Finding Balance

Last week, I finished teaching a series of seven lessons online about Finding Balance. The class participants chose the theme; given how we continue to find ourselves in times fraught with uncertainty, I don’t think they could have picked a better topic.

One of the students sent a link to an enlightening Washington Post article about why so-called perturbation-based training is so beneficial that was so relevant I had to share with the class. The idea is that disturbing your balance — in challenging yet safe ways — is key to improving your coordination. (This rings true with what I wrote about in another recent blog post.)

The theme continues with the seven lessons I am teaching, beginning at the end of the week, in the 2021 edition of my almost annual Feldenkrais® Summer Camp, Finding Balance on One Leg. The lessons start simply and become incrementally more challenging as the series progresses. I’ll be drawing from the lessons Dr. Feldenkrais taught during his weekly classes in the 1950s to 1970s in Tel Aviv. This year’s camp curriculum consists of a curated selection of these classic compositions and adapted specifically for the Summer Camp theme . . . along with a few original innovations.

The lessons are relatively easy. What’s difficult is that they will, by design, challenge your sense of equilibrium. The series follows a kind of developmental logic: learning the basics close to the floor before doing any standing lessons.

Since this year’s Summer Camp is about learning to get better at Finding Balance on One Leg, the later classes are done standing — on both legs and one. One of the innovations I came up with was to build a kind of safety net built into the progression: you investigate shifting weight while standing on one leg with your back against a wall at first before doing so “free-standing.” 

At any point along the way, you can imagine the actions and still benefit. If you’d like to find out about the role of kinesthetic imagination in learning, please check my blog post about Feldenkrais’ splendid FOOT ON HEAD lesson.

If you’re not enrolled, there's still time to sign up for either of the two summer camp sessions — you’ll find the schedule and information about enrolling here.

If you have questions about Summer Camp, please check out our FAQ.

If you can’t make it, no worries!

You can check out the recent recording of my most recent rendition of ON THE EDGE.

(A newly updated version of this original lesson will be kicking off Summer Camp, so you don’t need to listen if you’re already signed up — however, you’re certainly welcome to prepare for what’s to come.)

You’ll find this lesson in the Free ATMs section of the Mind In Motion website. To access it:

1. Log into your Mind in Motion Online (MIMO) account.
2. And then click here.

(If you haven’t joined the website yet, it’s quick and easy to create your entirely free Improve My Abilities (IMA) account here. Your account will give you access to other free lessons, the Lesson Locator, and the digital version of my book, Articulating Changes, all at no cost whatsoever to you.)

• Before you do the lesson, please note that it is neither medical care nor treatment. If you have any concerns about whether you should do it or not, consult with your physician.
• Should you take me up on my invitation and do this lesson, I’m curious to hear from you about your experience. Please click on the comments link below to let me know.

Once you have a MIMO account, it’s easy to find this lesson, along with the many other free ones, later. You do that by signing in to your account, going to the Library section, and then selecting Free ATMs > Original compositions. (You’ll find ON THE EDGE V4 on the last page because the lessons appear in the order that we added them; you can change that in the display). Clicking on the title takes you to a page where you can listen to the recording immediately or download it for later.