Feldenkrais From Week One (from slow bloggers r us)

Feldenkrais From Week One

I had practiced a bit of self awareness before as part of a relaxation program but not awareness of my body in-motion as we did during the Feldenkrais lesson. The experience was a good change of perspective helping me to tune into the little adjustments I make with my body in order to move through the world.

I think none of us had any idea what was to come when george asked us to draw a human skeleton, which was a challenge in itself. Mine had extra arm bones and two left feet but it did get me thinking about how well I really understood the collection of bones which is my body.

Lying on the floor was surprisingly uncomfortable even with the funky foam. I have clicky hips that I get from my mother so rocking my pelvis from side to side felt like I was unhinging somewhere around the middle. The parts of my body that I noticed the most were my non-fleashy areas that were touching the ground. Oh that tailbone ached! As well as the

back of my head and heels. Ouch! But also sensed the parts in motion. A bit of reflection went on while on the floor: "If I move this way it feels like this but if move slightly differently it feels like this." and I got into a motion that suited me the most. Interesting and a bit tricky.

When it came to drawing my feelings I used my understanding of the skeleton as a template with colour and line direction to show my level of consciousness. My head in yellow was largely in the air and not the subject of my attention whereas my tailbone in red and orange hurt like the dickens. The swirling dark blue in the pelvis reflected the kind of movement we were doing as like the wavy and choppy lines across the leg bones.

When I had my outline drawn onto the image I realised I had drawn myself with a massively disproportionate head. My initial skeleton was similarly afflicted. Perhaps it's because so much goes on in the head that I have afforded importance put upon it. An odd/interesting lesson all around.