MOVEMENT & POSTURE – 5 HELPFUL TIPS
HOW MOVEMENT & POSTURE PATTERNS AFFECT OUR EMOTIONAL STATES
Using the raw materials of space, time, energy and the human body we can choose to dance, slouch, saunter, swagger or shuffle. But what gives some people elegant and beautiful posture while others barely move enough to get from A to B?
“Each one of us speaks, moves, thinks, and feels in a different way, each according to the image of himself he has built up over the years.”
Moshé Feldenkruis’s developed the theory and technique of movement which is taught and practiced to improve and correct movement in the body. He believed self-esteem is key to the way we move:
“To change our mode of action we must change the image of ourselves we carry within us.”
Feldenkrais sees all movement & posture as reflecting the state of the nervous system. Becoming accustomed to our movements particularly if they are bad can keep us in negative physical and emotional states. He believes in interrupting any habitual negative patterns to help the body learn to function more fluidly. Moving in a different way will improve self-image and body awareness.
A Cape Town based dance teacher points out that movement & posture changes with different generations and with fashion. In the last generation it was all about ‘shoulders back, chest out, head up and striding forward. Many kids today follow the big baggy jean fashion wearing their jeans halfway down their hips. Trying to keep their pants up means they have to angle their bodies backwards, slouch right down and kind of walk from side to side without picking their feet up too much. Some of these kids never lift their arms above their heads and when asked to do so find it quite awkward.
Helen Payne, author of Creative Movement and Dance (Winslow Press) says that long before a child understands verbal communication or responds to visual clues, it feels the subtleties of the mother’s physical movements. The early mother-infant relationship is a symbiotic phase where kinaesthetic sensations emerge from holding and handling by the mother.
This affects body image, the sense of self and the mind’s structure. But through habitual movement, negative self-image and lack of awareness, most people revert to bad use of their bodies. Feldenkrais developed his method of movement after a sports injury. He was originally a physicist involved with nuclear radiation research. When injured, rather than surgery, he went on a journey to explore the functioning of the body. With years of research and practice in psychology, martial arts, physiology, anatomy and neurology he taught himself how to walk without pain. He developed two methods of working with movement:
- The first is a group method. Participants are guided through a slow and gentle sequence to replace old patterns of movement with new ones.
- The second uses touch to direct the body through various movement sequences.
Being strongly opposed to forcefully imposed, rigid movements his teaching promotes exploration and experimentation with movement allowing individuals to discover the patterns best suited to themselves. As Michael Murphy, from the Esalen Learning Institute in California says, bodywork disciplines have the potential to transform personality. He believes bodywork systems do much more than we attribute to them.
Tip: Find a dancing studio and get your body moving. There are plenty in Cape Town. dance in Cape Town MOVEMENT & POSTURE
MOVEMENT & POSTURE FELDENKRAIS FORM
Feldenkrais is a unique form of movement education that uses gentle, mindful movements to help individuals rewire habitual movement patterns and enhance body awareness. Developed by Moshe Feldenkrais, the method encourages the exploration of movement possibilities to improve posture, flexibility, and overall movement efficiency. By tapping into the body’s natural capacity for learning, Feldenkrais empowers individuals to reduce pain, restore function, and achieve a deeper sense of physical and mental well-being.
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