“For proper functioning, (the) nervous structure needs full activity followed by full rest” – Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais as noted in Chapter 18 in Feldenkrais Illustrated: The Art of Learning, edited and illustrated by Tiffany Sankary.
In each Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement® class, movement sequences are interspersed with rests. Not exactly the rest time that we all enjoyed (!) in preschool, but probably rest that is as, or more, important.
The purpose of frequent resting during our classes allows us to take a break from the focus on paying attention to how we are doing the movements being asked of us. We spend the few moments of rest observing the impact of the movements and resulting changes in our bodies.
Awareness Through Movement sequences are structured to help us observe and then refine movement patterns. During the rests those changes are revealed and imprinted before we move on to the next sequences. With each new set of movements, we learn more about what we are doing so our nervous system can learn how to do things differently. We are not looking to “correct” but to observe, change, and refine, in an ongoing loop, to promote deep, sensory learning which is how we learned in those preschool days when we rolled, crawled, jumped and did many other sensory and tactile activities.
This year as we go back to school, the focus will be on resting while we learn. I invite you to join us to explore how you can learn while you rest and why resting is so important.
This Fall we hope to have opportunities for classes in person as well as on ZOOM.
