Feeling Weightless—or Not

Dear Reader,

Feldenkrais said that the purpose of the skeleton is to make us feel weightless. And sometimes we do get that sense of feeling light and easy, able to move freely in our space. Our bones give us the capacity to lift ourselves up from the ground, in spite of gravity. It’s a wondrous thing.

I recently experienced a minor injury which bruised a couple of my ribs. Ouch. Thankfully, nothing broke! I talk a lot about how important the rib cage is, and that it’s more like a basket than a cage. The ribs are bone and cartilage with lots of muscles attached—some small and some big. All those muscles mean that the ribs are meant to move. They move when we breathe in and out, and they move when we move.

I get all that. Or, I thought I did. With just a couple of ribs bruised, I became much more aware of how they move, and how much they’re involved in everyday movements. Aren’t we lucky that we can do so much without even thinking about it?

As the discomfort brought an increased awareness to my ribs, I played a bit with breathing differently. Using a variation of an Awareness Through Movement lesson, I imagined that my breath could expand the lungs under the ribs that felt so constricted. Gently and slowly. (I try to practice what I preach.) Do the movement gently and slowly and notice what happens.

Bruising still takes time to heal, but breathing into it seems to help. And it’s amazing to realize how our bones and muscles work to keep us moving. I’m starting to feel lighter again, and increasing my appreciation of the wonderful complexity of our bodies.

And I’m also wondering about the amazing complexity of our universe. This afternoon, I’m heading off to witness the eclipse. Wondering how much we’ll see, given that this part of Texas has a lot of cloud cover. Regardless, we’ll experience a change in the light.

May you also experience wonder and lightness as you move through your days. And if you’d like to explore through Feldenkrais lessons or coaching, here are some links:

Our Tuesday online Awareness Through Movement lesson resumes on April 9. It’s still Free/Pay as you wish.

If you’d like to work with me privately—coaching, Feldenkrais or a combination—you can Book an Appointment and we’ll talk about how you’d like to move forward. You can also just reply to this email and we’ll set something up.