Fine Art and Feldenkrais
By Tina Orcutt
Dressage is seen by many as “poetry in motion”. All the elements of cadence, rhythm and symmetry are shown when the harmony of a horse and rider come together. At its best, it can be breathtaking ... at its worst, it can be quite painful to watch. As a “qualified” CDS rider since the early 1970’s, I have pursued this equine endeavor called “dressage” with hopes of achieving those wonderful moments of harmony with my horses. Along the way, through a variety of life’s little detours, I have struggled with what is commonly referred to as a “bad back”. It is really the culmination of years of vigorous lifestyle combined with a strong sense of rabid independence (No Thanks, no help needed ...) that had left me in daily pain. Needless to say, riding was a struggle ... some days, simply getting mounted up was more than I could take. But horses and riding are such a joy to my soul that I kept searching for something to keep me going. After years of exploring a wide variety of physical therapies, I had nearly given up. Then, in 1984, I went to see a demonstration put on by Linda Tellington-Jones. Her methods set off a whole range of fresh ideas for me and how I could manage handling horses again. At a second demonstration that she gave a few weeks later, I spoke to her about some of my problems and her answer to me was:
“Until you pay more attention to your problems in your body, you won’t be as effective in dealing with your horses. Find a Feldenkrais Practitioner in your area and take care of you!”
Well, I did just that. In the last 3 years I’ve been learning to be more aware of how my body moves (or doesn’t move!) and how to efficiently integrate my movements. The results have been well worth the investment of time and money. The basic premise behind the Feldenkrais Method is that the human nervous system can learn more in one experience with the use of non-habitual movements, as long as they are non-threatening and non-painful. There are two forms or modalities that are used. The first is called Functional Integration. This is work tailored specifically to your body and its problems. The person simply lies quietly while a certified Practitioner performs all of the small slow movements that will help to re-educate the nervous system. The second aspect of the work is called Awareness Through Movement (ATM). This is presented in a group situation. The Practitioner verbalizes the various small, repetitive moves as the people are doing them. This teaches each of us what it takes to move slowly and, most importantly, to observe movement in our body. Used in combination, the results are maximized.
Quite a departure from our American credo that claims “No Pain - No Gain!”. Since my criteria for success is measured by how much and how well I can ride, I was ecstatic to discover that this modality scores 10’s in both areas! My riding has changed dramatically. I ride much better - more effectively and with more ease -than before my original back injury in 1977.
Over the last few years, I seem to hear more and more of my fellow riders commiserate over the pain that they experience while riding. It occurs to me that in pursuing our art (dressage) - we have made the mistake of putting the cart before the horse. Our western culture is so eager to “get to the action” that it has lost sight of the necessary components of the journey. If we expect our horses to become balanced, supple and better athletes, why do we overlook our own development in those areas? More importantly, how can we use our tight, stressed, asymmetrical bodies to direct our horses into a symphony of beautiful movement?
I feel it is high time that we give more attention to tuning our instrument - our body - before we demand such performance from our horses.
There several choices for us to look at, such as the Alexander Technique, Tai Chi, and Yoga; I have found the best results by using the Feldenkrais Method.
The Feldenkrais Method was developed by an Israeli physicist, Moshe Feldenkrais, in the 1930’s. His method is based on the belief that we are capable of reorganizing our sensory-motor part of the nervous system to such a degree that we can physically function better. This goes beyond the concept of exercising muscles - the powerful impact is that there are changes made in the nervous system that stimulate the muscular system.
There are two main groups of people who have discovered the value of the Feldenkrais Method: people who are in pain, and people who make their living from beauty or finesse of movement. (Sounds like dressage riders could fall into both categories). For me, the journey was begun because of chronic pain ... but now I am excited to continue the journey for the rewards that I gain through the ongoing improvements in my ability to move with new-found ease and grace.
Dressage is seen by many as “poetry in motion”. All the elements of cadence, rhythm and symmetry are shown when the harmony of a horse and rider come together. At its best, it can be breathtaking ... at its worst, it can be quite painful to watch. As a “qualified” CDS rider since the early 1970’s, I have pursued this equine endeavor called “dressage” with hopes of achieving those wonderful moments of harmony with my horses. Along the way, through a variety of life’s little detours, I have struggled with what is commonly referred to as a “bad back”. It is really the culmination of years of vigorous lifestyle combined with a strong sense of rabid independence (No Thanks, no help needed ...) that had left me in daily pain. Needless to say, riding was a struggle ... some days, simply getting mounted up was more than I could take. But horses and riding are such a joy to my soul that I kept searching for something to keep me going. After years of exploring a wide variety of physical therapies, I had nearly given up. Then, in 1984, I went to see a demonstration put on by Linda Tellington-Jones. Her methods set off a whole range of fresh ideas for me and how I could manage handling horses again. At a second demonstration that she gave a few weeks later, I spoke to her about some of my problems and her answer to me was:
“Until you pay more attention to your problems in your body, you won’t be as effective in dealing with your horses. Find a Feldenkrais Practitioner in your area and take care of you!”
Well, I did just that. In the last 3 years I’ve been learning to be more aware of how my body moves (or doesn’t move!) and how to efficiently integrate my movements. The results have been well worth the investment of time and money. The basic premise behind the Feldenkrais Method is that the human nervous system can learn more in one experience with the use of non-habitual movements, as long as they are non-threatening and non-painful. There are two forms or modalities that are used. The first is called Functional Integration. This is work tailored specifically to your body and its problems. The person simply lies quietly while a certified Practitioner performs all of the small slow movements that will help to re-educate the nervous system. The second aspect of the work is called Awareness Through Movement (ATM). This is presented in a group situation. The Practitioner verbalizes the various small, repetitive moves as the people are doing them. This teaches each of us what it takes to move slowly and, most importantly, to observe movement in our body. Used in combination, the results are maximized.
Quite a departure from our American credo that claims “No Pain - No Gain!”. Since my criteria for success is measured by how much and how well I can ride, I was ecstatic to discover that this modality scores 10’s in both areas! My riding has changed dramatically. I ride much better - more effectively and with more ease -than before my original back injury in 1977.
Over the last few years, I seem to hear more and more of my fellow riders commiserate over the pain that they experience while riding. It occurs to me that in pursuing our art (dressage) - we have made the mistake of putting the cart before the horse. Our western culture is so eager to “get to the action” that it has lost sight of the necessary components of the journey. If we expect our horses to become balanced, supple and better athletes, why do we overlook our own development in those areas? More importantly, how can we use our tight, stressed, asymmetrical bodies to direct our horses into a symphony of beautiful movement?
I feel it is high time that we give more attention to tuning our instrument - our body - before we demand such performance from our horses.
There several choices for us to look at, such as the Alexander Technique, Tai Chi, and Yoga; I have found the best results by using the Feldenkrais Method.
The Feldenkrais Method was developed by an Israeli physicist, Moshe Feldenkrais, in the 1930’s. His method is based on the belief that we are capable of reorganizing our sensory-motor part of the nervous system to such a degree that we can physically function better. This goes beyond the concept of exercising muscles - the powerful impact is that there are changes made in the nervous system that stimulate the muscular system.
There are two main groups of people who have discovered the value of the Feldenkrais Method: people who are in pain, and people who make their living from beauty or finesse of movement. (Sounds like dressage riders could fall into both categories). For me, the journey was begun because of chronic pain ... but now I am excited to continue the journey for the rewards that I gain through the ongoing improvements in my ability to move with new-found ease and grace.