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The physics of Feldenkrais1
. . . . . . . . . . . .
J. C. Hannon
A brazen truth is that we don't
know what we don't know. This
series of articles will review
some important but oftenoverlooked physical
principles underlying all forms of
bodywork. Most therapists study
kinesiology in school but do they
comprehend it in their bones? We
may be able to rattle o Newton's
Laws but do we nd benet
applying them in our own daily
practice? These articles will attempt
to reconnect our understanding of
the role physics plays in enhancing
eciency, safety and economy of
eort in our therapy. Thisunderstanding involves a coherent
integration of proprioceptive,
tactile, visceral as well as intellectual
factors.
The irony is that we all have
experienced the reality of inertia,
momentum, friction and leverage.
In our earliest years we cultivate
conscious movement by the kind of
relentless exploration drives our
parents to distraction. It takes years
to learn to stand well on one leg butonly a few unbalanced milliseconds
to feel the power of gravity.
Unfortunately, most civilized
adults use their bodies ineciently;
clumsy sti movements are seen
everywhere. Athletes have overuse
injuries and repetitive strain
disorders proliferate even among
bodyworkers. Where do you ache?
Underlying ergonomics are the
physical relationships of forces and
resistances that contribute to all
movement.
The purpose of this series is toexplore the basic physics of
kinesiology and to point toward
practical strategies to improve the
way that we, and our clients, use
ourselves. The writings of Moshe
Feldenkrais lend themselves to this
study. He was a qualied engineer
and he possessed two certicates
attesting to his commitment to
learning about movement. Not only
did he earn a DSc in physics from
the Sorbonne but he also became the
rst European to receive a BlackBelt in Judo from the Kodokan. His
six books and hundreds of pages of
transcripts provide a mother-lode
from which his thoughts on the
science of movement may be mined
(Leri 1999).
This series will purposefully
ignore the neurophysiology of
motor control, theories of motor
learning, the eect of anxiety upon
human behavior as well as
kinesiological concepts not directlyraised by Feldenkrais. Instead, the
material will focus on concrete
applications of the physical `house
rules' that underline good manual
therapy. By uncovering principles of
movement science, we all may
maintain our health and deepen our
practice. Enhanced clinical results
with less eort will accomplish both
goals.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Journalof Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2000)
4(1), 27^30
# 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
John CharlesHannon DC
Certied Feldenkrais Practitioner, Private Practice,
1141 Pacic Street, Suite B,San Luis Obispo,CA,USA
Correspondence to: John C. Hannon
Tel.: 1 805 542 9925;
Fax: 1 805 541 2391
Received: October 1999
Revised: October 1999
Accepted: November 1999
The topic of posture, and how the individual uses
their body is central to most bodywork and
movement therapies and approaches. This new
series of peer reviewed papers will explore the issues
around this core topic from a particular perspective.The reader is invited to participate by
communicating with the author, or the editor, with
comments, ideas and constructive criticism.
Alternative viewpoints will be published in future
issue of the Journal of Bodywork and Movement
Therapies.
Editor
S e r i e s : F e l d e n k r a i s T h e o r y a n d R e s e a r c h
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But we must recall a peril in
establishing principles to guide our
practice. Too slavish a reliance on
principles may lead to ignoring the
individuality of our clients and
applying `cookie-cutter' techniques.
Perhaps this is why Feldenkraiswould sometimes say in his trainings
that the rst principle of his method
was that there were no principles.
No stranger to controversy,
Feldenkrais (1977) also said, during
his Practitioner Training class in San
Francisco, `We have as our rst
principle you have to know all
the techniques possible or
imaginable on every part of the
body and in every combination.
This way you are capable of takingout the exact error that hits the
bull's eye on that particular person.
The thing that is right on that
person. Give the thing most needed
by that person at that time
(Leri 1999).
Somehow we need to discover
principles that will help us to
gauge what `bulls eye' manual
techniques look and feel like. It is a
premise of this series that the best
place to start is by understanding
the heft and shape of the eectsthat gravity has upon our
movements. Another premise is that
the value of gentleness lies not only
in being more ecient but also by
enhancing the ability to sense more.
Dr Milton Trager's famous
comment comes to mind: `Why
ask how high you can jump, why
not ask how lightly you can land'
(Liskin 1996).
A principle from Judo that has
center stage in the FeldenkraisMethod
1 is the Principle of
Maximal Eciency with Minimal
Eort. Let us shorten this to the
Principle of Least Eort. This
principle will pop up throughout
the series; it has many applications.
Two exercises to learn more
about amount of eort we usually
exert, and how the Principle of
Least Eort may make our job
easier can be found in Boxes
1 and 2.
The series will explore, with a
maximum of experiential exercises,
the importance of awareness in
learning new movement skills. If
concepts such as the importance of a
fulcrum for leverage, (the rotation of
the pelvis in the above exercise being
an example), help organize your
clinical practice for safer and more
eective results, it will be time well
spent.
Box 1 Theinuence of the restingpostureupon quality of movement
. Sit on a solid stool about as high as your kneecap.
. Place your knees shoulder-width apart and your ankles directly below your
knees. Your shins should be vertical and your thighs parallel with the oor, the
feet parallel with each other.
. Now slide your right foot a hand's width backward toward the stool legs and
the left foot a hand's width forward.
. Your feet should be resting at on the oor.
. Using the ankle as a hinge, lift the left foot up in such a way that the front of
the foot rises without the toes tensing; in other words, rock the foot as a whole
upon the heel.
. Try not to have the toe tendons tighten but use other muscles to hoist the foot.
Gauge how high the big toe rise and see if you can lift the foot without rolling
the forefoot to either side.. Perform the same movement with the right foot.
. Naturally, the right foot does not raise as high, but are you using more eort
than necessary on the left?
. What is the height that you can reach with the right foot using only as much
eort as on the left side?
. Slowly slide the right foot forward a bit and try the maneuver and see where is
the exact point where the eort becomes easy. How is this point on the oor
related to the ankle hinge?
. Move the feet far away from the stool until the feet rest only upon the heels.
. Why is raising the feet easier still in this position?
Fig1 Rocking the heel in the sitting postion.
Hannon
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Box 2 Exploring the ischiumas another of the body's pivot points
. This exercise is not designed for aerobics or for strengthening; its purpose is awareness so please do not strain.
Attempt to use the least eort consistent with the task. When a maximal eort is asked for, ensure that the eort is
safe and comfortable.
. Raise a knee and cradle it, ngers interlaced around the kneecap.
. Arrange your supporting foot for stability.
. The more eort you exert, the less attention to detail you will be able to distinguish. Test this idea by just once
exerting maximally: isometrically push the knee oor-ward while clasping the knee to your chest with maximal
eort. Do this for a few seconds then rest.
. As you rest, notice if you are able to sense if your diaphragm and lower ribs lost some excursion during the eort.
. Was there added tension in your tongue, eyes, jaw muscles?
. Did your support leg tense or move from its original spot?
. Are you still tensed from the eort?
. Why was there extra eort and which muscles were required to work for this task? Can you repeat the exercise with
only these muscles working?
One application to be explored in the series is how our skeleton is designed to carry the gravitational load. If the
skeleton is arranged optimally for this task, the support leg need not tighten even during maximal isometric eort
of the arms and knee. Interestingly, repose of this leg requires a solid awareness
of the best place for the ischial tuberosities to be upon the stool. Just as we saw the eects of moving the feet upon
the ease of lifting the soles, there is a relationship of the ischial tuberosities, gravity and the stool to the task of
lifting a knee.
. Explore the eects of a very small sideways rocking of your ischial tuberosities upon the stool.
. Try many positions of the supporting foot until the leg muscles relax, support being provided by the stiness and
bulk of the bones of the leg and pelvis.
. Last of all, while continuing to cradle the knee, relax the neck, back, arm, chest, the hip exors and any other
muscle that is unneeded for this position.
. Continue to prune unnecessary eort until you feel the position to be an easy and comfortable one.
. If you have found the sweet spot, a slight tilt of your neck backwards should rock your entire upper body
backwards upon your ischial tuberosities.
. Can you sense which ischial tuberosity participates most fully in this rocking?
Fig 2 Rocking upon the ischia with a clasped yet dangling leg.
The physicsof Feldenkrais1
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REFERENCES
Feldenkrais M 1977 Training transcript: San
Francisco Year III. Portland: The
Feldenkrais Guild, 11
Feldenkrais M 1992 Body and Mature
Behaviour: A study of anxiety, sex,
gravitation and learning. International
Universities Press, Madison, 13
Leri D 1999 Learning How to Learn. The
principle of no principles. http://
www.semiophysics.com/learn.htm, p.5
Liskin J 1996 Moving Medicine: the life and
work of Milton Trager. MD: Station Hill
Press, 22
Box 2 ^ Continued
. Note that, although sometimes taking months to discover, hip exion eort is not needed when sitting securely
with the knee held clasped.
. Does your clasped shin swing like a pendulum as you rock back and forth. It is a tiny but very evident feeling
of swing.. Are your elbows tensing during the rocking upon the stool? If so, you still have not pruned enough excess
eort away from the task.
. Notice another principle: Control follows awareness.
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