Nostrand Avenue Subway Station Brooklyn, New York. 6.15am. Waiting for the 3 train along with all my fellow early morning passengers, many of whom like me were in the people care business We all waited for the train to take us to our 7am clients.
Most mornings, in silence, we would frequently watch the rats playing/grubbing around for food. Today we saw Clive. That's what we named him. He was a big, mutant rat with no fear of humans and he would often disturb our standing repose because we would have to execute a Beckham dodge to avoid tackling him. Today he was running along the platform and we were watching him, preparing to dive in a different direction if necessary.
As he was running, a new lady passenger was walking down the steps oblivious to everything going on around her. She was texting on her smartphone and was totally absorbed in whatever she was typing. I forgot to mention it was summer and she was wearing open toed sandals.
Clive had decided to run up the steps at exactly the same time as this lady was descending. On the last step they collided or I should clarify, Clive ran over her foot but the lady remained completely unaware of their meeting.
I and my fellow travellers looked at each other and grimaced. All of us imagined the felt sensation of a big three pound rat running over our feet, but apparently our lady did not notice it at all. What should we do, we thought? Tell her? Risk the hysterical breakdown? The train solved the problem by arriving and we all embarked upon our journey. Our Lady of Unawareness sat down, still texting but she started to rub her feet together obviously a belated sensation of Clive's little feet on her skin was beginning to arise. We all looked at each with an unspoken agreement not to mention anything. What our Lady did not know would not alarm her.
This incident set off a chain of thought stories in my head of how frequently awareness or more particularly, the lack of it, bothers me. People going down the subway steps who stop midway to check their cell phones before the signal fades not thinking that there are ten people behind them who have to halt suddenly to avoid a dramatic fall down the steps. Then there are those people again in the subway who stop in front of the barrier and search for their ticket in pockets or large bags not realising that there is a line of people who do have their tickets ready but who are prevented from moving forward. I could go on.
"You can tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely in New York" Jay-Z
Perhaps this lack of awareness is just bad manners but Clive the Rat drew our attention to the lady whose sense fields were completely closed down because she was absorbed in her texting. There is a lack of awareness around us all the time, in thoughts, language, attitude, habits, deeds, movement, manners and so on.
So what is this word Awareness, that those of us in the 'business' throw around so much.
The great movement sage Moshe Feldenkrais offers a definition.
"awareness is part of the thinking mechanism which listens to the self while acting ...... awareness is knowledge of what is going on while it is happening .......awareness means relating or having a dynamic relationship with our senses, our emotions, our surroundings. This knowing happens without meditation, without distraction in a non-verbal way. One senses oneself absolutely in action, one is in complete relationship with oneself. Simultaneously we are in resonance with our fellows and with the entire environment. There are no escapes, no doubts. There is no good and bad, there are no faults. The act of awareness is success in itself."
I think that says it all. Almost all cultures and religions employ methods to help people develop awareness of the moment. Is it learnt or does it have to be awakened? It can certainly get buried or lost.
Moshe Feldenkrais developed a complete somatic method that uses awareness, sensation, imagination and movement. The process of organic learning through movement and sensing can free us from habitual patterns so that new patterns of thinking, moving and feeling emerge. The Method explores the biological and cultural aspects of movement posture and learning and how our habits can contain us to a small portion of our potential. Through our personal history, upbringing, culture, injuries, illness etc we each adopt patterns of physical and psychological behaviour.
Long before I encountered Feldenkrais movement lessons called Awareness Through Movement,( not awareness of movement, there is a difference), I had tried many therapies and physical modalities to sort out the residue of my injuries from a car smash. Everything I learnt had some effect but I would often return to a default status. Feldenkrais Awareness through Movement lessons are utterly unique utilising the neuroplasticity of the brain to remove traumatic history from the nervous system creating a new mode of moving, sensing and thinking.
Awareness Through Movement Lessons are structured movement lessons, and students typically begin lying on comfortable mats (lessons are taught using a variety of positions, including sitting on chairs or standing) always fully clothed. Using a combination of guided attention and pleasant purposeful movement each lesson guides the person through the essential pattern of movement and actions.
Unlike traditional exercise, where movements can become mechanical and the objective is to burn calories, stretch or train will power for its own, awareness through movement teaches one the secrets to reducing unnecessary muscular effort and improving awareness of the whole self in action. This emphasis on sensory learning results in movement and vitality that is more flexible, pleasurable and free of aches and pains. The lessons are easy to do and of benefit to everyone and the results can be extraordinary. Over the years I have taught many people of different ages with many different kinds of movement challenges. Even learning to move efficiently and gracefully gives people who suffer from poor body image a better view of themselves.
Awareness Through Movement lessons were developed by Moshe Feldenkrais as a means to re-engage the nervous system in the kind of learning we all do as infants when we are born with 'enlightened' bodies but later abandon due to picking up other movement habits. The compositional structure of the lessons creates a conversation of sensing, feeling, resting and moving that engages your brain and whole system in a process of organic learning where old habits can be replaced by new awareness and skill.
Throughout my training, I think I have probably engaged in over 1000 lessons but let me talk now about my Ah Ha! lesson. I suffered from migraines for years. I went to Doctors, Dentists, Nutritionists, Allergists, Acupuncturists and more but to no avail. One day with a migraine growing, I lay down on the floor and listened to a tape designed to hel TMJ or temporomandibular joint disorder. This disorder can create all kinds of pain and discomfort in the jaw, face, neck, shoulders. The movements in the lesson were tiny, gentle and easy, concentrating on the mouth and jaw. At one point I heard an almighty crack which did not hurt, it just made a loud noise. From that point onwards I have never had a migraine or even a mild headache. This particular lesson is one of several that specifically target the face, although with all Feldenkrais lessons, a face lesson could just as easily affect the feet or some other part of the body. I had a couple of Feldenkrais colleagues who specifically ran workshops called Free Your Face that sold these lessons as a non surgical facelift amongst all the other benefits. I went to a workshop once and the lessons achieved what they advertised. All the participants left the workshop looking younger and less stressed and wrinkled. Also, necks, shoulders and backs felt better.
Not long after my own experience removing migraines from my life, my Mother had a minor stroke. One side of her face had dropped and she had difficulty eating and using her mouth. My Mother can be quite resistant of any kind of help or advice so without letting her know what I was doing, she was just sitting at the dining room table, I just started to ask her to do some gentle facial movements, just a few at a time. This is where the Feldenkrais Method is so magical because I watched in front of me, my Mother's face return to its former shape. While I was watching her in awe, she became excited because her painful back and frozen shoulder began to release its trauma. An amazing lesson and so simple.
I was now on a roll with this lesson and taught it to several people, teeth grinders, lock jaw etc. One of my close friends who a professional dancer who worked with a well known choreographer. He was known to be a bully to his dancers and my friend had a cold and could not breathe through her nose. The choreographer did not want his dancers to open their mouths so he kept on yelling at my friend. The stress and discomfort caused her to have lockjaw. The TMJ lesson sorted her out.
So lockjaw/TMJ and awareness through movement lessons are a long way from Clive the Rat and the Lack of Awareness Lady and my own train of thought travelled rapidly today with perhaps many missed opportunities to explore awareness/mindfulness/meditation and awareness of the sense fields. But that is for another blog.
I found a wonderful quote once that allows me to explore a sensory application that affects my whole day. Before I mention it, I had the worst year ever last year, which I will not go into but this quote helped me everyday.
"Eat a live frog in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." Mark Twain
Can you sense that? Can you feel it? It works doesn't it?
This blog was conceived on the cross trainer in the Waendel Leisure Centre in Wellingborough. This time I was listening to the Ladies - Beyoncé, J Lo, Katy Perry, Rhianna who help me with that unspeakable relationship I have to endure with the cardio machines.
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