This Summer was a pretty busy one. I was on a training course, continuing the Childspace Training in Italy, performing with the Gabrieli Consort, with their youth choir, who were brillliant, followed by teaching on the London Professional Feldenkrais Training course, who are now in their 2nd year. I did get a little time off, in Italy, before heading back at the weekend.
Often, when we’re on holiday, our physical demeanour changes. Away from the usual routines, stresses and strains, we have a chance to relax, to enjoy a different pace of life for a while.
Being somewhere different makes novelty even of the most mundane task. An Italian supermarket is different to an English one in a way that makes shopping more intriguing. What’s butter in Italian (thanks Google Translate), how much ice-cream is too much? (Just kidding). Cuts of meat, and cheeses are different, and fruit is more home grown for a start.
We need both novelty and relaxation to learn well. No-one can learn efficiently under duress. In the 70s some researchers looked at Learning, and how it could be improved. One of the things they discovered was when we’re relaxed, information goes in and stays in the brain more easily. And novelty means that the brain stays engaged. Too much of the same, and our brains goes onto autopilot. It’s differences which engage your brain, and get it interested.
Being content or peaceful is a holistic state. After all, the two are intertwined. We simply can’t have one without the other. We’re embodied beings after all.
So how can we stay more relaxed the rest of the year? Relaxation is a body state, one which comes when we let go of excess tension or effort. To reframe it, relaxation is a state of greater efficiency. It comes with learning to act with less power. Just the right amount of power or effort for what we’re doing at the moment.
Feldenkrais lessons aim to help you with this. To sense yourself in greater detail, so that you can move more with more efficiency, with greater ease. Often people feel more relaxed at the end of a Feldenkrais session. We’re acting with less tension, strain or pushing behind our action.
Why keep it to your holiday when you could enjoy feeling more relaxed all year round!
Transform how you move, feel and live 