Feldenkrais teacher Serina Carrasco explores the surprising resonance between Feldenkrais and the practice of meditation.
The Feldenkrais Method has been incredibly transformative in my life, to say the least. Yes, it has improved my chronic pain, how I feel within myself and how I move. But what has been equally invaluable is how it has shaped my personhood, my thinking, and the awareness tools it has cultivated within me that I can carry into the rest of my life.
Feldenkrais and Meditation
One of my favorite aspects of being a Feldenkrais practitioner is being able to relate it to just about anything—including meditation.
How would Feldenkrais resonate with meditators? How can it enhance meditation practice? Well, on a very practical level, it can enable you to feel more comfortable in your own body. This makes it easier to sit for meditation. Pain and discomfort is quite distracting. If our physical self (body) is not comfortable, it detracts from our ability to concentrate. This can be quite disheartening, especially if it is chronic.
The Deeper Resonance
On another level, not quite so obvious, there is resonance between the purpose of meditation and the heart of the Feldenkrais Method.
“Gom,” or meditation, means to familiarize yourself with your mind for the ultimate purpose of achieving enlightenment—a higher, more “awake,” state of being. At the heart of what Moshe Feldenkrais, the developer of this method, wanted to do is to enable people to develop into their fullest potential. To self-actualize. For you to become the best version of yourself that you could possibly be.
He understood that part of that maturation process requires becoming aware of yourself and your habits. Another way of saying it is “waking up” to yourself and your habits. This is true of our physical, mental, emotional, energetic and spiritual self. The Feldenkrais Method primarily improves the physical, but Moshe was highly aware that all aspects influence each other—which has certainly been my experience. By improving the physical self, the mental/emotional/energetic/spiritual self will also expand and improve.
Becoming Aware of Habits
Each and every one of us has habits, and they are very necessary for our survival. We cannot always be learning how to walk, how to relate to another person, how to hold a pencil or how to talk. Life demands too much of us, and we need certain abilities to be ingrained. We need habits, however, we are often unaware of the habits we have learned since infancy. Some habits are helpful, some maybe not so helpful.
To develop into our fullest self, to self-actualize, we need to become aware of the habits we have and ask ourselves, “Is this habit helpful or not helpful to me in becoming who I want to become? To achieve what I want to achieve? To move in the ways I want or need to move?” Maybe it is. Maybe not.
Awareness in Practice
But awareness comes first. Awareness creates choice and control over ourselves. If we have a blind spot, there is nothing we can do about that blind spot because we don’t even know that we have it. Yet, that blind spot is very much affecting our whole lives, how we are, the decisions we make, how we relate to others, how we move our bodies, etc. We cannot improve an aspect of ourselves if we are not aware of it.
For example, let’s say I have a habit of responding with fear:
- “I’m afraid I can’t say how I actually feel and think to this person”
- “I’m afraid I won’t be ok if I give generously”
- “I’m afraid if I quit my unfulfilling employment and pursue something more fulfilling, it won’t turn out as I hope. It’s too risky.”
Fear is a very useful response in particular circumstances. As a habitual response that we are unaware of, that is when it begins to limit us, our lives, and the decisions we can make.
The Body Holds Habits Too
Another example, let’s say we want to sit comfortably on a cushion for meditation. But we have tension in our belly or hold our belly in—a habit many people are unaware of. If you are engaging your abdominals (“six-pack” muscles), the muscles of your back now have to work extra hard to keep you upright. That’s because the front abdominal muscles are working against them. Your diaphragm does not have as much room to move, and there’s a good chance your chest, shoulders and hips will unnecessarily tighten in response.
Try sitting like that, meditating in that position, and you won’t feel so comfortable for very long. Engaging the abdomen is very necessary depending on how we want to move. Habitually engaging the abdomen all the time and not realizing it is when it begins to cause discomfort. But there are many, many little habits people have that are not so helpful in allowing them to sit or move comfortably, feeling good in their own bodies.
Feldenkrais is the transformative journey of 1) becoming aware of your bodily habits, and 2) learning how to move with greater ease and 3) creating options. Infants and children learn how to move in ways that feel good to them. They do not move in ways that cause discomfort or pain. But even from childhood, we experience injuries or we have been taught to strain, to do things that are uncomfortable and to deal with it. But it most certainly does not have to be that way. We can re-learn how to move with efficiency and ease by going back to that same sensory-filled process of discovery.
Room to Grow
Even if you do not have pain and feel pretty agile in your movement, Feldenkrais is still immensely helpful to you. There is always room for improvement, always ways in which we can develop and expand our movement. Just like meditation. We can always awaken more to ourselves and evolve into our higher self. Moreover, Feldenkrais cultivates a deep sense of knowing yourself and this enables you to adapt to your ever-changing body as your life unfolds.
I like to think of Feldenkrais as meditation of the body. You are becoming familiar with your physical self for the purpose of restoring, improving and expanding your movement. You are developing into your fullest potential on a physical level. As your physical self improves, all other aspects of yourself will soon follow.
Interested in trying Feldenkrais for yourself? Serina leads a weekly class at the Center — check the calendar for current times and details.
