To be considered a threat Feldenkrais needs to get better known and it needs to start growing exponentially. Then what? To be brutally honest, the work will need to start threatening the livelihoods of people. If thousands of people began cancelling their TMJ surgery or back pain surgery to do Feldenkrais, thereby costing medical practitioners millions of dollars - believe me - the attack dogs would come out in full force. And that is what we need; controversy, discussion and greater and greater cultural relevance for Feldenkrais ideas. It is great when books get written that mention "Feldenkrais" and when it gets mentioned in a national spelling bee (as it recently was). But we need more. Do you agree?

There is another idea that I am playing with, which is using Feldenkrais ideas to create new life scripts for people. The current ecological crises as well as the massive technology-driven changes in jobs (i.e. job loses and entire industries taken over by software) are slowly making many current life scripts irrelevant. It is a bit scary but it is a huge opportunity and need. What will happen when people spend their lives developing there awareness and ability to act and less on making money? More on that in a future post.

The third answer of what is needed to make Feldenkrais a threat is a little ephemeral, but just as real. It is something rarely spoken of. It centers on the fact there is a disconnect between the potential of the work and that of the people using the work. Feldenkrais fans spend a great deal of time talking about how great "the work is." That's fine. I agree that it certainly can be. But what is needed are the structures and processes to liberate the potential of people using the work. And that will require a massive restructuring of how people think of themselves in relation to work.

A Certified Person Is Not An Authority

As an example, consider this idea of "becoming your own authority". Well, talking about becoming your own authority and actually being your own authority are two very different things. Likewise, being "certified" and being an authority are also at odds. Think about it. Could anyone certify your sense of self? Could someone certify your personal agency and authority? If it has to be certified by an outside person or agency then it does not come from you and you do not have it. And if you do not have it, how can you teach it? Who certified Moshe Feldenkrais? Let him tell you:

Question To Moshe: "Who were your teachers?"

Feldenkrais: "Myself. I refused to go to the university to learn medicine. I refused to be wired in like everybody else. I said I don't mind making my own mistakes, but I don't want to learn by the authority of a known professor. He will convince me because he knows better and in half a year I will lose all my curiosity. I'll be learning like every body else and get a good diploma."

No one certified Moshe. And while I hope if you want to get a PhD or go to med school (or wherever) you go or not based on YOUR reasoning, not Moshe's, you still may want to consider the limitation of certification. No one can certify you as as an authority. No man, no woman, no organization. I will have much more to say about that in the upcoming webinar series on power literacy. It is a crucial piece needed for the growth of the work. And more importantly the growth of your work.

In the meantime, is not rather annoying that this potent and consequential work is seen by many powerful groups as peripheral, even inconsequential? Or...have we messed up and let the work become inconsequential? People see no need write editorials against Feldenkrais or protest it or pass laws banning its use. We could not even convince Obama to launch drone strikes against the Feldenkrais Guild nor any individual trainers. Hell, no one has threatened me at all the last few weeks. How lame is that?

But take heart. There is a solution. And yes, it involves awareness and action. But it will be scary to many people as it involves becoming aware of processes that are rarely written about. As I mentioned it, I am calling it "Power Literacy." It involves being literate in the processes that organize groups of people (and people within those groups). I am not talking solely about the Feldenkrais Guilds, but about any organization of humans whether a corporation, church or university.

I have never presented on this before, because I did not have the complete concepts to formulate it. And I mentioned, it is scary. But now I have the words and framework. Details on the upcoming webinars coming soon.

The post Will Feldenkrais Ever Be Considered A Threat? appeared first on Emergent Somatics.

The Relational Self-Images

I am speaking to how people unconsciously represent their "self" to themselves and to others. In contrast to what some students of Feldenkrais believe, the key factor in creating lasting change is not always the self-image. At least not the one described by Moshe Feldenkrais. People can and do spend decades of their life using Feldenkrais sessions to expand and change their motor image, sometimes called the homunculus, and what Feldenkrais considered the major part of the self-image. That is very valuable work. I have done it and continue to do so.

But it is rarely - if ever - enough. One can dramatically change and expand the motor image and still not get what one wants from life. Or even make the attempt to get what one wants. Look around the Feldenkrais community. Do you find many that have achieved the success that they themselves want for themselves? Have you? Do you see people stuck in a certain place in the Feldenkrais community - some for decades? Have you been stuck? Well, if the Feldenkrais Method is so powerful why are so many people stuck?

The Self-Images

I do not expect most people to believe me right now, if ever. But hey, that is how it goes. I have had the experiences to prove it to myself and to a few others and more is on the way. What I have found is that most people in the various Feldenkrais communities have fixed their position in relation to others. This means that they continue to be "who they are" even if they want it to be different.

Why? It is actually very simple: People not only internally represent themselves, but they also internally represent themselves in relation to other people. Everyone carries around an image of his or herself, yes (more than one actually). These images contain but are not defined by the motor image. That is a critical point. But even more critical, people also carry around images of other key people within themselves. And how one represents one's self-image in relation to those others has a massive correlation with how one acts in the world.

Of the factors that people have under their personal control, the largest and most important factors for developing the self and life are these relational self-images. Again, without being aware of it, many practitioners have fixed their social position in society and in the Feldenkrais community. This means that continue to be "who they are" even in the midst of great changes that they have created with the work and even though they "want" it to be different.

You do not "act in accordance with your self-image" as Moshe stated. You act in accordance with your self-image(s) and relational images - those of yourself and those of others. All of which you have created internally and almost completely unconsciously. And all of which can be changed and re-arranged with the right strategy.

I realize I am writing in a largely abstract manner. More specifics will come in future posts and videos. For now, just be aware that if you have spent years trying to get a specific result with the Feldenkrais method and you have not been able to do so, it is not you that is the problem. The problem has been the strategies that you have been using. Feldenkrais can do some cool things. Some amazing things. Feldenkrais can change lives in ways that no other methods can. Yes, we can get biblical and say that sometimes Feldenkrais can "make the lame walk." But Feldenkrais cannot do everything. And some of the boldest claims put forth by some practitioners and trainers are unsupported. Emotional maturity? Economic independence? The ability to move without hesitation and preparation in any direction? There is much more to it than many people know.

More to come....

Ryan

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