Olivia: I certainly find it very interesting when you do a movement so slowly, which we never do in our lives, ever, go so slowly, and so you become acutely aware of everything. Sometimes it is quite difficult to analyse. But sometimes when you do something, you go, “oh that feels interesting”, or “that hurts”, or “that releases something”.
You know, I have had a problem with my shoulder, and having my arm like up like that, it hurts underneath. Just noticing when you do it slowly, you are not like ripping anything, or endangering anything, but you are just aware, “Ah, that is interesting. Ok, there is a blockage there”, or „it doesn’t quite want to move there“. So this awareness is something that we just don’t get in our day to day. We are just dashing like a bull dog through life.
But it was very good for me, cause my back. I must have done something about four days ago, and I can’t move hardly, yeah, so I had a salt bath today, and I didn’t know if I would be able to do your class, so it was good that I did do it, and let’s see how it goes during the day. But you know what we tend to do when we have got something like that, we go, “oh I need to twist it, I need to stretch it, I’ve got to pull it.” But when you just let go and give in to it, you get maybe more out of it.
Jutta: I also find doing Feldenkrais, I have to slow myself down, although I don’t do things quickly! Other people can do more quickly than I can.And yet when we do Feldenkrais, I have to consciously slow myself down, which is really good because, as you say, then you feel a lot more.
Olivia: That is also mindfulness. I go on these courses where I get all mindful, and that’s for a few days a year, and then the rest of the year I’m not at all mindful. I don’t manage to get it into my life.
Trevor: It is interesting to feel the way that everything balances better afterwards, and (at the beginning) when you turn to look behind you, it’s difficult to say “can I see (behind well), or can I really see it?” And afterwards things become clarified.
Olivia: And the difference between forcing, like, “I’m gonna see behind myself!”, and, “I’m going to just relax and see how far behind I can see.” The way you do it, Ben, it is very much allowing us to do it as we can do it, rather than how we should do it.
Trevor: I felt I was cheating though because, at times, I would let my knees separate so that I got more of a roll.
Olivia: But is that cheating, or is that actually taking it a little bit of a step further, if it feels right?
Olivia: One thing about Feldenkrais, is that you have to be acute. And that is why Ben is so good at it. He is so pedantic about getting it exact – I mean, not us doing it exactly right, but him telling us precisely. He is so precise in his description, and of course if everybody’s doing it right, except one person who isn’t doing it right, he knows he’s been precise, just someone isn’t understanding. But if he thinks he is being precise, but none of us are getting it right, he’s obviously not. So he can see immediately the effectiveness of his description. And this is what is quite interesting with language and this whole thing that he does; he’s got to be very precise. And it actually goes completely with his personality. Doesn’t it, Ben? LOL.
Scott: Did you know you were going to be psycho-analysed, Ben?
Ben: Ha ha, LOL!!
Image: a partially succesful attempt by AI to generate a meaningful image.
Movement Solutions 