Feldenkrais Exercise for Recovery Alchemy

The following exercise is the Feldenkrais method. Feldenkrais is modeled after a man named Moshe Feldenkrais. I think Moshe is the pronunciation there. Moshe Feldenkrais was a physicist and a judo practitioner, and he discovered through movement that you could train your nervous system to do a lot of things, one of which is to regulate, one of which is to reprogram limiting beliefs, pay attention to and capture and reprogram limiting thoughts and thought processes, and also many, many other things. For our use, when you're feeling unsafe, when you're feeling like Helpless, when you're feeling like you're going to spiral, when you want to regulate, when you want to come to the present moment, this could be a beneficial way to do it. The reason I like— one of the reasons I like Felt and Crazed so much is that there is no right or wrong way to move. So there's no posing, there's no form. It's how it Feels to you, and the reason this really works for us in this program is that it puts the subconscious on guard. It it makes a subconscious second guess. So all day long we're running programs, and the subconscious wants to take over. It wants to repeat, and we go into we we go into autopilot mode quite often. When we do these Feldenkrais movements, they're very, they're unique, they're different, they're something that the subconscious isn't prepared for. And when you do the movement, you want to stop right before you would normally stop because the subconscious wants to even control that. So what happens is then the subconscious steps back and you're in control and it's waiting for you to tell it what's next. So, um, I hope you enjoy this little exercise. And, um, if you do it and have feedback on it, let me know. I'd love to hear from you. All right. Enjoy. So instead of breathing into tension, you're just noticing. So this is all about just noticing. The benefit for this is to be able to pause And come into the current moment when you feel strong emotions such as fear, hopelessness, instability, guilt, or when you are caught in that cycle of thought patterns that you, you know, you're spiraling. If it's exclusion, Rejection, you're feeling shame. I'm not enough. Any of these similar thought patterns that you may get stuck in, Feldenkrais believed that you could get some control over that and re-pattern the brain through the nervous system through movement. So we've kind of talked about where we are and what we're feeling, which is great. So now we're going to Do a little body scan, but this time from your feet to your crown, just notice. We're not trying to fix anything. We're just noticing things as they are. And this gives you a little bit of relief in terms of, I don't have to not feel Fear anymore. I don't have to get rid of this feeling of hopelessness. I'm just being with it. I'm just noticing it. We talk a lot in the program about being a compassionate observer and a witness in order to separate yourself from it, and oftentimes that's such an abstract. Concept, how do I do that? This is one way to get there. So the first movement is a head and neck. So what you're going to do is you're going to turn your head slightly to the right, and what you want to do is move Very slowly. And you want to stop the movement right before you think you should stop. So here's why. We want to get out of our subconscious, the subconscious patterns. And in doing that, you're making movements you wouldn't normally make, and you're stopping them when you would normally— before you would normally stop. So in other words, if I said, turn your head to the right, and you turn your head to the right, you may turn it all the way to the shoulder. You may turn it halfway, but I want you to slowly turn your head to the right and stop right before you think you should stop, right before the subconscious is telling you, this is where we stop. You decide when to stop. And you do it very slowly. So now we're going to start. When I say start, turn your head very slowly to the right and stop before you want to stop. Starting now. And now very slowly. Move your head back, forward. So this time, move it even in an even smaller movement, even if it's just a slight 1-degree change, whatever it is, a smaller movement than last time. Start now. Move to the right. And move it back. This time we're going to go to the left, but we're going to add wording to it. So when I say turn, you're going to turn to the left, you're going to move very slowly, and you're going to stop before you think you should stop. And in your mind, or out loud if you want, You can say, I am safe. Okay, starting now, move to the left. I am safe. Move back. I am safe. Slowly. Move back to the left. I am safe. Slowly, shorter than last time. Move back to the front. I am safe. I want you to notice what's coming up. You might be thinking, what am I doing here? You might be— something might be shifting inside. Your thoughts might be racing. Just notice it. Don't judge it. Don't place meaning on it. Just notice it. Next, you're going to drop your chin. Down very slowly, starting now. Very slowly, drop it until right before you want to stop. Stop. Bring it back. You can say something like, I— we're going to do it again. Drop the chin. I have power. Move it back up. I have power. You can say I have autonomy. You can say I have confidence, whatever you want to say there. Let's drop the chin back slowly and back up. Okay. So what you're doing here is you're putting the subconscious on standby. It doesn't know what you're doing. This is uncommon. And again, you're in control of the movement. So this time we're looking at the spine. The spine is our axis, right? It's the center. So you want to imagine that spine very solid, like a tree trunk, so that no matter what's happening around you, this is your column. So we're going to inhale and lengthen the spine, straighten the spine. Inhale. Straighten the spine. And now exhale and let it soften, but don't collapse the spine. You can inhale and say something that feels empowering to you, like, I am solid. Inhale and move the spine up. Release. This time, move very— a very slight movement. Inhale, and then a very slight movement of the spine. Inhale, and just a tiny movement. I'm in control. I'm solid. I'm grounded. Whatever you want to say. Exhale, soften the spine. Now you want to take Your right shoulder. You're going to roll it forward slightly, slowly up and back. Right shoulder forward, slowly up. And back. And with this one, you want to go slower than what the subconscious is telling you to do. So I want you to do a whole rotation as slow, slower than you would normally ever do right now. Now the same with the left shoulder. Forward, up, and back. One more time, slower than you think you should. Forward, up, and back. Now you're going to do both shoulders together with words. I don't have to carry weight on my shoulders. Move your shoulders. Keep going in circles slowly. I don't have to carry what's not mine. This is not my stress. This is not my problem. This is not my energy. You're just rolling it off. And then there's the rooting. So this is when you're going to, if you're sitting, you're going to press your feet into the floor. If you're lying down, you want to press your heels onto the floor or the mattress or whatever you're laying on. So when you press, you're going to feel the surface press back. So the idea is when you're feeling out of balance, out of control, when you either— the world seems out of control or your mind seems out of control, kind of press your feet into the floor. To press them into the floor. I'm grounded. I'm solid. I'm safe. Press your feet again into the floor. I'm held. I'm safe. Release the feet. Press them again gently. I'm safe. And release. Now you want to rock from one bone— you can say tailbone— one tailbone to the other. Put pressure on the right tailbone. And then slowly drift over and put pressure on the left, or either or. Return to the center. Now just let your body take whatever form it wants, whatever shape it wants. Your nervous system, your subconscious is now waiting for the next move. It, it can't predict what's next. You're doing something out of the ordinary. And you're consciously creating the movement. So it wants to know what's next. This is where you get to choose the wording. What would be a mantra, a word, a phrase that would empower you today? I'm not my decisions. I'm not responsible for someone else's decisions. I surrender to the process. I'm only responsible for my own peace. I'm doing the best I can with what I have. I know who I am despite. I know who I am. Whatever you're saying now, it's imprinted in a special way. It's reprogramming. So we're going to take a deep breath now. Going to inhale through the nose. And we're going to exhale through the mouth. Inhale again. And exhale through the mouth. So just notice, notice, notice what's happening in your body and your mind. Notice how you're feeling, how you're thinking. When you're ready, you can come back into the room.