6 strategies for improving at anything
Body-mind learning is powerful because it uses the body as a metaphor. We practice learning through physical movement, and the learning strategies we embody become generally applicable in life. Below I explain the ones which I find most important. Imagine them applied to learning a physical movement; and also to a less physical skill such as chairing a meeting.
Be open to what you feel and sense which parts of you are engaged in the action. Be curious about your self. Pay close attention to your self in the action.
Go slow and repeat the action many times, with attention. Slowing down gives us time to sense better what is happening. Make the action smaller and pay particular attention to how you initiate it. Always look for comfort, for ease, for a pleasant sensation. If you feel uncomfortable, stop, take a break, start again in a different way, finding a different organization of your self. Insist on being able to do the action – whatever it is – in a light and easy way. If you find your self straining, go back to doing less and going slower.
Take a lot of rest. Rest before you need it. Our central nervous system needs time to absorb new ways of doing. Resting is a necessary part of the learning process.
Don't try to be good at it. Give your self time and space. Just have a go. If it doesn’t work, try a different way. Focus on the work, not on trying to make it stylish.
Make small variations – for example in pace or direction. Try adding a constraint – for example, deliberately not using some part of your self – then going back to working unconstrained. Working around constraints triggers our creativity. Initiate the action from a different place and feel how that changes it. And while you work, modulate the kind of attention you give your self: from close focus on one part, go to a generalized focus on your whole self and the whole action.
While you work, become aware how the process you are going through affects you. Are you feeling frustration, impatience? What can you do to be more fully engaged? If the action you are learning is very unfamiliar, it may call up unexpected associations, memories, and emotions. Notice what there is to notice.
Of course, learning is not life. In real life we may find our self in situations where we do have to strain; or where we haven’t got a safe environment to take time and experiment; or where we have to perform even though we feel uncomfortable. By being aware of what we require for learning, we can be on the look-out for situations in daily life when learning is possible.
How do you experience learning? What strategies have worked best for you? Please leave a comment.