Taking Moshe to the Movies

Feldenkrais is not exactly a household word here in Kentucky. When I tell people that Iím a studying to become a practitioner in the Feldenkrais Method, there are lots of blank stares. Usually, the stares give way to the inevitable question, "Huh? What the heck is this Feldenkrais stuff all about, anyway?"

As a first year student, Iím still figuring that out for myself. I suspect that many long-time practitioners might say the same thing. It seems to me that Feldenkrais offers many things to many people. One thing that most of us would agree on, however, is the idea that the Feldenkrais Method is concerned with learning a better, easier way of functioning in the world.

So what do you do in order to learn this better way of functioning? Although we "do" a variety of things like Awareness Through Movement (ATM) and Functional Integration (FI) lessons that help sharpen our awareness, itís more a question of what we donít do. One of the most basic ways of improving the movement function is to learn how to spot and reduce the unnecessary parasitic muscular contractions that interfere with our movements.

One of the ways that we interfere with free movement is by enacting the startle response when itís not really needed. (The startle response is that sudden body-wide tensing that we produce in reaction to loud noises or the threat of falling. The head pulls back on the neck, the shoulders rise toward the heavens, the muscles seem to turn to stone. Feldenkrais first wrote in Body and Mature Behavior that the startle response is built in to our nervous systems as a reflex to falling. Itís a protective device to help us guard our soft belly and the organs inside if we were to fall or be attacked.

The startle response comes in quite handy when there is a genuine threat to our survival. At these times, itís a brief and unexpected muscular pattern that would be difficult to observe as a parasitic muscular pattern, let alone control. And because the startle protects us, weíre better off not fooling around with it, even if we could!

But there are patterns of posture similar to those of the startle response that arenít at all useful for our survival. In times of anxiety or pain we often show changes from normal posture that are similar to those seen in the startle pattern. This overall stiffening of the muscles interferes with free movement. Chronically enacting such a muscular pattern can lead to pain or other bits of unpleasantness. But the good news is that these startle-like patterns are usually much slower than the genuine startle, and so with awareness can be observed as they occur. And if you can observe them as they occur, you might be able to choose whether or not to enact that pattern.

One of the most basic ways of improving functioning, then, is to become aware of yourself as you enact an unnecessary startle-like response. This is much easier said than done, of course. One of the aims of the reduced effort and odd postures in ATMs is to increase your sensitivity so that you can become aware of unneeded tension. Once this unneeded tension becomes visible or stands out, you have the choice of whether or not to keep it.

All this is well and good as long as weíre in ATM class or on the FI table. But what about the rest of the time? What can we do to help us become aware of enacting the startle-like response when we donít need it? For example, we might put ourselves into danger on purpose, into situation sure to elicit a startle response. Sometimes this might work, in, for example, thrill situations like sky diving, rock climbing or riding the local roller coaster. But thrill seeking is not everyoneís cup of tea, as they say. And, letís face it, it can be dangerous.

One of the key principles of the Feldenkrais Method is to learn in a low risk environment. But doesnít that seem contradictory here? How can you have a highly charged startle-like response in a low key environment?

One of the ways Iíve discovered to observe my own startle -like response in a very low risk situation is by going to the movies. Yes, the movies. The scarier the better. A well-written thriller takes advantage of dramatic devices to build tension and release tension at unexpected times. Let yourself get absorbed into the plot and youíll find your head pulling back and shoulders rising when the bad guys start slinging lead. Gory movies are also good for this purpose. In fact I came up with this concept while sitting through the constant gore of Mel Gibsonís epic Scottish tale Braveheart during my first training segment.

Itís fun to let go and get absorbed into the plot of a movie. But what if you kept at least some of your awareness on your muscles during the movie? When the forbidding music swells and the bad guy is about to slice and dice Mel, then you might notice your muscles tightening. If you did notice your muscles getting tight, then you might choose to detach yourself a bit from the action on the screen, observing the movie instead of being part of it. Congratulations. Youíve just become aware of a startle-like response as you were enacting it. Perhaps you chose to say no to it. Or maybe you said yes to it and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The point is that you became aware of your choice and you did what you wanted to do.

It's not so simple in real life. Itís easy to forget about your awareness during a hectic day at the office and come home with an aching back and shoulders up around your ears. But thereís always another movie to go to, one where you can practice your awareness and keep an eye on those unneeded startle-like responses. You can have a good time doing it, and you neednít roll around on the floor to learn sometime about yourself. And you might even improve your functioning. Isnít that one of the things this is all about anyway?