Habits

“𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗼, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴.”

Habits can be useful things. Without them we would have to decide how to do everything each time we did it! Not only which hand should I use to open a door but which part of the hand to touch the door with, how high to lift the arm, which foot to put forward and so on. We would not get much accomplished in a day…

A habit is a sign of something we have learned well and we all have a vast number of them — from a favoured hand to open a door right down to how we take each breath. But when we have no alternative to our habitual action, when we can’t do a thing differently, it is a compulsion. Sometimes a thing is so well learned that we do not even realise that there is an alternative. Many habits are very useful, essential even, but others may have outlived there usefulness and can hold us back or cause pain and injury over time.

Examining our movement habits is a fundamental part of a Feldenkrais class. Discover different ways that you can perform basic functions like standing, reaching, walking and more. In discovering alternatives we can release ourselves from compulsion and develop choice and freedom in our actions. We can stop doing the things that prevent us from doing more.

#habits #Feldenkrais #health

*Apologies for the lack of attribution for this quote at the top of this post. I found it in a note I’d written on a scrap of paper but I believe it may be from one of the authors in the book “The Feldenkrais Method” by Staffan Elgelid and Chrish Kresge.