Page 212 - Total War on PTSD

to reduce effort where possible. Muscle tension can be reduced by using awareness to notice how we unintentionally contract muscles that are not necessary for a movement. Sensing these differences creates potent and lasting neuromuscular change. The Feldenkrais Method focuses on the quality of our movements (light, easy, soft, slow, smooth) over quantity (we don’t do many rote repetitions and rarely use big ranges of motion). It is only when you are able to sense a difference that you have a choice. By interrupting the cycle of repetitive damage, Veterans can heal and even improve.
Feldenkrais also suggested doing the movement short of reaching the pain threshold. Acting in spite of pain causes the tissues and joints to become irritated and inflamed. Gently repeating the movement short of pain will enable you to extend the range of your ability more than you would accomplish by overcoming pain.
Variation is the spice of movement. Our earliest experiences in learning how to move were when we were infants. Dr. Feldenkrais observed that the kind of random movements that babies do, driven by stimulation from the environment and by their own curiosity, leads to new movement patterns. Learning is not linear, especially not the type of organic learning that happens in every Feldenkrais lesson. If we practice each movement as if for first time, we will notice something new and learn something new each time. Practicing somatic movements is quite different than doing sit-ups or push-ups; it’s not about the quantity, it’s about the quality.
Pursuing an ideal movement in a regimented way does not lead to the kind of movement improvement stimulated by Feldenkrais lessons. In both ATM and FI lessons, practitioners use a number of strategies to generate the kind of variation that leads to learning: going slowly, breaking movement patterns into parts, reversing
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