The same somatics session is a different session when you do it in a new context.
I didn’t learn it from a Feldenkrais teacher. I learned it from a bunch of college students trying to get extra credit: Different context gets different result.
Here's the deal: Between 2002 and 2007, I taught infancy and early childhood development classes in the psychology dept. of the University of Utah. I did whatever I could to weave Feldenkrais ideas into the classes, mainly by using developmental milestones - crawling, rolling, walking - as an excuse to teach Feldenkrais sessions.
I required students to submit 1-page “Field Notes” about the sessions and how they affected their experience. Once they got over the weirdness of it, they loved it.
Something unexpected happened when students asked me for “extra credit.” They wanted a project or paper they could do to increase their grades.I was busy - teaching load, graduate studies, research all of it - so I came up with what I thought was a rather unimaginative idea:
Take Feldenkrais sessions they had already done - and do them in a new context.
- If they normally did sessions in the evening, do them in the morning.
- If they normally did them at home, do some at work.
- Do one in public.
- Do one at a relative’s house.
It didn’t matter to me as long as the context was as different as possible.
I was quite surprised when their papers came back. They described radically different experiences from when they first did a session. Different emotional experiences. Different insights. More relaxing - more impactful. More stress and strain relief . The field notes were longer, more detailed, and more honest. I was impressed.
I came up with the term “the non-habitual, non-habitual” to describe what they had done.
And I’ve used “non-habitual” Feldenkrais strategies ever since. Because you can easily fall into doing Feldenkrais in a habitual manner. And it can be surprisingly instructive to do sessions in what would be - for you - the most non-habitual manner.
You’ll be surprised at how different your experience is - and what you discover about yourself and your ability to let go of stress and relax.
I believe that if you really want to evolve your life and habits at deeper and deeper levels - to break free from more habits and compulsions and drop stress and strain - doing the non-habitual, non-habitual is a requirement.
And if you want sessions that make that ridiculously easy, here are two series you can use right away:
Feldenkrais Primitives (32 sessions, 5 minutes or less)
https://ryannagy.samcart.com/products/primitives
Layered Primitives (14 sessions, about 10 minutes or less)
https://ryannagy.samcart.com/products/layered-primitives
Everything is easy peasy. Just click to play and do the video sessions when they come in via email. No password required. And when you have some new and unexpected results, feel free to let me know. I read each and every email.
Ryan
