Feldenkrais Method

Similar ideas I had never heard of Hubert Godard before I stumbled across an article on his movement work. Although Godard is based in the Rolfing world, as is the article's author Aliene Newton, what was being described would be familiar to someone familiar with Feldenkrais or Alexander Technique work. Again, I'm struck with the structural and functional approaches becoming more comfortable with each other.

There were similarities between Newton's description of Godard's theories and my own understanding as a Feldenkrais practitioner. In particular, the focus on  tonic organization and the ability to organize in relation to gravity, as well as  the focus on the development process as the source of body organization:

You cannot inhibit a reflex, but you can modulate it.

But the thing that stands out most is the focus on the effect of  sensory awareness on body organization and tonicity:

 There are quite specific physiological, functional consequences to a change in sensory awareness accessed by putting one's attention to a particular image.

A problem in movement may not be the result of faulty motor function, but of faulty perception.

Godard's theory is that movement will be more efficient when we use the reptilian level as much as possible: i.e., allow stretch reflexes and

Since the reticular formation has a strong influence on the general tonus of the body, and sensory impressions have a powerful effect on the reticular formation, a change in sensory awareness becomes a change in tonic organization.

And on a different level, Newton's wording on the need to develop and state a theory of the work struck me as directly applicable:

If we do not want to adopt the conventional models for studying movement, we need to be able to offer a well articulated alternative. We need to be able to describe our perspective in words that make a bridge to the conventional world, while at the same time preserving the subtlety and originality of our experience. We ned an articulated theory in order to validate our experience, in order to evaluate our theories, in order to teach new students.

....by proposing a theory, we have something we can put under the scrutiny of evaluative research. We can begin to experiment to see if our theory holds up. One can do movement work without necessarily knowing the underlying mechanisms, but the more clearly we can understand them, the less tied we will be to myth and technique, the more we can be creative.

- Posted by Tom Landini - 11:50:17 AM -