12. Imagine
Feldenkrais. What a word.
I first came across this word a year ago, when one of my college professors introduced my class to the Feldenkrais Method. He was very into holistic, integrative medicine and once had us walk barefoot on the grass, feeling the sensations under our feet. It was fantastic. So when Feldenkrais popped up on my ClassPass app, I had to give it a go.
What is the Feldenkrais Method?
In the words of the Feldenkrais website:
The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education uses gentle movement and directed attention to help people learn new and more effective ways of living the life they want….Moshe Feldenkrais said, “We move according to our perceived self-image.” By expanding your perception and increasing awareness, you will become more aware of your habits and tensions and develop new ways of moving. By increasing sensitivity, the Feldenkrais Method assists you to live your life more fully, efficiently, and comfortably.
In my own words, the Feldenkrais Method is caring for the nervous system. It’s bringing the mind and body into alignment. It’s neuromuscular repatterning. It’s meditation. It’s freedom from tension and resistance. It’s self-discovery.
Of course, Wikipedia says, “There is no good medical evidence that the Feldenkrais method confers any health benefits.” But whether or not “good medical evidence” exists, my little experience with this method already suggests its potential for profound health benefits.
I’ve done two Feldenkrais Method Awareness Through Movement classes so far. In this group class, the teacher guides us through a sequence of movements, encouraging us to move within a comfortable range and pay attention to specific sensations. We end by walking around the room, integrating what we’ve worked on and noticing what’s changed.
At the end of class yesterday, the teacher said that I looked like a completely different person because of the upright, relaxed way I was walking. My arms were swinging freely by my sides—no tension, no gripping, nothing! I left feeling like the best, most joyful version of myself.
But my biggest takeaway from yesterday’s class was actually unrelated to what I was doing. Another student was injured and having difficulty with the movements, so the teacher suggested that she imagine herself doing the movements. The teacher went on to say that in the Feldenkrais Method, imagining doing a movement can be as—if not more—powerful than doing the movement directly.
This idea clicked with me.
Imagination can create change within our bodies and our lives. When we use our imaginations to visualize ourselves doing, feeling, experiencing something, we help bring that state into existence.
Outside of Feldenkrais, I’ve been practicing using my imagination as a tool for change. In hypnotherapy, visualization cultivates a deep sense of relaxation. It’s amazing how you’ll feel after imagining standing under a shower of peaceful, healing light that washes away anything that isn’t serving you. And in my I AM Journal, I begin and end each day writing about what I want to attract into my life and how it feels to experience that “burning desire” today. These practices train my mind to become familiar with what I hope to bring about.
Athletes do this all the time. Before Alex Honnold free solo climbed up Yosemite’s El Capitan, he visualized himself doing the route—and doing every single little motion—countless times. Dancers practice choreography by going over it in their minds. And I bet runners imagine themselves crossing the finish line.
There’s tremendous power in what we pay attention to. It also matters whether we’re focusing our energy on the state we want to cultivate or the state we want to avoid. If Alex Honnold spent all his time thinking “I don’t want to fall”, the Free Solo documentary might’ve had a different ending. Focus on how it feels to experience the positive outcomes you desire.