Page 170 - Total War on PTSD

The aim of the Feldenkrais Method is to create that environment. Dr. Feldenkrais designed the Method to allow us to modify these internal images of the body — using the intimate relationship between moving and sensing that is essential in all our actions. As you make movements and direct your attention to observations like where your body is located in space; your relationship with the floor; and sensations of effort, direction and ease you develop a clearer image of your body. Dr. Feldenkrais developed processes that value lack of effort, moving slowly, attention to personal sensations, focus on the qualities of movement and curiosity and choice. Using this greater precision of perception helps you move more comfortably, with less pain and greater ease.
Most people have an unclear idea of how they move. They don’t realize that they have choices in how they move. They have an inaccurate picture and limitations due to this image of self. For example, if someone does not know that her shoulder blade can move and is, in fact, the primary mover for the arm, then she can cause herself injury when reaching, perhaps tearing a rotator cuff muscle. Someone who has recovered from an injury may not realize that he is still holding on to patterns from the injury. If he has broken his leg, he will shift his weight onto the uninjured leg and may never shift the weight back. Many of us have never learned certain ways of moving. Each of us have developed habits so deeply engrained that they don’t seem changeable. Our habitual ways of moving are difficult to detect because they are so much a part of us, even when they cause pain or discomfort. Inefficient movement leads to internal stress, muscular tension and shearing forces — forces that push one part of a body in one specific direction and another part of the body in the opposite direction.
As we mature, the brain continues to refine our movements by shedding what it perceives as unused movement patterns. We begin to rely on fewer and fewer patterns of action. These limited patterns cause dysfunction — moving in a way that undermines the system. Certain muscle groups and joints do most of the work while others remain inactive. These habitual and repetitive movement patterns can cause injury, pain, stiffness, compression of the spine, limited movement and poor posture. We don’t give
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