be in the presence with Gerald Sullivan

 

Enlightenment with the Inclusion of Feldenkrais

 

Article by Gerald Sullivan

Published in Feldenkrais Newsletters

February 2000

 

 

​​ ​Moshe Feldenkrais has been quoted many times as saying the Feldenkrais Method is really about changing your mind, i.e. your self-image or self-identity, and about learning how to learn.

 

I believe the Method works through the physical to bring us to truth. It is a key to unlock the past and expose the present. Movement is the tool. Since the body expresses the emotional and psychological state of the individual, when limitation in the physical are released so must the cause be released (the mind is altered). It follows then that because of the emotional and psychological aspects of the individual are responses from the self-identity (or self-image), limitations from this historically-evolved self-definition of self ego must also be released.

 

Because we are co-creators with God, we create totally, we cannot not create totally in any moment. So a consciousness which has mistaken identity, that is, which identifies itself as separate from God, still totally creates, but mis-creates.

 

A whole mind, or enlightened mind, has let go of the illusion of separation, and has remembered its completeness, that is, who it really is, not separate, but in union with all things. the need to identify oneself is false to begin with, because that consciousness must presume it is a separate self from another, or from the many, and therefore needs to distinguish itself to identify the separation. In truth, what would there be to identify? To whom, and for what reason?

 

The gentle movements of a lesson assist us to let go of the protective holding, the fears and doubts that limit our expression, and enable us to experience the truth of who we really are-whole, certain and innocent... When we expand our awareness we can see our self imposed limitations and choose to let then go, releasing the history of who we thought we were to expose the truth of who we really are and always were – perfect, beautiful and whole.

 

Feldenkrais releases the unconscious conditioned responses of self-identity that we project onto the world and awakens us to the freedom to give everything the permission to be as it is, and no longer what we needed it to be to support our fear-established defences.

 

At the end of a lesson we can experience a heightened state of presence, presence being our awareness of what the senses bring to us- in looking, hearing sounds, feeling our weight....without having to have thoughts or ideas about what comes in. A Feldenkrais lesson helps us to leave our ego selves out of the picture, that is our judgements that we unconsciously picture the world with. So, at the end of a lesson we sit, lie, stand and walk, taking in this more honest experience of the world. We feel different, more whole, more complete. Then in paying attention to our new experience we notice the way we present ourselves has changed. We have a new approach. We are more available to this now non-threatening world. How much are we tuned in to this experience illuminates our desire to be vigilant to hold onto it. Practice makes the experience more concrete.

 

Imagine our body image being a jigsaw puzzle, after the lesson we see how we have added more pieces to the picture, pieces we didn’t know we were missing, so the body image has become more complete. This can only be a reflection of the mind since the body only expresses the mind; the body is a by-product of the mind.

 

All this began with a gentle body movement- which released a muscle, which was held by an emotion, which came from a response to an event, which was perceived by a consciousness which thought it was separate and alone, so it became fearful and defended itself. This movement, to some degree, released that illusion of seperateness.

 

Moshe Feldenkrais said the Methods about learning how to learn,

I think he meant learning how to un-learn, so as to remember.​

 

Enlightenment with the inclusion of Feldenkrais Article by Gerald Sullivan Published in Feldenkrais newsletters February 2000 ​© 2013 by Quantum-Shift. All rights reserved