Empowerment versus Disempowerment

Oddly enough, in a Feldenkrais class we are all exploring on our own. We may be in a class together, but there is no interest in a particular result or wonderful experience. Those are just by-products.

Think about times in your life when someone told you to "sit up straight" or "only do ____ like this". How did it feel?

Compare that to when you found something out through discovery. Maybe you found that when you lie a certain way in bed or when you breathe a certain way, you feel good.

Which one feels better- when you are being told or when you have discovered something out for yourself? Does it relate to a gut/brain relationship? I think so.

Trusting our gut means realizing that we have almost been programmed on some level to do some things the way another person saw fit to teach us. In the short term, that was what worked for us and it helped to reduce conflict if we just followed along, ignoring our gut feelings and doing as we were told. Today, you may still be adopting these same patterns.. and they might be limiting your potential.

So... how do we go about fixing this?

You guessed it.. awareness. (Hence the name "ATM" or "Awareness Through Movement", what we call the class version of Feldenkrais).

So now we are aware.. we can begin to shift, right?

Well, yes, but, how much are you aware of? We can immediately shift the things we are aware if it feels safe. What we aren't aware of is a different story.

Feldenkrais classes begin to hint that there are patterns of movement we have forgotten about due to the fact that we have been told something that went against our own organization. Here is where we discover what works for us, finally.. and how to use our own knowledge and awareness to open our eyes to better movement, alignment, perception and elegance.

Come discover with me!

Katie :)