How to choose better movement

Have you ever ignored how you feel just to get something done? We all have. We override sensation even when we know the resulting action will be neither effective nor efficient. How we respond to our sensations affects our health, our relationships, and our ability to function. By ignoring our sensations, we miss the possibility for feeling and living better.

Having been through chronic pain myself, I've thought about this a lot: How do I become aware of my sensations, and how can I choose a less painful action based on that awareness? Put another way, why on earth do we keep repeating a movement strategy that creates pain?

Often it's because we don't know how to change what we're doing. We think we have no choice but to suffer. I ignored pain for a long time. I tried to maneuver around it by changing the sensory input in various ways with different doctors, PT, medication, yoga, Pilates, working out, and other lifestyle shifts. Before I found Feldenkrais, mostly I just lived with it.

For creatures with a large capacity for higher-order thinking, we humans are remarkably dense when it comes to finding better ways to move!

Unknow yourself: Let go of stories

One way to choose a different action is to "unknow ourselves." That's what I call letting go of the story line we tell ourselves about what we should be feeling to be considered a good person, a productive person, a valuable person, or whatever it is. Rewiring your narrative is becoming more open to the self that you are and having compassion for that.

I use the words, "of course" to offer space for discomfort or pain. I think, "Of course this movement feels muddy, clunky, and blocked. I've had years of pain in my back and I don't know how to move well yet." To my clients, I might say, "of course you're feeling tense and can't breathe, look at what you've been through!" You can't expect yourself to be different than you are in this moment.

My teacher, Dennis, used to call this ruthless self-inquiry. It takes courage to step into that space of observation, inquiry, and awareness. Asking questions and being curious is the starting point for authenticity and growth in any direction.

Here are some jumping-off places for curiosity about movement:

Courageous sensing

Create an honest and courageous assessment of the truth of your experience. For example, movement could feel:

thick, heavy, muddy
staccato, jerky, rough, bumpy
short, narrow
exhausting, weak
achy, pinchy, burning
fuzzy, foggy, absent, missing, disconnected
stuck, trapped, blocked, jammed
clunky, restricted, awkward
unsupported
uneasy, unsafe, untrustworthy
contracted, complicated, small, withdrawn

Or, it could feel:

light, smooth, flowing
fluid, easy, simple
grounded, awake, aware
connected, whole, expressive
available, balanced, present, open
supported, stable, safe
powerful, integrated, energizing
lengthened, tall, wide
liberated, unblocked, released, relieved

Everyone has their own way of describing their experience to themselves. The main thing is to find a way of distinguishing experience (A) from experience (B) for yourself.

You'll notice these are subjective and not mechanical notations. As your experience improves, the mechanics will also improve.

Please, let go of the idea of perfect mechanics. Instead, focus on your lived experience and use your brain's innate ability to learn. By doing so, you will become adaptable, high-functioning, and vital instead of mimicking someone else's notion of correct.

Truly, there are no bad habits. Every habit was initiated on some level by a positive intention for safety, security, survival, or health.

Clarify your tracking and test your variables

By combining a courageous assessment of your sensory experience with movement variables and tracking, you can discover many ways to move better all day long.

The tracking framework: Where does movement travel through your bones?

Direct your attention to what moves. Then, move your attention around as you continue to move an arm, or a hip, or a shoulder. You cannot be too inquisitive!

• For example, when you're lying on the floor and you move your leg, does your low back move?

• When you move your head, do your shoulders move?

• When you move your pelvis, do your ribs move?

• When you move your arm, does your spine move?

The variables framework: What is the speed, trajectory, timing, and force of your movement?

• How fast are you moving? Slow it down and test.

• In what direction are you moving? Change it by a few degrees and test.

• When are you moving? Alter the sequence and test.

• How much effort are you using? Do less and test.

Try a test

Sitting or standing, extend one arm out in front of you or to the side, doesn't matter. Place your other hand on top of that collarbone. Hold it there. Now, rotate the extended arm on its axis until you run into the fixed collarbone. What does it feel like? Stuck, blocked, painful?

Now rotate the extended arm and allow the collarbone to move after you use up the slack. What does that feel like? Smooth, fluid, accessible? Continue to expand your movement until the breastbone moves, the ribs, the spine, the other shoulder, the head, neck, the eyes....

How is it now?