Breathing lessons, definitely

I was just finishing up my Patreon post for my latest video, Day 7: Move surprisingly lighter and easier, working on the summary of the third main movement, when I wrote “add breathing.” Here’s the links to the sources:

  • https://youtu.be/ofG0FLXtmyA
  • https://www.patreon.com/posts/lifting-head-in-98629124

Suddenly, I found it odd to write “add breathing.” I was thinking, “Aren’t we breathing all of the time?” Therefore, I changed it to “become conscious of your breathing.”

However, it still didn’t feel right. This seemed better: “shine a light on your breathing, as if shining a flashlight in the dark, to bring your breathing into conscious awareness.” Much better. Thus I wrote:

Breathe in, when you lift your head. Breathe out, when you lower your head.

No. Once again, no, it didn’t feel right. I felt that this didn’t chime with the image of highlighting, the image of becoming conscious. It sounded more like manipulating your breathing, or trying to force it to comply with a command or exercise instruction. This seemed better: we wait for the breathing to happen, we wait for a breath, like a surfer awaits the perfect wave:

The next time when you breathe in, lift your head, then lower your head when you breathe out.

or, to use a noun instead of a verb, maybe to stay closer to the image of the oncoming wave:

On the next inhalation lift your head, then lower your head on exhalation.

Perhaps it’s my interest in detail and language that’s responsible for why it takes me 2 to 6 hours to write a simple post. Is it worth it? I like to think that my patrons appreciate my dedication. After all, it’s their support that makes my writing and filming possible in the first place. So, without a doubt: Worth it! Definitely!

The safety of brain tissue and somatic embodiment practices

“There are numerous reasons why a baby may have neurological dysfunctions. They can be due to genetic differences, in-uterine problems, birth trauma, trauma after birth, nutritional difficulties, and environmental /social factors.” — Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen

I was just reading an interview with the seasoned, famous and well-versed embodiment-worker and somatic education pioneer Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, when I came by the paragraph I just quoted. I was quite surprised to see her listing reasons for neurological dysfunctions but NOT mentioning vaccines. In fact, there was no mention of adverse vaccine reactions, even if rare, in any of her interviews that I’ve read (and none in the lectures of Moshé Feldenkrais either.)

It might be that some are convinced that adverse reactions from vaccines are extremely rare, however, there’s also people who are under the impression that such events are not as rare as one might think, and given the amount of cumulative shots administered nowadays, more likely to happen than in the past.

The truth may be one or the other, yet I’m surprised that such a big topic is excluded from discussion altogether. 

One of the reasons why I’m personally concerned, is the safety of my own brain. Aren’t the brain and nervous system the cornerstones of somatic education, of The Feldenkrais Method, and all related methods? I was especially shocked to read about a recent Review by Janet Kern, 2020, in Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, “Examining the evidence that ethylmercury crosses the blood-brain barrier”: 

And further, 22 studies from 1971 to 2019 show that exposure to ethylmercury-containing compounds (intravenously, intraperitoneally, topically, subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or intranasally administered) results in accumulation of mercury in the brain. In total, these studies indicate that ethylmercury-containing compounds readily cross the blood-brain-barrier, convert, for the most part, to highly toxic inorganic mercury-containing compounds, which significantly and persistently bind to tissues in the brain and [..] degenerative, inflammatory, and necrotic alterations were seen [..]

In fact I was not just “shocked”, but was properly alarmed—as all of my doctors always told me that vaccine ingredients such as methylmercury or aluminium will be expelled by the body, without a trace, and I need not worry. So far the consensus was that after a fortnight at the very longest, there’s no such ingredient (adjuvants) to be found in the body anymore; not in the blood, not in the liver, not in the lymphatic circulatory system. It just never occurred to the researches to look inside the brain. That was, until recently (1971 apparently.)

Well, you might argue that most modern vaccines don’t use methylmercury or aluminium anymore. And that, either way, the topic of vaccinations doesn’t have a place in somatic education and embodiment practices. And I can’t argue about that, since vaccines are indeed not my field of expertise.

However, this here is a personal blog, and not a lifestyle magazine and advertisement platform. I want to be able to discuss the topic of somatic education, learning, developmental delays, et cetera, openly, without deliberately ignoring vaccines for whatever reason, and not be hushed and losing a good part of my clients when raising concerns or asking questions. After all, it’s for the safety of my own brain and my own nervous system. Shouldn’t I be aware of dangers, risks and consequences when making decisions? And shouldn’t I be able to think of my client’s past decisions (and consequences thereof) when working with them on their current problems?

Ignorance is bliss – but is it always?

“One of the main reasons that postural yoga itself gained popularity is the simple fact that it had visual appeal within modern society.” – Mark Singleton, Yoga Body : The Origins Of Modern Posture Practice

I really don’t know how they do it. I mean the people who keep telling the truth about history and medical interventions. How do they get up every morning still motivated to speak out? It seems like they try to speak next to a Boing 747 with turbines at full volume. Who will hear that? Isn’t it all futile?

For example, in his studies Mark Singleton found that there is little or no evidence that āsana (postures in yoga) has ever been the primary aspect of any Indian yoga practice tradition—including the medieval, body-oriented haṭha yoga. And that in spite of the self-authenticating claims of many (if not all) modern yoga schools and yoga fitness gyms. Posture practice is a new phenomenon that has no parallel in premodern times. Book recommendation: Mark Singleton, Yoga Body : The Origins Of Modern Posture Practice

Another example: in his studies, Paul U. Unschuld found that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the West has little to do with the original Chinese medical tradition. TCM originated as a simplified version, incorporating select practices from the Chinese medical tradition, tailored for a communist society. It gained popularity in the West after a US journalist reported on acupuncture in China. Acupuncture traditionally played a marginal role in Chinese medicine and was even banned at times. A lack of understanding led to misinterpretations, such as the incorrect translation of “Qi” as “life energy,” when it actually meant “vapor of food,” which might have been similar to the concept of Pneuma in ancient Western medicine. It was the French diplomat and sinologist George Soulié, in the 1920s, who did not practice acupuncture himself, yet coined the word “meridians” (likely borrowing that concept from the longitudinal lines he saw on a globe) and interpreted Qi as “energy”. And a couple decades later, in the energy crisis of the 1970s, the idea of an invisible energy that can fuel a person was met with great enthusiasm. It was in this time that George Soulié’s interpretation of Qi as “energy” suddenly became the standard interpretation, which even transpired back into China. Book recommendation: Paul U. Unschuld, Traditional Chinese Medicine : Heritage and Adapation

I’m expected to ignore all that, and much more.

Or at least, regarding such things, most people around me seem to not care about history and how things really are, and will have none of it. And I can’t blame them. But sometimes we need to act on the truth, especially with these health-related things, and especially if we want to stay healthy; and be able to recover from challenges. Therefore, I think it’s important to at least know the truth, even if we chose to ignore it.

Reading is not a hobby

My Vietnamese friend told me that she doesn’t like reading. “I’m sorry that you didn’t have a successful reading experience just yet,” I replied compassionately. I think she didn’t understand.

Prof. Stephen Krashen said that if someone picked a book by himself (“self-selected reading”), and read it in his own account, finished and enjoyed reading it, this counts as a successful reading experience; and usually turns that person into someone who enjoys reading.

But which book to choose? And from where?

For example, if you’ve been to Vietnam before you know that there’s hardly any books to be seen; even less newspapers or magazines. People in Vietnam usually don’t read. There’s only very few public libraries (and even the largest ones are rather poorly equipped), and only few bookstores, and only in the major cities, and all of them seem to only carry the same, generic bestseller titles. In addition there’s small coffee shops (so called “book cafes”) and thrift stores that display a couple dozen used paperback books, oftentimes in poor condition. But at least there you might find the one or other interesting, off the mainstream title, left behind by a traveller.

The University of Science Library has only a few bookshelves with dated volumes, despite being one of the largest libraries in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, with the city having a population of close to 9 million

“The research supports the commonsense view that when books are readily available, when the print environment is enriched, more reading is done. A print-rich environment in the home is related to how much children read; children who read more have more books in the home.” – Excerpt from »The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research« by Prof. Stephen Krashen

The availability of books is a major factor for any society. Just like the availability of transportation, or … clean air and water. And there’s a lot to be said about compulsory education, indoctrination and brainwashing, alignment of the population, the presence or lack of critical thinking skills and the striving for self-education, and so forth.

Just for example, in my home country, Austria, there’s many huge, beautiful bookstores, often two stories high or higher, with thousands and thousands of titles, and also many smaller bookstores with rare titles or a wide selection of local writers. But, just for example, in all those bookstores there’s usually no titles about Covid (other than mainstream titles that write about how stupid—or outright dangerous—people who don’t get vaccinated are) and certainly no titles about the history of the Covid vaccines and their political background. These books do exist, plenty, but they are not on the shelves; and therefore people usually don’t know about them, and don’t read them. However, contrary to Vietnam, in Europe there’s online bookstores with an extremely wide selection of books, and people can order those books online, and next to ebooks can receive actual paperback or hardcover copies within days of ordering.

So, to cut a long blog post short: according to Professor Stephen Krashen and what we know about reading there’s two things that make a child an avid reader:

  1. Children are provided with substantial access to books.
  2. Children read books that they select themselves.

As I see it, reading is not a hobby. Instead, reading is something we humans do, like listening or looking. But we only like to listen and look if there’s something interesting to listen to or to look at. Likewise, we only read if there’s something interesting available to read, actually.

And that’s one of the reasons I myself wrote a few books (three or so) in easy-to-read language about sensorimotor-education and Feldenkrais-inspired movement sequences. A book with pictures and speech bubbles on them, and easy to read blocks of text in between. And one book made from posts of this very blog. But of course, these books are a bit “different” than regular books. And they are not on the shelves in the bookstores either. Therefore only people who self-select books online can find them. Maybe one day I should produce a book that’s mainstream enough to be fit for mainstream media and will sit on the shelves in the big bookstores, too.

Maria Montessori – My System Of Education

Was it this year—or already a while ago—that Maria Montessori’s books entered the public domain? Well, I just read about it this year, and found a library scan of a weathered 1915 reprint of her 1915 lecture titled, “My System Of Education.”

» Link to the library scan (Click to open)

Maria Montessori – a scheme to concentrate the attention of a child

“When you have solved the problem of controlling the attention of the child, you have solved the entire problem of its education.” — Maria Montessori

I then discussed the lecture with ChatGPT, and ChatGPT summarised our discussion like this:

Initially, you raised concerns about the Montessori Method potentially being abused as a method of indoctrination, due to passages referencing attention control and the reference to William James. However, as we delved deeper into the lecture, it became evident that Montessori’s approach was more about nurturing a child’s natural development rather than enforcing societal conditioning.

Furthermore, we discussed how within the Montessori framework children transition away from educational activities (using frames and colours), without showing signs of fatigue, but being carried along by new energy and a mind capable of abstraction – which is in contrast to potential negative effects like tiredness and moodiness after mobile device screen time (an analogy to frames and colours) in modern children. We also addressed challenges of how individualised learning experiences can be recreated in group settings.

Well, I don’t have a personal verdict on Maria Montessori’s teachings just yet, I’m still reading and exploring. I have volunteered in a Montessori Kindergarten several times myself, and in fact, I might discuss the topic a bit more with my mother, with whom I’ve grown up and who has been a certified Montessori teacher for decades. I feel that many of Maria Montessori’s principles can also be used in Somatic Education, and for learning in an environment of structured movement sequences that are to a part inspired by Moshé Feldenkrais.

One thing that struck me as very important is that the name Montessori is not guarded under trademarks and copyrights… unlike the term Feldenkrais, and much of the legacy of Moshé Feldenkrais, which is trademarked and copyrighted and unpublished and heavily guarded, and thus likely to forever stay removed from the public domain; and thus—ultimately and very likely—destined to be buried and forgotten.

As Maria Montessori’s 1915 lecture is in the public domain, I reckon it’s legal to share the transcript of her lecture as an ebook, for your easy reading:

» Maria Montessori – My System Of Education, 1915 (Click to download)

Possibly flawed metaphors and myths

The topic of “teach it to learn it” has been on my mind a lot lately. I guess to truly acknowledge the topic would require a complete re-thinking of… the very fabric of society. If I assert that society was built and shaped through compulsory schooling, as originated by the very generous Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations.

With the immensity (and monstrosity) of this topic at hand, not surprisingly, I couldn’t figure an easy way to put my state and feelings into words coherently. As a first remedy I resorted to a chat with the machine, to solidify a few definitions. Then I took to writing myself a few summaries. Here they are:

Software and hardware – The mind and the body Myth

The idea of a separation between mind and body traces back to influential figures like René Descartes (a 17th-century philosopher), asserting that the mind and body are distinct entities.

Descartes argued that the mind is immaterial and responsible for thoughts and consciousness, while the body operates mechanically. The rise of content production for monetisation purposes, the advent of Newspapers (and people sticking their heads into them as if they were addicted to them somehow), and finally social media and influencer marketing further contributed to this divide.

However, contemporary understandings challenge this separation: the recognition of the interconnectedness between mental and physical well-being.

For instance, emotions, thoughts, and psychological states can significantly impact physical health. Similarly, physical health issues can affect mental well-being, contributing to conditions like anxiety or depression. Likewise, positive emotions and a healthy mindset promote overall physical well-being, and physical well-being positively impacts mental health.

A tool for every task – The Left-Brain Right-Brain Myth

The belief in the separation of rational thinking and creativity via the left and right brain originates from ethically very challenging neurological studies in the 1960s and 1970s, notably by Sperry and Gazzaniga, focusing on surgery to split the human brain. These studies suggested logical thinking is located in the left brain and creativity with the right.

However, further research using advanced imaging has shown that while certain functions may dominate specific hemispheres, the brain operates with extensive interconnections between both sides. Despite its popularization in culture and self-help literature, the strict left-right brain dichotomy oversimplifies the brain’s complexity and interconnected nature, emphasizing collaboration between hemispheres for most tasks.

Pouring water from one bucket to the next – The Teaching and Learning are separate Myth

The traditional perception of teaching and learning as separate processes is rooted in a hierarchical educational model where the teacher is the primary source of knowledge, seen as transmitting information to lower-ranking students expected to absorb and reproduce facts. In this sense teaching is typically viewed as the delivery of content by the authoritative figure in the classroom, while learning is perceived as the responsibility of submissive students to receive information.

Contrariwise, “teach it to learn it” challenges the traditional perception that teaching and learning are separate processes. This perspective suggests that the act of teaching is intricately linked to the process of learning.

By teaching a concept or explaining a subject matter to others, individuals reinforce their understanding, deepen their knowledge, and refine their own comprehension. This process often requires organizing information in a coherent way, identifying key points, and considering various perspectives—all of which contribute to a deeper grasp of the subject matter.

In this sense teaching might be viewed as a form of learning activity, where learners of various proficiency and experience levels come together and collaborate. The less experienced ones respectfully hear from the ones who are already much deeper into the subject, before engaging in their own, further explorations. There is critical thinking and experimentation (hypothesis, falsification and verification), however, without creating class-hierarchy and appeal to authority.

Something like this.

Happy New Year 2024 – A little goes a long way

I can’t think of a word that would ultimately describe the movement quality that Moshé Feldenkrais proposed almost 80 years ago… I mean the way to move, think, feel, sense, to hold our inner selves, in this type of lessons. The manner of which we continue to benefit so much from. What is the word?

Smoothness, maybe? Grace? Tranquil elegance? Mindful gentleness?

What makes our lessons so marvellous is not just the clever exercises themselves, the applied bio-mechanical knowledge and pedagogical principles; the secret sauce is not just the sequencing, and pacing, the pauses; but, above all towers the movement quality.

To lie down on purpose,
or before getting up anyways,
to move a finger like that,
a slight bending,
unbending,
the head might roll,
a deep breath,
another finger,
then the wrist, all fingers, the hand,
in unison and harmony.
The elbow lifts,
or slides,
or rolls as well.
Then a rest.

During a lesson it might seem like nothing, almost like nothing, but then, surprise, this extraordinary movement quality caries over into the day, in a sense of wellbeing, smoothness, inner serenity, happiness.

Let’s cherish this more, have more of this, this year.
Happy New Year 2024 everyone! 🎉🍀⭐️❤️🐦