CONTINUING ON A NEW PATH

Those of you who have read my previous blogs are aware that for the past year, I have been bothered by chronic neck pain. After numerous trips to the chiropractor, orthopedic surgeon, physical therapy, accupuncture (I wrote about that nightmare), deep tissue massage, I was desperate to find some sort of relief, so I was referred to a massage therapist who practiced the Feldenkrais technique.....to put it in a nutsshell, the Feldenkrais Method is named after a distinguished scientist and educator Moshe Feldenkrais. He earned his doctorate at the Sorbonne and later was an associate to the Nobel Prize laureate Frederick Joliot-Curie in Paris. After suffering a serious knee injury and faced with the possibility of confinement in a wheelchair, he embarked on exploring new relationships between the mind and body to improvement physical movement and function. His method has proved effective for ingenious neuromuscular reeducation and is recognized as a dynamic methodology to improve neuromuscuolar control and biomechanical efficiency.
On its basic level, this method improves posture, coordination, flexibility and suppleness. Moreover, it alleviats pain by minimizing physiological and psychological stress assoociated with restricted functions.
To summarize, my goals in this practice are to develop a more intelligent and responsive body, reduce pain, aches, and fatigue, improve flexibility and suppleness and to increase coordination and muscular efficiency.......in simpler terms, I want my neck to feel better.
I found a practitioner her and have gone to her several times and always enjoy my sessions with her.........I am learning to try and "unlearn" old movement patterns by awareness....retraining my body.......it is a practice which is only successful with constant reinforcement and mindful thinking........(I know, that doesn't sound like "me" at all, but it makes a lot of sense and like so much of what this philosophy espouses).......Finding a softer, gentler, place.......stopping the merry-go-round......slowing down the racehorse........finding a place in the middle.....
Along with my sessions, I am also starting work with a yoga teacher who works with Feldenkrais patients......I look forward to exploring this new practice of seeing where my strengths and weaknesses are (bodywise) and working to correct them to lead a better quality of life.......I have high hopes and need to keep things in check....one step at a time.......