How to make friends with chairs

MAKING FRIENDS WITH CHAIRS

A friend of mine took a tumble in a café the other day. He wasn’t hurt but he had a rude shock. He was lodged between the wall, a table and a chair and he couldn’t get up. It’s a common issue. Of course health care bills are mushrooming due to fall-related injuries.

After he had recovered I offered to help him explore easy ways of moving between the floor, chairs and standing. The floor bit didn’t interest him but getting into and out of chairs easily and safely did.

We may believe that the ability to move easily declines with age. It’s not true.

It’s just that we have developed lifelong habits of moving that are inefficient and ungainly and these habits have a use-by date. The habits were silly in the first place. We get used to accomplishing through great effort what can be done with no strength at all. Fortunately, there are more effective and pleasant options.

After working with my friend for less than an hour he could sit and stand without effort. It was a first approximation to elegant moving but he is only in his early seventies so he can go on improving for many years to come.

OUT OF CONTROL - stressful, scary, unsafe, not a great option.

IN CONTROL – safe, easy, elegant, ‘hey there’s a chair here!’

There’s more information at http://www.hummingbirdconsulting.com.au/feldenkrais.

Starting The Week

We start the week at Hummingbird Dojo with a Feldenkrais class. This week it was about walking. As we get older our walking becomes less efficient and less pleasurable. Fortunately, the process of reversing this is itself pleasurable and interesting. 


Our movement thrives on awareness and innovation. In the class we focussed on exactly what part of ourselves are actually doing (or not doing!) when we walk.  Most often we don't know for a while; then we tune in and get surprising information.


There are no instructions for how to walk better. We make lots of experiments in walking differently -  a Ministry of Silly Walks class. The result is that we all start to move more elegantly and joyfully in a spontaneous way and then take that out into a more joyful, optimistic day.


The class was appreciated by the participants and I think I'll dedicate the next few classes to walking with ease and pleasure.