Page 213 - Total War on PTSD

movements, and introducing novel movements that we would not normally do in everyday life.
Often “mistakes” occur. Sometimes the students do not understand the instructions; sometimes they have no comprehension of how to do a movement because they have never done it before. Mistakes may open whole new vistas and are sometimes incorporated into the lesson. In these conditions, the nervous system can begin to identify and reproduce the new movement options that are best for each student.
Feldenkrais believed that striving to do everything correctly can inhibit the possibility of learning from the natural variation that occurs in our performance from “errors.” Moreover, thinking in terms of error or negative judgment puts a person’s mind and body into a tense state that doesn’t help learning.
Why use the Feldenkrais Method if you have PTSD?
There can be several obstacles to moving on from trauma. Where trauma has occurred, self-protective mechanisms are triggered, which can lead to stiffness, pain, lack of movement and a sense of losing oneself. Emotions such as anger, fear and anxiety can become fixed in posture. Veterans who have suffered from trauma may not recognize their own feelings and reactions. They respond to reminders of the past by automatically engaging in physical actions that were appropriate at the time of the trauma but are no longer relevant. They may have problems with sustained attention and memory. They may have difficulty attending to their inner sensations and perceptions. They often feel overwhelmed. Traumatized individuals lose their way in the world and the Feldenkrais Method is uniquely equipped to help them create new neurological maps.
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