SAFETY FIRST! You need a solid, non-rolling chair (such as a dining room table chair) to stand directly behind for lessons #1 and #4 in this workshop. It should have a back around the height of your pelvis or belly button, so you can simply rest one or both hands on it whenever you’d like more stability.
If you need a break from standing you can also rest seated on the chair at any time, even pausing the recording as needed.
For lesson #2 you’ll need a smooth mat or carpeted floor and perhaps a towel to fold for head support. Don’t use a sticky yoga mat (too much friction).
A review of concepts discussed in this part of the workshop:
Feldenkrais is learning to learn from yourself. In Feldenkrais study you are responsible for creating your own internal learning environment. Be kind and gentle with yourself! Comfort is essential for efficient learning and improvement.
Balance is the intersection of physics and neurology. It is a never-ending process in our upright lives.
Feldenkrais movements are never imitative, performative, or rote. Instead they are exploratory and FUN, like the experiments of a baby learning to stand and walk. Remember that is how you originally learned to balance!
If you want to change how you behave, you can learn new skills (this path is long-lasting, self-reinforcing, sustainable, satisfying) or use willpower (this is short-term, self-destructive/unsustainable, rooted in feeling “not good enough”).
Willpower is what we use when we lack skill. Willpower is particularly useless for improving balance because it makes us rigid, and therefore less stable.
To learn new balance skills we’re instead training your sensitivity, self-regulation, and coordination.
After listening to Part 1 take a 10-30 minute break, then continue on to Part 2 of this workshop. You can take a longer break but it’s best to do the whole workshop in one day.
This workshop can be found in our Patrons Monthly collection, and in our Better Balance Deep Dive.
Recorded live in the summer of 2022.
Workshop description:
Our sense of balance is the intersection of physics and neurology. It’s a brilliant human solution to the fundamental challenge of gravity. In this workshop Nick shares practical tips and tools to improve balance. He’ll dispel common misunderstandings, highlight principles of physics and learning you can sense and practice on your own, and lead Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons designed to clarify and improve your sensitivity, suppleness, and coordination – the building blocks of healthy balance.
Feldenkrais newcomers are welcome. The only prerequisite is an ability to lie on a mat for some of our study time, and get back up again safely.
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By the end I felt more upright, centred and wider, shoulders and arms hung down in an easy manner. And yes, arms and shoulders swung more when I walked. Also when I walked it was a slow, more confident rolling kind of walk. Very pleasurable. Thank you – a great lesson.
Well, that was VERY nice. I feel my back being released and holding less tension. My feet feel softer and the weight more evenly distributed across the floor through the soles. My legs feel aligned and the weight supported more directly through the bones into the hips. My arms & shoulders were so free of tension they were hanging like wet spaghetti by my side and moving forward in unison on the forward step of my right foot – it was quite amusing. I feel taller, lighter, freer, my eyes relaxed – happier. Thanks
I so appreciate the clarity of your instructions!! You make it very clear *why* explore on the floor to improve walking in the vertical. Thx!