Do you say “I can’t” or “I can”…

Do you say “I can’t” or “I can”…

I can’t lie on my stomach.  I have a “real” problem. I have a scoliosis. My spine is fused, stenosed, tight, painful, loose, arthritic, inflamed, sore.

Have you ever said this? Thought this? I understand the problem because that was me. I said that through the whole four years of my Feldenkrais Training.® I came to my training with neck pain, and trust me, I have the X Rays to prove it. I thought that I was unable to lie on my stomach because my neck hurt when I turned it too far. I thought that it was the amount of movement I had in my neck that kept me from being comfortable on my stomach.

Aha….. I was wrong. I now know what I did not know before my Feldenkrais Training. As it happened, shortly after my training I was doing an Awareness Through Movement® lesson that called for me to lie on my front. Lo and behold, I just did it. What happened? What did I learn?

I learned that the motion of my neck has little to do with lying on my belly. My neck was not immovable. What I learned was that I did not know HOW to move my neck. I did not know that the neck does not turn alone. When we turn out heads to look at an object to the right, we turn our shoulders, our ribs, our breastbone, and our eyes. Once I learned this, I no longer had constant neck pain, and was able to lie in any position I wished.

When you reject the idea of lying on your belly, you take away a certain amount of freedom in your life. Are you owned by your diagnosis, or do you own it? Is it a part of your psyche and your body image? Do you see yourself as not able to perform a movement that your body is built to do, or do you see yourself as moveable and able to live the life that you choose? Can you see how restrictive the attitude of “I can’t do that” is? It could be turning over, taking the metro, walking up all those stairs, jumping, gardening, getting up and down from the floor. The limiting list goes on.

In the Feldenkrais Method, and in my work, we break away from limits. We learn. Just as I learned how to lie on my stomach, you can too. Lying or not lying on your stomach has nothing to do with your diagnoses. It is how you think about it. You can learn to lie on your stomach just like I did. Why, you could even learn to stand on your head, if you wanted to. Perhaps it won’t be in one hour. It might take a little bit longer because we are changing your habits, your brain, the way you see yourself and your abilities (or disabilities).

Give it a try. Contact me and learn something new. Learn how to move with the body you have.

I hope to see you soon.

B

2 Comments on “Do you say “I can’t” or “I can”…”

  1. Me encanto este relato, a mi tmb. me pasaron cosas en mi entrenamiento y hoy super feliz de estar ofreciendo todas estas oportunidades a mis alumnos.

    1. I’m so glad that this is helpful to you. Thanks for letting me know. I’m interested in the comments of your students. B

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