The Road to Mastery
By
How
does one become a master? Whether you aspire to mastery in a martial art, or of
musical instrument, or of being comfortable while sitting, it seems reasonable
that there should be some common process that underlies all such pursuits.
The
first response that comes to mind is practice.
But,
on reflection, the idea of simple practice has some limitations.
When
you are a beginner, obviously, you don’t know what the master knows. Should
you then repeat, everyday, somehow, your “not knowing?” And, as a beginner,
usually, one has poorer habits than the master. Should one groove those habits
in more deeply?
So,
a better response to the question “How to improve” is application. This replaces the idea of rote repetition with an
attitude of mindful attentiveness.
The
next question is “How to apply
myself?” In the Feldenkrais Method, we address this by systematically pursuing
This
approach, which makes a lot of sense intuitively, is also grounded in scientific
research. In the middle of the 19th century pioneering German
researchers investigated the question “What level of change in a stimulus can
the senses discriminate?” Taking a
look at this research can give us greater depth in our daily “mindful
application.”
How
Important is $10?
Before
jumping into scientific research, I’ll begin with an example from daily life.
Recently I asked a friend a loaded question: “Susan, if you go shopping and
see that an item has been discounted $10, how important is that reduction in
your decision to buy?”
“It
depends on the item,” she said sagely.
“If
I am thinking of buying a $20,000 car, $10 doesn’t matter at all. It’s
actually insulting to call it a discount. When I am looking at a $60 sweater,
$10 off is enticing. It’s not compelling, but it makes me stand and consider a
little longer. But when I am eager to own a $20 book, even if I don’t really
need it, and the store offers $10 off—well, that’s it! Half price! The book
goes with me to the register.”
Relation
to the Science of Perception
Around
1850, Ernst Weber (“vey ber”), a
German scientist in the field of human perception, also asked the question
“What difference does this amount make?” But he asked it about the
experience of touch. He asked a blind man to hold a weight in his hand and
notice how heavy it felt. Weber then added a sliver of new weight and asked the
man if the weight had changed. At first, the man said, “No. Nothing has
happened.” Weber continued adding new slivers until the man said, “Yes. Now
the weight has increased.” Weber repeated this experiment starting sometimes
with lighter weights and sometimes with heavier ones.
After
a large number of trials, Weber found a pattern. When he started the man with a
small weight, the man could discern a very small increment of new weight. But
when he started him with a large weight, the man could only distinguish a large
change. From this Weber concluded that the nervous system, like our shopper,
does not pay attention to absolute amounts, but to relative ones.
In
everyday life this is comparable to saying that if you are carrying a piano on
your back and somebody puts a book on top of the piano, you will not notice the
increase in weight. But if you are relaxed and someone touches your arm with a
feather, you will feel the new stimulus immediately.
Since
Weber’s work was refined by his colleague Gustav Fechner, their combined work
is recognized today as the Weber-Fechner Law.
Applying
the Weber-Fechner Law to the Improvement of Movement
In
the middle years of the 20th century, Moshe Feldenkrais was looking
for guidance in the scientific literature on how to help himself and others
improve whatever it is that they do. He noticed that in all situations of
“this is not working as I wish,” there is a high level of effort. People in
pain are carrying extra tension, and people who feel their performance is not as
they wish are usually tense, too.
After
reading the work of Weber and Fechner, Feldenkrais directed his attention
toward, as a first step, reducing the person’s overall level of tension. He
asked his clients to lie down, to do nothing on purpose, to take light
movements, and to explore various combinations of movements gently. All this was
geared toward creating conditions where the person can discriminate more finely.
The
Proof of the Pudding
Today
Feldenkrais Practitioners are bringing the lessons of the past into use for the
21st Century. I have been working this last year with Sarah. At
thirty-five she is juggling a full-time career, a family life with young
children, and a commitment to regular exercise. In between she makes time for
Feldenkrais lessons. Her goals is to untangle some tensions that have plagued
her since an athletic injury while a teenager.
Recently,
Sarah reported a small epiphany. She was sitting at her computer, where she
often spends 10 hours a day. 
“A couple days ago I felt this twinge
in my neck. The amazing part was that it was so small, and yet I
felt it. It wasn’t really a pain, but it was the beginning of one.
I
immediately checked out my feet. They were all cockeyed. So I put them in a more
stable position. Then I was more able to easily lift my chest and sit more
upright. My shoulders came down immediately. After that the pain in the neck
just went away! And I was able to
keep on going.”