Unlearning Old Habits That Are Hurting Us

Rachel Blackman, a white student teacher, reflects how BLM gives white people a chance - mirroring Feldenkrais practice - to cultivate 'some open, curious attention...an enquiry into how we might listen better', one 'that provides more functional, robust and meaningful support for the Black Lives Matter movement...one which truly embodies equality.'

Rachel's piece in full:

One of the really powerful tools Feldenkrais gives us, is the framework to explore gently, at our own pace and with ease... parts of ourselves that we may be less familiar with, or parts of ourselves where we have experienced discomfort or injury. It provides a possibility for us to ‘talk’ to these parts of ourselves with kindness and sensitivity and offers us a ‘way in’ to experiencing ourselves in a new way. Sometimes there is even the possibility that, through this newness, we might feel more ‘ourselves’ than before. 

Where first we might encounter fragility and vulnerability, with some gentle exploration, some navigating of uncertainty... not being sure... being patient and trying a few things out... making a few creative mistakes.. taking a rest ... revisiting, even though we are uncertain.. . with patience we might be able to, eventually, surprise ourselves with discovering greater range of movement, grace, choice and integrity. 

These are powerful principles. 

We know that metaphors are experienced in our imaginations and in our bodies and we know that these are parts of ourselves that are very receptive to adaptation and change. 

I have been reflecting recently on how these metaphors might offer us windows into healing the lie of race. How they might support us to grow - collectively - a new neural, cultural pathway. One that provides more functional, robust and meaningful support for the Black Lives Matter movement and one which truly embodies equality. 

How might we offer this movement some open, curious attention? How might we discover some way in which we can soften into a way of being that feels more whole and balanced? Something more functional, easy and well? 

Perhaps for us white bodied people, there is an invitation towards humility, and not knowing; an opportunity to revisit and revisit with patience and kindness; an enquiry into how we might listen better and be willing to let go of how we have been doing things up until now... 

Because Black Lives Matter is not a ‘black issue’. It is not something that stops when the protests end. Black Lives Matter is for all of us. 

Black Lives Matter is an urgent question of our shared humanity, systemic health and species integrity. 

I am curious, how can we offer this important issue the light and gift of our attention? 

How might we get this powerful philosophy ‘off the mat’ and into ‘the world’. 

Neruma Ankti bio:
After over 5 years of attending weekly Awareness Through Movement (ATM) classes  I did a retreat and had the experience of doing ATM in depth.  I had already decided that I would be doing Feldenkrais for life as I loved the sense of discovery I felt - finding new ways of moving and being. Doing lessons made me feel happy and have a sense of overall wellness.  The retreat whetted my appetite for learning more and I am currently in the fourth year of the teacher training in Sussex.  I have qualified as student teacher of ATM. I enjoy the whole spectrum of the arts, nature and food.  I am now focussing on developing my student teacher practice and on my final year of Feldenkrais Practitioner Training. 

Rachel Blackman, based in Albourne, is a Somatic Educator, Somatic Coach, Theatre Practitioner, Performing Artist and Creativity Mentor; as well as being a Feldenkrais Student Teacher.  Through Feldenkrais and other neuroplastic processes, she learnt to re-organise the legacy of over 14 years of classical ballet from the age of 4 and rediscover how to sit, stand and walk in ways that felt free and comfortable. It continues to be nothing short of a revelation. www.vibrantbody.co.uk  www.tinyfailures.com

Lethal violence against Black Americans from the US police force is not unique, and George Floyd, Javier Ambler, and Manuel Ellis are all echoing the pleas of Eric Garner who died in a similar way back in 2014. Recordings of these murders playing on the news isn't new either, but the sheer number of people paying attention this time is new. Perhaps this increase in awareness is the difference that will finally make a difference. Many of us are hoping that this level of exposure will lead to real change, rather than just more widespread lip service to the idea of real change. 

Some Black commentators have suggested that this lockdown has been one of the reasons why so many more of us were paying attention this time around: trapped in our homes, pinned down by a coronavirus, an invisible enemy that is everywhere around us, forcing us to stay apart and "socially distanced", despite the fact that human beings (like all the other social mammals) have nervous systems which require us to gather together in safe and affectionate familial "bubbles" in order to regulate both our emotional AND our physical health. The way this pandemic is being handled is unavoidably going to lead to more traumatised people in the future, as our anxieties are being stoked on a daily basis in order to make us fearful enough to stay away from each other, when isolation is so unnatural to us… And of course we do need to be afraid of Covid-19, because when it kills, it kills by preventing us from being able to breathe.

Breathing is fundamental to our aliveness, to our health, to our internal functioning, to our sense of well-being. Oppression stifles life by cutting off our breathing. Sometimes anxiety causes us to stifle ourselves – to become our own oppressive force. Allowing ourselves to relax and breath again is the first step to coming back to life after a traumatic experience, after the danger passes and we surrender to our grief and allow ourselves to completely release all those feelings we have been suppressing. Breathing in a more healthful way is one thing that we can do for our emotional and physical well-being even when we are isolated from each other.

Individual freedom is the freedom to breathe deeply and fully, so why not come to a stop for a while, bring your attention to yourself and your well-being, and find yourself a breathing space.        

 Maggy Burrowes, July 2020

Maggy has also written a longer piece on Feldenkrais and Black Lives Matter which you can download here.