Happy September 11 everyone 😅 23 yeas ago, in fall 2001, I was on a Vision quest (reconnecting with nature, an ancient ritual, water fasting, no drugs) in the vast open desert space of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah, US. Three days and three nights of solitude, of becoming one with the earth and the stars. When I returned back to civilisation both me and civilisation itself have been changed forever.

Now on to today’s blog post: in a Youtube comment @Didi-m9b asked: “I wish I could understand what it means to push your spine to the left …”

I have answered this question immediately after I’ve seen it. And just now I wanted to post it here on my blog… only that upon re-reading my answer, suddenly, I have second thoughts.

I wrote that in Feldenkrais-inspired movement lessons we often think in terms of the skeleton. But do we really?

Maybe we need to consider this:

In the human body, mechanical forces do not travel solely through the bones. While bones provide structural support, force is distributed across a network of muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues. These tissues work together to absorb and transfer force efficiently. If we push a heavy object, the load is shared across our entire system, preventing our bones from bearing the full brunt of the force. Muscles play a crucial role in terms of stabilisation and control, thus protecting both bones and joints from damage.

So it’s a mix. Bones and flesh and the nervous system. In ancient times some folks have thought that the human body is entirely made of clay (which bleeds when you poke at it), and at other times some folks thought us to be entirely made of meat. But nowadays our thinking is greatly refined. What do we think of when we think of movement? For example:

• what do we think of when we think about the movement of pushing a drawer shut with our hips?
• What do we think of when reaching up with one hand, or when turning the head, when taking a step, or when touching two fingers together?

In the Youtube video where that question came from, “I wish I could understand what it means to push your spine to the left …” I mean the entire video is about this one motion and how we think about ourselves, and movement…

How can I explain that more clearly? Or, maybe, could it be that, for a wider audience, watching merely one video with DIY instructions might not suffice for establishing a new understanding of ourselves and how we think of movement?

What could be possibly achieved in a short Youtube comment to answer a question that could not be answered in half an hour long video with plenty of speech and demonstrations? I think I will delete my comment on Youtube, leave the question by @Didi-m9b (whom I don’t seem to know) unanswered, and continue to focus more on my patrons, long term subscribers and supporters.