Category Archives: Aging well

Peace and Harmony

In the last post called; Lifestyle Hacks – Reverse pain, stiffness and aging in fingers, hands, wrists & lower arms naturally the focus is on a physical shift in the felt sensations through a pattern of self-care. In the same self-care pattern there is an emotional release that is available. The tough connective tissue like the skin, facia, flesh, muscles, ligaments, etc., all create a felt sensation that stimulates tension, anxiety stress, impatience, irritation, and angry feelings. The softening and release of inflammation in the same connective tissue creates a different range of emotions through the felt sense shift. The softening can create an enjoyable range of emotions like an increase in tolerance, joy, playfulness, peace and harmony. The self-care that was suggested in this post focused on one’s hands. Our hands have a huge map in our brains due to their constant use. Each time we move our fingers, hands, wrists lower arms and elbows it deepens the groove in the neural pathways in the brain. The lack of micro-movements in the same functional areas will reduce the grooves in the neuro pathways and eventually they will be lost. This is when the saying, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it, applies.

The Feldenkrais perspective has focused on patterns to introduce these lost movement patterns and reintegrate them. This self-care would increase the felt senses in an Awareness through Movement Lessons. This means one could feel a difference in the movements of the joints and bones differently. The muscles around the joints and flesh would be softer increasing the range of motion.

From my perspective of a Nonviolent Communication Educated Communication Specialist please note I do not have the perspective that we carry stories in our physical function. Rather the short and long-term memories are stored in the prefrontal cortex in the hippocampus area. However, the tension or held patterns in the functional physical body can stimulate the stored memories. A Western trend currently is to fixate on memories as a way to resolve issues and shift movement patterns. Unfortunately, the story memories are a function in the brain that has an alignment with another function which is physical movement. Physical functional movement can be stimulated by memories, and memories can be stimulated by movement. Stories cannot be held in the arm, the belly, etc. They however can stimulate emotional responses that would influence these areas. I have come to call these environmental influences.

An example I would like to share it with a student who had worked with a therapist to resolve physical pain through processing emotional trauma by having the body part held while releasing the story. This was called somatic therapy. The person had been doing this work for a few years when I began to work with the actual physical function from a somatic perspective in movement transitions. The person’s habit was to defer to the stories as trained by the therapist so I suggested we focus attention on the felt senses in the movement. In two visits the arm was functioning normally pain-free. No stories, only micro-movements with an increase in rotation and getting other joints and bones to participate in the movement. The student had been off work for a few years due to this injury and soon they were back at work.

From both a Feldenkrais perspective and a communication perspective I work with what is in the present moment. This is a focus of attention on the felt senses now, not in the past and not in the future. If I can bring a mindfulness focus like this into the lesson the student begins to train their minds in the same way as in mindfulness meditation. The difference is it is in movement, focus and sensing, not sitting in meditation. It’s more of a mindfulness function where the physical, mental and emotional are aligned to experience the present.

Disclaimer – words, phrases and sentences have similar use however, they can have different definitions depending upon the context. The English language is limited and such that it is left up to interpretation. Each person has different resources for forming memories to shape opinions, beliefs and interpretations from.