The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #161248   Message #3886889
Posted By: Stilly River Sage
05-Nov-17 - 09:36 AM
Thread Name: Declutter & Fitness - Clearing Out the House
Subject: RE: Declutter & Fitness -2017- Clearing Out the House
For those regular and lurker readers who have mentioned pain (who hasn't, at this point) here's an article that might be helpful. Trying the Feldenkrais Method for Chronic Pain.
The Feldenkrais method is one of several increasingly popular movement techniques, similar to the Alexander technique, that attempt to better integrate the connections between mind and body. By becoming aware of how one?s body interacts with its surroundings and learning how to behave in less stressful ways, it becomes possible to relinquish habitual movement patterns that cause or contribute to chronic pain.

It was developed by "Moshe Feldenkrais, an Israeli physicist, mechanical engineer and expert in martial arts, after a knee injury threatened to leave him unable to walk. Relying on his expert knowledge of gravity and the mechanics of motion, he developed exercises to help teach the body easier, more efficient ways to move."

A bit further down in the article:
Mr. Wyszynski explained that he starts by observing how patients are using their skeletons ? how they sit, stand and walk in ways that may cause or contribute to their pathology, be it spinal disc disease, arthritis, shoulder pain or damaged knee joints. In accordance with Dr. Feldenkrais?s astute observation, ?If you don?t know what you are doing, you can?t do what you want,? patients are then given a clear sensory experience of how their posture and behavior contribute to their pain and physical limitations.

For example, some people may use excessive force, clench their teeth, hold their breath or rush, causing undue muscle tension and skeletal stress. Years ago, I realized that my frequent headaches resulted from an unconscious habit of clenching my jaw when I concentrated intently on a task like sewing or cooking. Feldenkrais teachers do not give formulas for a proper way of behaving; rather, they rely on their patients? ability to self-discover and self-correct.


Even if you don't go to one of these clinics, I think there will be information that helps each of us be more mindful about clenched teeth, hunched shoulders, funky walks, etc. It comes back to good posture:

As a mechanical engineer and physicist, Dr. Feldenkrais understood that the job of the human skeleton was to accommodate the effects of gravity in order to remain upright. And he wanted people to achieve this in the most efficient way possible.