photo by Malcolm Crowthers
I began to learn about my self in my late teens. Of course, just like everyone else, I had been learning about my self since the moment I had been born. However, in my late teens I started to understand that I could give that learning process some direction. I didn’t know that I was learning about my own self, though. I thought I was learning about
life, the universe, and everything.
Some fifteen years later I began to learn about the relationship between that self (life, the universe, and everything) and my somatic, physical self. I didn’t know that was what I was learning about, either. I was just trying to get rid of a lot of back pain and neck pain and shoulder pain.
I took some years of yoga classes, I got lots of chiropractic, lots of acupuncture, lots of shiatsu, lots of lessons in the Alexander Technique®, and consulted lots of allopathic doctors, as well as some rolfing, osteopathic manipulation, cranio-sacral manipulation, ayurvedic doctors, curanderas, homeopathy, and more.
Every one of these modalities helped alleviate some pain to some extent, some more than others. However, none provided me with long-term relief, let alone the possibility of reversing my ever-increasing levels of pain.
At about the same time as my somatic learning began, I started to learn a little bit about other people. True to form, I had no idea that was what was going on. I just thought I had a sensitivity to some types of pain which some other individuals were feeling, and I felt it was possible to alleviate those pains, though I didn’t know how.
So, I started trying to find out how. This led me to a journey of learning more about the intricate relationships between my own self, which now included my somatic self, and the selves and somatic selves of others. I eventually found that I was able to learn more about my own self if I was also learning about the selves of others.
Finally I found The Feldenkrais Method®. Dr. Feldenkrais developed his Method in order to help others to learn about our own selves. He had found that his own overall ability to function in the world improved by learning a great deal about his own self, directly and intimately. After decades of study, Dr. Feldenkrais found a way to duplicate for the benefit of others his own self-proven process of reducing pain and increasing mobility by learning about himself. Then I discovered The Tomatis Method®, which redoubled my capacity for learning how to move more easily and reduce pain even further.
The Feldenkrais Method® and The Tomatis Method® together have given me a means to incorporate into my work all the benefits and understanding which has accompanied the numerous and variegated lessons I’ve had about my own self over the years.
Living While Learning
The Alexander Technique® and I
1470 Ben Sawyer Blvd., Ste. 29, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
9078 Hadley Court, North Charleston, SC 29406
(415) 264-2199.
david@feldenkrais-plus.com