Fitness these days is more than getting fit and having a slim, toned body. It’s become a lifestyle choice, and forms part of our identity. With so many choices available to us, our friends telling us to try this class it’s the best, new novel classes popping into the market weekly to grab our attention and fitness guru’s pitching to us to strengthen this area, stretch out and in order to achieve results the rule is; No pain, no gain!
How do we find out what feels right to us? Which fitness routine calls us to join in and try it out? What will keep us coming back for more? Does it have to be such hard work to see and feel results?
With access to technology and information at our fingertips we have the means to research but without the experience of doing how do we really know if it’s right for us? We are all different and have a unique way to move.
The beauty of The Feldenkrais Method® is two fold. Firstly there is no ‘hard work’ before you see results and secondly there is no right way or a good way to move, it’s about how ‘YOU’ move. Only problem is for us who market the method is you can read all you like about the benefits, the theory behind the method and how it makes you feel after. BUT just like dancing and sex until you try it you really don’t know what’s it’s like.
The term ‘Functional Fitness’ is the new buzzword in the Fitness industry. A quick google search will inform you that this type of training is used to incorporate multiple muscles and joints at the same time to improve endurance, strength, balance, posture, coordination and agility. To build real world strength. All this movement is great as long as you’re building on a functionally integrated system.
Functional Integration® is the name of a Feldenkrais 1 to 1 lesson. As practitioners we have been working with functional fitness for years. The difference being Feldenkrais uses the mind/body connection by tapping into the nervous system which brings alignment, strength and flexibility to the skeleton. In an easy and non invasive way. Different to the current fitness trend which trains the muscles and joints. For a “Full Fitness Diet” combining the two will work wonders for your health and fitness levels.
Your brain will help you to understand what you are doing with you body. To enable you to build on a fully functional integrated system. If your skeletal structure is out of whack in any way an unable to support you, then adding load, force or intensity will only create more problems.
3 ways the nervous system helps in a ‘Whole Body’ fitness to build better movement, better living and ultimately better function. It’s the nervous system that governs it all, flexibility, strength, alignment and moods:
- Function
While the nervous system is wired for staying alive. Without mastery of certain body functions the body will continue to live with tension, discomfort and nagging aches and pains. Limiting not only our movements but our quality of life. Two main functions to have mastery over: orientation and reaching. These are the basic movement we began with as a baby. The ability to look around then reach for what we want.
- Safety
The nervous system senses if you are safe. If there is a threat to you it goes into fight, flight or freeze mode. Which triggers the sympathetic nervous system, and floods our system with cortisol. It’s not a great place to live. Yet many of us live in this place, on high alert. If the nervous system has us living in this place there is simply no way to perform at our best.
- Curiosity
The brain thrives on novelty and gets stimulated by giving it interesting things to engage with. This is how it forms new movement habits and rewires over old bad movement patterns. Therefore it’s not going to learn anything if you repeat the same repetitive movements over and over again and then expect a different result. Building on an already dysfunctional system will only bring about more pain and discomfort.
Pushing through the pain not matter what we have been told is not good for you, it will eventually break you down and you won’t be able move at all without pain. When you push through the pain all your body learns is to protect itself from further pain. Hence why, the “No pain, No gain” rule is detrimental to our bodies.
The idea to move the whole body as a complete complex system has been missing in some fitness routines. In order to find balance within our bodies starts with understanding how the body works as a whole system. Firstly taking into account driving force the nervous system.
Doing Feldenkrais enables you to tap into the nervous system and starts the groundwork for more complex movements. If you know what you are doing you can do what you want. By understanding what the brain and nervous system can do will ultimately help you in whatever else you do with movement and in life.
