the individual firing of each muscle fiber. The body is the enemy, and it must be punished, pummeled, stretched, exhausted, and shown who is boss. We learn to strain, to push, and to congratulate ourselves for surviving a “brutal” workout. Small wonder that back pain and exercise-related injuries are at an all-time high. And yet, people seem unwilling to hear any suggestion that our attitude toward exercise is unhealthy.

Michael Pollan has a simple solution to food insanity. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Moshe Feldenkrais devised an ingenious process to restore sense and sensibility to our actions and our way of being in physical experience. Move. Think. Sense. Feel. Feldenkrais’ work restores the image of a healthy functional system, involving the whole self in every action. The pleasures and benefits of food and exercise are only available when we remember that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

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• Research shows "stretches" decrease performance (New York Times)
• The Feldenkrais Method: A Dynamic Approach to Changing Motor Behavior (PubMed)