We don’t usually post about each monthly addition to Patrons Monthly (our collection of additional lessons for Feldenkrais Project Patron-level donors) but this holiday lesson was special!
The following is from our Patron benefits newsletter, a mailing list which anyone can join here. To join the Feldenkrais Project as a Patron (or learn about our donor “thank you” benefits) click here.
Our year-end gift for Patrons is a second new Patrons Monthly lesson this month! It’s perfect for resting and recharging as we prepare for 2021. Read on for more info, or click this title to go to…
The Liminal Lesson: Transitions Between Action and Rest
– Webster’s New World Dictionary
Dear Patrons,
I happened to be awake for the solstice early this morning, that liminal moment in the solar year, “a threshold between the past and the future—pregnant with potentiality,” as one blogger calls it.
Maybe I stirred around 4 AM because I’ve been thinking a lot about crossing thresholds. For me, Minnesota winter gets easier simply knowing that there will be more daylight every day now. And I find solace in other ongoing transitions: the arrival of vaccines, the imminent end of a tough year (and the hopes we place in 2021), and incoming new leadership in our country.
By student request my weekly classes have been studying “Rest and Recharge” themed lessons this month. I wrote a bit about our theme here, and as I’ve dived deep into these ideas my students and I have been enjoying rich explorations of the liminal moments in somatic transitions.
My favorite teaching on this theme happened to be during a guest appearance for my colleague Frederick Schjang’s Feldenkrais class on December 1. This recording feels like the perfect lesson to share with you at the winter solstice, and a great way to cap off a busy year for The Feldenkrais Project.
Enjoy the lesson linked above, and I hope you rest well through the holiday season! Thanks for all your support in 2020!
Nick
PS – If you’re enjoying thinking about liminal moments, here’s a brief commentary that was inspiration for this email. It’s about how the challenges of quarantine felt at the last solstice.
UPDATE: PPS – A student just sent me another bit of solstice writing, a lovely cultural and historical reflection on this particularly dark winter.