Newsletter

About authenticity, the sense of space, and the freedom to choose

In this newsletter

1.  Announcement

2.  Student corner: Authenticity in Feldenkrais

3.  Did you know? The sense of space

4.  Quote of the week

5.  Upcoming workshops

— 01 · Announcement

Brussels 5 is welcoming new students

Click the picture for a short overview of what is waiting for you.

— 02 · Student corner

Authenticity in Feldenkrais

Are we looking for an authentic self?

A student in the training asked me last week whether we could understand Feldenkrais as looking for an “authentic” self.

I think we can, provided we are careful about what we mean by authentic.

I would not describe it as discovering some hidden, pure or original self underneath all our habits. It may be more useful to think of authenticity as becoming less governed by automatic patterns, fixed self-images and ideas about how we should be, and more available to what we actually sense, feel and discover in the present moment.

This is something that can happen very concretely in an Awareness Through Movement lesson.

We begin with a simple action: turning the head, rolling the pelvis, lifting an arm. Then variations are introduced. Can you do less? Can another part participate? What happens if the eyes lead? Can you stop halfway? Can you find another way?

Gradually, we begin to notice how much of what we call “myself” is actually habitual organization.

“I am stiff.”

“I have bad balance.”

“My shoulder is always tense.”

“I am not coordinated.”

These statements sound like descriptions of identity. But during a lesson they may become something more precise:

“I notice that I stiffen when I begin this movement.”

“I hold my breath before I turn.”

“My shoulder prepares before my arm moves.”

That shift is important.

We move from:

This is who I am

toward:

This is something I do.

And what we do can potentially be done differently.

This is why awareness comes before correction.

Instead of immediately trying to improve ourselves, we become curious about how we are already organizing ourselves.

- What happens?

- When does the effort begin?

- Is it necessary?

- What changes if I do less?

This curiosity can loosen something.

A familiar pattern is no longer completely invisible.

And once we can sense it, alternatives may begin to appear.

This is also why unusual movements, constraints and variations are so important in Feldenkrais. When the habitual solution no longer works automatically, we have to sense again.

For a moment, we do not know.

And that moment of not knowing can be fertile.

We may discover that we can move in a way we did not expect, that effort was not as necessary as we thought, or that a part of ourselves we had almost excluded from our self-image can participate again.

Functional Integration can offer the same kind of discovery through touch. The student may experience movement without having to consciously control every detail. They can discover that change does not always require force, correction or trying harder. New organization can emerge through support, information and sensing.

So perhaps authenticity in Feldenkrais is not about uncovering a perfect or “natural” way of moving.

There is no one authentic posture, no ideal movement pattern, no requirement to always be relaxed, symmetrical or slow.

Authenticity may have more to do with adaptability.

- Can I sense what is happening?

- Can I notice my habitual response without immediately becoming trapped in it?

- Can I stop, change direction, reorganize?

- Can I discover more than one possibility?

Because choice only becomes real when alternatives exist.

In this sense, Feldenkrais can become a form of self-discovery.

Not because it tells us who we really are, but because it repeatedly challenges the certainty of who we think we are.

Through movement we discover habit.

Through awareness we discover alternatives.

Through alternatives we discover choice.

And perhaps an authentic self is not a final version of ourselves waiting to be found.

Perhaps it is our continuing capacity to remain curious, responsive and available to becoming something slightly different from what we already know.

Yvo Mentens Feldenkrais trainer, Educational Director

— 03 · Did you know?

The sense of space arises from movement — not vision

Your sense of space doesn’t begin with sight, it begins with movement. Even before you open your eyes, your brain builds a map of “where you are” from sensations of muscle tension, pressure, and balance. Every time you turn your head, shift your weight, or reach into the world, your nervous system updates this inner map, blending input from touch, the inner ear, and proprioception.

You don’t need eyes to orient. People who are blind create remarkably accurate spatial maps through sound, touch, and motion, using echoes, airflow, and vibration to sense distance and shape. Their brains even recruit parts of the visual cortex to process spatial information, showing that space is not seen but constructed from experience.

Even for sighted people, vision alone can’t sustain a sense of space. When the image on the retina is perfectly stabilized, it quickly fades, without micro-movements of the eyes, the visual world disappears. It is movement that keeps perception alive.

Space is first felt, then seen.

Movement is the mother of spatial awareness, your body’s way of turning sensation into direction, and the invisible into experience.

— 04 · Quote of the week

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

— 05 · Upcoming workshops

Brussels & Amsterdam

New introductory workshop dates are now open in Brussels and Amsterdam.