Moshe Feldenkrais wrote a small seminal pamphlet on learning called “Learning to Learn” which he developed as a guide to accompany recorded and published Awareness Through Movement lessons. In each class that I teach one or more of the elements he discussed surfaces. Probably none is more important, and a part of each and every class, than his direction to “do a little less than you can.” I understand his directive to mean that while learning, it is counterproductive to push to the maximum of our ability. Remember, that for Feldenkrais, learning was about taking the time to explore in order to clarify and refine actions and movements that we already know, but with the goal of experiencing new and hopefully easier and more integrated means of doing them. For example, we all know how to roll over in bed but many of us struggle and take 3-4 steps to get there. In our class, we break down an action like rolling into component elements to find newer, lighter, easier and hopefully more playful ways of rolling. Doing less than we are capable of with each sequence reminds us to avoid the stress of striving and as Feldenkrais said, gives “yourself a real chance to learn to learn.”
Please join us soon for a class to see how we learn and discover how you can learn to do everyday actions safely, without pain and while having fun.
