New Arms in Circles (a prequel)

omg omg omg … I was just rolling about and had the most amazing moment ever … omg omg omg

So- my next online workshop in China was re-scheduled to happen 3 weeks earlier than planned and will be held this Saturday. And so I was thinking, hm, what to do with my folks in China this time… I advertised the workshop as “Release tension in the neck and upper chest”, silly me. But easy. Of course I will teach ideas from my neck series, “Tight Neck? Here’s Help!”

However, my previous workshop in China, advertised as “Release tension around the hip joint”, I didn’t start with my Hip Joints Series 2, but I started with rolling the legs, bending the legs, and then diving deep into combinations, a quite wonderful experience. So I was thinking, this time I should start with rolling the arms.

And so I played with some ideas this morning, while still in bed, in lying supine. I set up a rule: keep the elbow in place, only the lower arm and hand can go round and round. That was interesting for a while. And then later in front of a mirror I tried the same thing in standing, quite the challenge actually, which quickly evolved into a sequence of silly dancing.

But then, just now, this evening, I got down on the floor, onto my back, and I was like, “Ok- but this time for real, what am I gonna do?” So I did the elbow and hand thing again, but in combination with the rolling of my head. Ok, the “New TMJ Exercises” lesson first. Then the circles with the lower arms. But in which direction should the head roll? In the same direction or opposite direction of the circles with the lower arm? Ok, then in side-lying. In this position the elbow need to move. Arm circles. Yes, this answered the previous question about the rolling of the head. The answer came through movement, the lesson works.

And then on the front-side, on the belly. Huh. Hm, goes to show how much forwards oriented in space arm movements are. A dead end? I took a rest, maybe a 10-minutes nap. Then I turned my head and tried circles with the other arm. Oh yes. There’s a way. And how about…

HOLY MOLY! I was as surprised as a toddler who gotta himself to stand on both feet the first time, just when nobody was watching. Or who come from lying supine to sitting, through a roll. Big surprise! Big revelation! Ok, this will be my next Youtube video. And I almost have the complete workshop lined up, as well:

  • New TMJ Exercises
  • Writing exercise: note down the lesson, share and compare notes
  • New Arms in Circles – the prequel to my “Tight Neck? Here’s Help!” series
  • Some choice bits from my “Tight Neck? Here’s Help!” series
  • Q&A

But I also was thinking: so bad. My “Tight Neck? Here’s Help!” series should be famous, like “Lord of the Rings”–level famous. And then my new prequel, the one I invented just now, would be the much anticipated prequel. Big deal. But it’s not. For most people my “Tight Neck? Here’s Help!” series is like… like when a monkey in a jungle trips over a statue made of solid gold, and diamonds, and sapphires. An annoyance at best, something hardly looked at and quickly forgotten. I imagine that’s what it’s like when my series’s thumbnail shows up in the Youtube feed of most people. They merely click on /Not interested/, if they bother to click at all. Well, I can’t help that.

There is some disappointment in my soul, but then I think of Youtube as a free video hosting platform, and a place where my videos are easily discoverable, and I think of my patrons on Patreon as my true audience, the people who appreciate and support my video creations; and all my students who can’t afford to be patrons, but watch and like and comment and share my videos, and try out the movements.

Holy bananas! What a lesson! I’m super excited! I will teach it tomorrow to my experimental online group from Austria and Germany, in German language. And then again on Saturday in the online workshop in China, and then I guess I’ll be ready to make the video on Sunday or Monday. Looking forward to present it to you!

About my use of the word »soul«

This was a comment on my video “Two types of burnout and many Thinking Hats” [link to Youtube]:

Dear Alfons,
      I discovered your channel about a month ago [..] And it works so well, it is amazing ! Overall I am feeling much better and managing to deal with runner’s pains way better than ever before. For this I am so thankful to you and the dedication you put in what you do. [..] 
      Then, yesterday, I happened to watch this latest video of you, which again is so peculiar ! [..] It is the use of the word » soul « twice. It really surprised me because your approach for me seems to be so concrete, so close to the body, to its structure, bones, muscles, nervous system, that this sudden appearance of the idea (?) of a human soul really stroke me! [..]
      I don’t know if I even need to ask you why or need explanations [..] I decided I will buy your Feldenkrais book and surely will keep on practising your movements as often as I feel I need to.
      Kind regards from France,
AB

Dear AB,
      thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I’m very happy to hear about your improvements!
      Concerning my use of the word »soul« … to me it’s something special and mysterious; something charming, handsome, delightful; something elusive yet concrete, something more durable than the physical body. And I think some viewers can relate.
      However, I also want to answer your question in terms of being concrete: When I give movement instructions, the movements are easy to think of in terms of being well defined and agreed upon. They are very concrete and close to the body, as you phrase so well. We all seem to know what is meant when we say, “bend the knee” or “turn the head to the left”.
      However, we might be a bit too sure about what we are talking about! Do we really know what “turning the head” means? What it is comprised of, what it touches and requires?
      To keep things simple and to not think too deeply about movements will turn movements into habits, automated movements so to speak, very practical and necessary for everyday life. However, at the same time it might strip much (if not all) mystery from movements. Or from the term »movement«, or »bones« or »flesh« etc. Therefore I sometimes like to use the word »soul«. It is my hope that this word, which is not well defined, not agreed upon, and “mysterious” to say the least, that it can inspire us to look at our flesh and bones and movements in a new light, to inspire us to be open to the unexpected, mysterious, elusive, … and to be able to improve and change our movements if need be. And to spark joy! Language and movement, what a combination!
      Thanks again for your comment and support,
      I wish you a good time rolling and running,
Alfons

Movement as medicine

Starting mid June this year (2022) all the way to the end of August, I created my Hip Joints Series 2. Last week, when I watched through the six videos again, I could clearly identify the time when I started reading Owen Wister’s book The Virginian, published in 1902. To my own ears my English sounded so much better than in the videos before and after. It’s as if during the time reading this 120 year old book the language in it improved my English speaking.

I can’t say the same for George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire, though. Luckily I’m already down to the last book, 4 000 pages read, 400 still to go. In the beginning I really enjoyed the story and the story telling, and at times I still do (my favourites are Arya and Tyrion) but I don’t have the feeling that his language did improve my English in the same pleasant way Owen Wister did.

Now- I wonder if the same could be said for movement? Are there movements that improve our moving? Let’s say a movement—or movement sequence—may be the equivalent to a book, and our moving about is the same as our speaking.

And- I think it can. For example, when I practice to the first video in my Hip Joints 2 series, I definitely feel an improvement in my walking, and my moving about. It’s smoother, more pleasant, I’m calmer, more collected, and overall happier with my movements and myself.

Maybe- that’s why some people call those kind of movements not only stretches, workouts, or movement sequences but fixes, or even medicine. Or they invent some more elaborate terms altogether, like Awareness Through Movement or Sensory Awareness Movement-based Mindfulness Practice etc. What do you think, what is your experience?

I love myself for who I am

Sometimes I have the feeling I should take in a few more positive affirmations into my work. And that I should read positive affirmations first thing in the morning; completely replace my reading of the News concerning mandates and government spending with positive affirmations.

  • I can’t do everything today, but I can take one small step.
  • I acknowledge my achievements.
  • I love myself for who I am.
  • I am grateful for the people I have in my life.
  • I am in the right place, at the right time.

There you have it. I hope that will last for a while. /tongue in cheek emoji

One workshop done, next to come

Maybe more of a diary entry than a blog post, in case you wonder how my 3-hour-long online workshop in China went:

I totally over-prepared. In total I’ve spent more than a full day preparing, and then what-do-you-know I wasn’t able to teach nearly half as much as what I’ve planned. The workshop flowed smoothly, students were participating attentively, asked questions, learned a lot (so they told me) and seemed to have enjoyed it. During movement segments only one student fell asleep, so maybe next time I should teach a little bit slower. I kept quite a brisk pace and thus students hardly had a chance to doze off.

Which brings me back to my age old question, how would my own training course look like? And when would it look like to be happening?

Our choice of Thinking Hats and Action Shoes

“They began with a broth of crab and monkfish, and cold egg lime soup as well. Then came quails in honey, a saddle of lamb, goose livers drowned in wine, buttered parsnips, and suckling pig. The sight of it all made Tyrion feel queasy, but he forced himself to try a spoon of soup for the sake of politeness, and once he had tasted it he was lost. The cooks might be old and fat, but they knew their business. He had never eaten so well, even at court.” – George R.R. Martin, A Song Of Fire And Ice

When looking at mouthwatering, delicious dishes (in my preference plant-based) there’s various ways to look at it. For example, from the perspective of

  • a cook, who would like to produce the best version of such a dish,
  • a nutritionist, who would like to investigate the chemical profile,
  • a hungry person, who would simply like to eat something delicious.

Right? How do they put this… Edward de Bono became famous for his Six Thinking Hats and Six Action Shoes, something like that.

The same could be said about movement sequences. The choice of movements, stretches, pushes, twists, lifts, reaches, squeezes, contractions, differentiations, etc, and why they are chosen, and how they are put together, and in which sequence they are put together, could be looked at from different perspectives, or with different Thinking Clothes donned:

  • the engineer, who is interested in the biomechanics,
  • the patient, who is interested in healing and the absence of pain,
  • the talent, who wants to improve performance,
  • the psychologist, who is interested in human emotions, behaviour and statistics,
  • the philosopher, who is in search for ethics, logic, meaning and lengthy disputes,
  • the business person, who wants to know if this can be trademarked and monetised,
  • the teacher, who is interested in how it is taught…

Innit? Do we always wear the same hat? Or do we have a large wardrobe to chose from? What thinking gear do we wear for which occasion? From which perspective are you looking, what would you add to this list?

Turn on, tune in, drop out of fixed schedule online workshops

Silence. Nobody dares to say a word. Then this one person speaks up and keeps talking and talking and everyone starts to grow tired-of if not upset-at this one person that does not seem to notice that there’s other people in the room as well. And then, the next time I ask a question, the same drama will happen again, just worse.

So- that’s one of the situations I want to avoid when conducting a workshop online, via video-chat.

I have a three hour long workshop scheduled for Saturday. I wonder about the fixed time of exactly three hours. Participants clear three hours in their schedule, they pay for three hours, they expect three hours (or at least two hours and a half, if they are that one busy person who is always sneaking out first.)

Contrariwise, when I call up a friend for a scheduled catch-up Skype call, we don’t put an exact duration for the call in our calendars. We note the time we meet, and we make sure that we have some time to chat (otherwise we would say, “let’s make it quick I have only a few minutes, but let’s catch up next Saturday afternoon I will be free then”).

So- I guess, online workshops are viewed more like commercial products. Like a movie that’s been in production for 2 years and then it’s 1 hour 53 minutes for the viewing. But my workshop is not like that. My expertise has been in the making for a few decades, and the viewing, the teaching, the online workshop teaching, how many minutes is it? The many participants, who have a lifetime of experience in all kinds of things and walks of life themselves, how minutes may I have of each of them to tune in?

“One morning, while I was ruminating in the shower about what kind of slogan would succinctly summarize the tactics for increasing intelligence, six words came to mind. Dripping wet, with a towel around my waist, I walked to the study and wrote down this phrase: »Turn On, Tune ln, Drop Out.« Later it became very useful in my function as cheerleader for change. »Turn on« meant to go within and become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers engaging them. »Tune in« meant to interact harmoniously with the world around you. »Drop out« suggested an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. This meant self-reliance, a discovery of one’s singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice, and change.” I paraphrase Timothy Leary, as he wrote in his book Flashbacks.

Still- I need to plan my three-hour workshop. I imagine:

I could orchestrate movements for 3 hours straight. All 6 lessons of my “Hip Joints 2” series in one go. In this way all participants will feel something. Even the least sensitive person will clearly feel an improvement (the most sensitive probably to the point of being overwhelmed.) Also, nobody will complain that there was too much talking and not enough movement.

Ok, that’s stupid; to turn humans into programs that execute movement instructions. How insensitive. How immature. What a waste. Let me imagine something else:

  1. I will start with a movement sequence.
  2. Then I will point out the delights and benefits of studying movement sequences in their purest, their most pure form, a study of movements. I will let participants recall and write down the movements. I will have them collaborate to clean the meat from the sequence, to bleach the bones so to speak, and then identify which movement is good for what purpose.
  3. Then I might tell them a story about my grandparents. How they were born in the house of my grand-grandparents. How at that time babies were brought to the only grocery shop in the village—they used the deli scales to weigh their newborns. How my grandparents grew into a community and into the family business. I might tell my workshop participants about compulsory schooling, obedience and how having done time in schools may have shaped their thinking and acting. I might tell them about life and trauma. About trauma healing and the depths one can go to. About freedom of thought and physical movement creation. And about the freedom of the soul to move wherever it is drawn to.
  4. And then I’ll teach another movement sequence. Maybe it will be a different movement quality then.