How do you respond when you reach your limits?
I was teaching some of my small (6 year old) violin pupils this week how to synchronise the finger notes together with the bowing. It’s one of the trickiest transitions, as you put two things together that a beginner might still find tricky.
The difference in responses is fascinating. Some children found it funny, some got upset, some gave up, some got curious, some rose to the challenge. I’m aware that it was a response at that particular time, on that particular day. It’s only when we observe that moment over time, we can start to determine a more habitual response. It would also depend on how much someone wanted to improve what they were doing. But as adults we have more idea of our habitual responses.
How can you feel your limits?
When I lived in Amsterdam, my then Dutch boyfriend taught me how to roller blade. I say “taught”, he wasn’t a natural teacher, so it was more of a “This is how you do it, copy me”, but he tried. I was learning Dutch at the same time, I’d been there around 6 months, and was just about able to speak in whole sentences.
And that day I learned something about my own capacity and limits. I could speak dutch, or I could stay upright on wheels. I couldn’t do both. I found it hilarious! It was so literal. He spoke to me in English I stayed up. I tried to listen to or formulate Dutch I fell down! Luckily I had kneepads on.
Babies either walk or speak, they don’t do it together.
One child might walk first, the other might speak. It’s too much to learn both at once. Which I managed to experience as an adult!
Our learning requires a pace that is conducive to experimenting. Not simply doing, but sensing and experiencing. So if you want to learn something new, slowing down is a basic requirement.
Where are the limits in what we can improve?
As a musician, I don’t think there are limits to the levels of refinement we can make. We’ll notice them less as the shifts and changes get smaller. It’s easier to feel the change in a car from 0-40 miles an hour. Harder to sense the shift between 45-50. One of the reasons people get caught just above the speed limit. They don’t feel a small shift in the same way they notice the big ones.
And as a middle aged musician, my musicianship improves, even if I have to work at physical issues in a different way.
Which, for me, is where Feldenkrais comes in. Musician or not, we can all improve how we move.
Future proof yourself:
Finding more efficiency of movement, and sensing our whole selves in movement feels better. (I say this from a personal point of view, and from listening to hundreds of my students and clients). If we move inefficientially the excess energy has to go somewhere. And it adds to wear and tear on our musculoskeletal system. So you’re future proofing yourself. When I took the Feldenkrais training I realised that. Even if I had never taught a single lesson, it still would have been worth the investment, to give myself the resources to move and feel better. To be able to resolve MSK issues more quickly, without medical intervention, because I have learnt to move and treat myself better than before.
The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 67:
‘Because I think I’m making progress,’ he replied.”
the Feldenkrais Method with Emma Alter 