Turning back the clock
Just about every aspect of movement feels different to me than it felt a few years ago. My sense of myself keeps changing: I often notice changes from one week to the next and certainly compared to a couple of months ago. Generally my balance and coordination have improved hugely. Yet I’m not a growing child - I’m a fully formed adult in middle age. What’s going on?
What happened is I started practicing the Feldenkrais Method. To illustrate the kind of evolution I’ve been going through, here is a description of what has changed in the way I walk:
Before I started practicing Feldenkrais, I was in the habit of walking fast, being typically in a hurry to reach my destination. I made long strides. It was physical work, but I didn’t care, even believed that pushing my self was somehow a virtue. If I walked for more than an hour or so I would expect to feel some muscle stiffness the next day.
When I started practicing Feldenkrais, I found my self walking slower. Part of my attention was on walking ‘within myself’, maintaining clarity and control of my self-organisation throughout the process of walking. I found that feeling of clarity got lost if I made large strides or went too fast, so I slowed down and took shorter steps. I was paying more attention to my self.
With more practice I found I was able to lengthen my stride and go faster without losing clarity. Over a period of years changes took place in how I use my feet, hips, pelvis, back, ribcage, chest, shoulders, and neck; in how I use my eyes and ears; in how I breathe. All these elements combined to give me more range of movement in walking. Today I can walk faster than ever before without it feeling like effort, and with a feeling of balance and support I didn’t have before. As if with each step my foot is growing deep roots in the ground.
The Feldenkrais Method doesn’t offer a ‘quick fix’. But it is a powerful method. Continuing practice is rewarding and yields amazing results – people recover freedom of movement they haven’t felt since childhood.
How do you experience changes in your self as you age? Please leave a comment.