Soooooooo, that’s a funny title isn’t it??  One of my clients said to me the other day, “Feldenkrais is like the Quantum Physics of body work.”  I thought that was pretty cool to hear as we were wrapping up our Functional Integration lesson.  On my way home I was chuckling to myself about it.  Then just a few days ago I cracked open a book I bought some years back about how we bring our hands to folks in a lesson and there it was…………

This is the strength duration curve I have been teaching Physical Therapy students about probably for the last 10 years or more.  I used it in the context of how different nerve fibers are stimulated in response to electrical pulses.  The vertical axis is the strength of the electrical pulse and the horizontal axis represents the duration of the pulse.  The function of the nerve is represented by the curve.  The nerves could be sensory, motor, sharp pain, or dull pain.  Interestingly the labeling was different in the book by Yochanan Rywerant about The Feldenkrais Method.  His graph was to represent Energy Exchange and Learning.  He labeled the vertical axis as “energy exchanged” and the horizontal axis as “information transmitted.”  The area indicated by the blue rectangle in Rywerant’s book is the upper limit of what can be conveyed in a Feldenkrais Lesson.  He called it a “quantum of manipulation.”  I taught my students that the area in the blue rectangle was the most efficient delivery of an electrical pulse that would stimulate the fiber you are interested in approaching.  Rywerant pointed out the analogy to Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty in atomic physics concerning the position of particles and momentum.  So there you have it!!

But, a touche, not to be taken out by the physics of the matter or those who may not choose to view the world that way!  This work just works!!  It’s just the right amount of what you need to feel better, be better, do better.  And that my friends makes the world a better place for everyone!!  Who needs a graph for that?Cheers!!                   Sandy

Back in the day “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” were those cute little monkeys we would see all over the place.  I just looked these guys up on line and it said something about “moral compass,” next to this image.  Hmmmmmmm??  What’s up with that?  I’m thinking it might be a good idea to “see everything”, “hear everything” and then “do something.”  These day’s the idea of limiting what we see and hear is sort of silly.  And, if we act like the things we don’t feel good about seeing and hearing are non existent then we are just fooling ourselves.  In the Feldenkrais Method it’s all about “more options.”  Options create more possibilities for mobility and function in the moment.  I mean the moment is constantly shifting.  You never know what you will need.  The weather is a great example.  Here around St. Louis sometimes you need a jacket, sometimes an umbrella, sometimes flip flops, sometimes running shoes, sometimes sun glasses, sometimes a hat.  And sometimes that jacket is just plain evil because it is so hot and sticky you don’t want to even carry it around.  So, sometimes you need a back pack to carry it in.  And, maybe that’s even too hot.  With more options we can make better choices.  So, if we see and hear more things we can decide what works for a given moment.  The Feldenkrais Method (R) teaches us where we have options that we might not be so aware of.  It teaches this through how we sense and use our own bodies.  It makes movement easier and more comfortable and teaches us ways of functioning that make us feel better.  My new mantra is going to be…….”Feel Better, Be Better, Do Better.”  Join me for an Awareness Through Movement Class or an individual Functional Integration Lesson.  You just might learn some new options!        See you soon!  Sandy