Possibilities

Volume 9, Number 6, July 2010

What Strong Means

Quote from Moshe: “Using muscles without observation, discrimination, and understanding is merely machinelike movement, of no value except for its produce…such work does not call for the highly developed human nervous system.” Awareness Through Movement, p. 132

When I was a kid I wanted one thing more than any other: to be strong. I wanted to be able to throw the ball so far it vanished, to jump so high I could almost fly, to be able to punch someone so hard they’d be knocked ten feet away.

Once my sister got a flat tire and called me to drive out to help her change it. At first I said no, but she shamed me into coming. The reason I said no is that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it, and I was embarrassed. Sure enough, when I got out there, I couldn’t loosen the lug-nut. I was mortified. Finally a postal worker pulled over and, even though he wasn’t any bigger than I was, he was able to get the lug-nut free. I envied his strength.

I spent considerable time and effort as an adolescent, and then as a young adult, becoming “strong” so I wouldn’t have to be embarrassed like that again. Inspired by the story of Theodore Roosevelt, who was small but who became strong, I lifted weights and exercised incessantly. By the time I graduated college I had it down to a science of sorts. I was fairly bulky and could do dozens of pull-ups. I still wanted to be stronger, but I definitely felt strong.

Being strong did me very little actual good. My torso was larger, so I suppose I was more attractive to some people. But I never really had any romantic success as a result of my physique. I wasn’t very limber. There wasn’t anything I could do that I hadn’t done before except more pull-ups. But despite the relative uselessness of being strong, I felt better about myself inside. That was something.

When I first discovered Feldenkrais, the practitioner suggested I stop working out. That was like asking a fish to stop swimming in the water. My workouts were part of my identity, my self-esteem. What was I going to do instead? How would I remain attractive? Viable? Functional?

It wasn’t long after that I myself began training to be a Feldenkrais Practitioner. Over the next four years I completely gave up my workouts. To my amazement I discovered that, as a result of a greater awareness of my skeleton, I was able to use myself so well that I actually got functionally stronger! I could line up my bones to take advantage of their leverage. I could now do what that postal worker, who wasn’t any bigger than me, had done.

Strength is not an isolated concept. You can have a lot of muscle mass and be very weak. Strength only has meaning in terms of one’s ability to apply it. Am I very strong? No. I would most likely lose an arm-wrestling match with someone twice my size (in about three seconds). But I can use my body to its maximum advantage. I can pin someone to the ground because I know where they can move. I can lift my child in one arm because I can sense the distribution of the weight through my skeleton.

It’s my relationship to the objects of my functionality that have granted my wish, not the number of repetitions I can do in the weight room. The Method taught me about relationships from the beginning, as I moved slowly on the floor and discovered how the disparate parts of my body related to one another. It gave me a model as I learned to sense myself more completely and became more comfortable relating to other people in the room.

Now I know two things: I’m not perfect, and I’m strong enough.

Do you have a question for Adam? Write him at adam@feldenkraisinfo.com. The most interesting questions will be posted in Possibilities.

Possibilities is an informative, interesting online magazine about the Feldenkrais Method® published by www.feldenkraisinfo.com. Want to subscribe? Want to sign up for a class? Get the best, most complete listing right here! Interested in reading articles about Sports, Martial Arts, Theater, Language and Music? All of these topics are discussed in Possibilities. If you can't wait, become a member of the Atlanta Feldenkrais® Institute and receive your page absolutely free, delivered right to your e-mail doorstep. To read previous issues, check out our archives.

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