Talk: How We Respond to Strain (5 min)
An introduction to Lesson 5 of our Getting Oriented series. Nick recaps our explorations so far and talks about the choices we have when we sense strain, the dangers of “should,” and the value of choosing curiosity.
You’ll hear that this talk segues directly into Lesson 5, finishing with “lie down on your back.” Please press the button above if you’re ready to do the lesson.
This audio recording is found in Getting Oriented, our introductory collection of Feldenkrais basics for newcomers (and longtimers looking for a “tune-up”).
This lesson was recorded in an introductory workshop called Move Smarter, Safer, and Stronger with Feldenkrais: Stretch without Strain.
Patrons can listen to Getting Oriented tracks 8-11 (the Stretch without Strain talks and lessons) without interruption as a complete 70-minute workshop recording.
Please login or begin or renew Patron-level donation to the Feldenkrais Project to access our Legacy and Alternate Lessons collection.Members and Patrons only. Please login or join the Project to download this lesson’s MP3 file.
- Continue Getting Oriented
-
You’ll hear that this talk segues directly into Lesson 5, finishing with “lie down on your back.” Please press the button above if you’re ready to do the lesson.
- Context
-
This audio recording is found in Getting Oriented, our introductory collection of Feldenkrais basics for newcomers (and longtimers looking for a “tune-up”).
This lesson was recorded in an introductory workshop called Move Smarter, Safer, and Stronger with Feldenkrais: Stretch without Strain.
- Alternate Version
-
Patrons can listen to Getting Oriented tracks 8-11 (the Stretch without Strain talks and lessons) without interruption as a complete 70-minute workshop recording.
Please login or begin or renew Patron-level donation to the Feldenkrais Project to access our Legacy and Alternate Lessons collection. - Download
-
Members and Patrons only. Please login or join the Project to download this lesson’s MP3 file.
The Feldenkrais Project is a crowd-funded labor of love. If you believe, like we do, that more people doing more Feldenkrais makes the world a better place, please consider joining the Project with a recurring monthly donation. Choose between the price of a good cup of coffee and what you’d pay to attend a single Feldenkrais or other movement class.
Maintaining this site, spreading the word, and adding content requires hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars annually. Your support really matters.
All visitors can listen to our primary lesson collections. That’s 50 high quality Feldenkrais class audio recordings, edited with the home user in mind.
With gratitude we offer additional features and content to our donors, who we call Feldenkrais Project Members or Patrons.
Join the Project as a Member
Donate $3 / month
Donate $6 / month
Donate $9 / month
Join the Project as a Patron
Donate $21 / month
Donate $54 / quarterly
Donate $180 / yearly
Patrons receive all Member benefits plus at least one new lesson per month guaranteed, and more!
One-time donations are also gratefully accepted. Click here to learn how.
Don’t want benefits, or you’re already a donor, but want to make an additional donation to support our vision of Feldenkrais for all? Thank you! Just use our Simple Donation option.
Need to cancel a recurring donation? Click here.
“Like” or Follow the Project
3 Comments. Leave new
I love this discussion and these lessons. I’ve thought so many times about stretching and often ask myself, “What happens if I stop before I actually get to the stretch?” We are all so primed to think that that deep (sometimes painful) stretch is good and useful. One of my fundamental learnings from Feldenkrais is that I can often find the benefit prior to the stretch, absolutely before the strain.
My problem is that I don’t feel the strain until the next day. Then it’s too late. Maybe because I’m hypermobile?? I don’t know, but I feel the “work” or “overworked” too late to make changes in my practice.
There’s a kind of recalibrating to ourselves that happens in Feldenkrais study. Often people surprise themselves at first like this, discovering they’ve done too much after the fact, though they didn’t sense it was too much during the lesson. It can be hard to be patient and present with very tiny movements, but I recommend experimenting with doing the movements almost “microscopically”. Especially in these shorter Getting Oriented lessons, err on the side of “these movements I’m making must be too small to be useful” and see what happens! You may be surprised that you can get a ton of benefit from a lesson that you “did” more in your imagination than in visible movement. If you can learn the value of this end of the movement spectrum you’ll speed up the calibration process of keeping yourself comfortable (even the day after) by really learning how little you need to “do” to benefit from Feldenkrais. The process takes time and a little trust, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Let me know how it goes!