When I was little, I used to regularly visit London with my Mum to go to Great Ormond Street Hospital. I was history obsessed from a very early age, so after the hospital visit, if we had time, we would go to the British Museum. To do something nice after something less pleasant.
We usually went to the Egyptian rooms. One of my favourites mummies was Ginger, an early mummy, several thousand years old, whose ginger hair was still attached. He was just hair and bones. But there was something fascinating about him. I always said hello.
There’s something special about the skeleton. It’s such a quiet part of us. Life is so busy, always moving. We’re never really still, after all. Our breath moves us constantly, like the ebb and flow of the ocean.
If we listen to ourselves more deeply, sink our attention into the bones, we can find a simplicity and calmness, no matter how busy our outside life is. Try it yourself. Take a moment, in sitting, and let your attention move to some part of your skeleton that is easy for you to sense. Send your mind’s eye into that area of bone, and sense the quiet below the muscles, below the busy-ness. Breathe as if you could breathe into that area you’ve chosen. Try another area. Notice if doing that changes your breathing in any way.
Something else which is extraordinary: If we think of our skeleton, the brain automatically adjusts its power settings to more ergonomic.
Let’s think about it for a moment. We don’t have to retrain the muscles to make a difference. All we have to do is become more aware of what we’re doing, how we’re moving ourselves that might be a waste of energy. Our brain then adapts to this new information unconsciously. And that does take a little time, ideally regularly, so you can improve the skill.
the Feldenkrais Method with Emma Alter 